From a Table Away ✓

Ten

Shit! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! How could I have been so stupid?! I had been late before but never like this but with all the stress I had been under I hadn't even realized how late I was until I had gotten sick the other morning.

Two pink lines on the offending tests resting on my bathroom sink stared at me, changing the course of my life, and Andy's, forever. Shit!

I pull my phone out and hit the first name in my favorites and listen while it rings. "Come on Allie! Pick up."

I breathe out a sigh of relief when she picks up. "Hey. What's up?"

"I'm having a bit of a crisis."

"He's married, isn't he?"

"Fuck! Has it been that long since I talked to you?"

"Since we actually talked about him, yes."

"Ok... wow... ummm... Yes he's married. But that's not the worse of it."

"It gets worse?"

I let out another sigh before continuing. "I continued to see him for almost a year after I found out. But that's still not the worse. His son has been accused of murder... And I'm pregnant." I add the last bit quickly, hoping she wouldn't catch it.

"I'm sorry... What?!" Yep, she heard it.

"I'm pregnant..."

"That's what I thought you said. Are you sure? You could just be late again." She says hopefully.

"I'm staring at like 4 positive tests right now, scared to approach them like they're damn bombs about to go off."

"Call your doctor and see if you can set up a last minute appointment. I'm on my way."

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We were sitting in a diner a couple of hours later, two ultrasound pictures in between us. "Are you sure you're not hungry?" Allie asks as she stuffs her face.

"No. I'm not hungry." I say, my eyes not leaving the table.

"You need to eat. If not for you, then for..." and she gestures between my abdomen and the pictures.

"Allie, it's the reason I can't eat. Just... leave it be for now." Her phone started ringing.

"I'm sorry. It's work, I gotta go. But hey, I'm here, for whatever you need." She says before running out. I let out a sigh before sitting back into the booth. What was I going to do? I'm so out of it, I don't even notice when someone walking by accidentally knocks me with their purse.

"I'm so sorry. I'm always so clumsy with this thing." I look up, recognizing the voice. "Oh, hi! You're our new neighbor, right? Well not so much new anymore but we always seem to miss each other. I'm Laurie Barber."

"Umm... yeah, hi. I'm Celeste Winters. It's nice to finally meet you." I say, shaking her outstretched hand.

"Can I?" She asks, motioning to the empty seat.

"Oh, sure." I say, going to move the pictures back into my purse.

"Are you expecting?" She asks excitedly.

"Umm... yeah, just found out this morning." I say awkwardly.

"That's exciting." She says, her eyes bright. Oh, if you only knew, I can't help but think. "I never got a chance to thank you last summer, for not calling the cops when Jacob and his friend had that impromptu, late night pool party."

"It was nothing. There wasn't anything broken and they came back the next day to clean up." I say with a smile. We lapse into awkward silence. "How's everything going? I can't imagine what this has been like for you."

"We've... It's been..." she looks like she's about to cry. "It's been hard. He says he didn't do it and I want to believe him but there's things that aren't adding up... and Andy hasn't been being honest. His own father killed someone so... it's not that far of a stretch to think that my own son would be capable of something like that, would it?"

I'm speechless. I couldn't imagine the child that was growing inside me would at any point be capable of doing what Laurie was terrified that Jacob did. And I hadn't spent too much time with him, but the kid I met, the kid that looked so ashamed that he was a part of the plan with my pool, he wasn't capable of something this heinous. "I can't really speak much on it. I've only met Jacob the one time. But the kid that I did meet, he didn't seem capable of something like this. But again, I don't know him well enough to speak to his mother on it."

She sighs. "It's just been... I sometimes think this is just a horrible nightmare and we're going to wake up and everything will go back to the way it was before this whole thing started." I look down at the table again. If only she knew exactly what she was asking for. "I'm so sorry I dumped all of this on you. Today should have been happy, you found out you were having a baby and here I come and bring that all down."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about it. We all need someone we can vent to."

"Well thank you. I'll let you enjoy the rest of your lunch." She says before getting up. I smile weakly at her as she leaves before running to the bathroom and emptying my stomach into the toilet.

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*Andy's POV*

When Laurie gets home from her errands, she seems to be in a better mood so I'm grateful for that. Things have been so tense at home and with all of us staying in 24/7... well it was starting to get to all of us. "Did you have a nice time?" I ask her as we wash the dishes after dinner.

"Yeah. I needed it. I ran into our neighbor while I was getting lunch. She seems really nice." My hand slips and I almost cut myself on the knife I was washing.

"Yeah, the few times I've spoken to her she's been nothing but friendly."

"She's sweet. But the poor thing is about to go through it."

"What do you mean?"

"She's pregnant. And I don't know about you but I've never seen anyone else over there so the father is probably long gone by now." She keeps speaking but the rushing in my ears makes it impossible to hear her. "Andy, are you ok?" She asks, pulling me back to reality.

"Yeah, I think I'm just going to go for a walk. Clear my head." She looks concerned but nods.

"I know time out of the house did me some good today. Be careful." I nod before heading out the front door, grabbing my jacket as I go.

I make sure no one from my house is watching as I sneak around the other side of Celeste's house and to the garage, where I hear her playing. I cautiously knock and she seems shocked that it's me on the other side. "I think we need to talk."