𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲; 𝐭𝐰𝐝

𝐨 𝐧 𝐞

Rory, a month before the outbreak

"Fuck." I look down at the multiple positive tests on my bathroom counter. "Fuck!" I swipe my hand across the counter, clearing it of the tests.

I place my head in my hands as I slide down the wall. Out of everyone in the world, it was me. I already have enough stress in my life right now.

With Rick being in the hospital, Carl's going through a hard time right now. Lori barely talks to anyone now. This just came at the worst time.

I was scared to tell Lori, Lori, and Shane. Shane was always around now. But I understand why.

I looked at the time, 4:00. I needed to get ready to go get Carl. He had an after-school program, and Lori enrolled him in it to keep his mind off of things.

Which I knew wasn't working, but while he was there he had a good time. I stand up and look in the mirror. I wipe the tears away, before applying a little concealer to cover up the redness. I pick up the tests before walking into my bedroom.

I shove the tests under my mattress and slip on a pair of shoes. Grabbing my keys and wallet I make my way downstairs. Lori was at the hospital like she usually was.

I had no clue when I was going to tell her, or how I was going to tell her. Do I just rip off the bandaid? Rick always told me to never beat around the bush.

Rick...

What was he going to think? The doctors say he has a 90% chance of waking up. I'm pretty sure that information was keeping us all going.

I pull up in front of the school and wait for like a minute before Carl walks out and gets in the front seat. "Hey, bud."

"Hey Rory." he places the seatbelt over himself and I drive off.

"Is mom home?" He frowns when I shake my head. The only time Carl got to see Rick was on the weekends, the only time Carl got to see Lori was on the weekends.

"I gotta get gas, I was thinking we have a movie night." I look over to see him staring out the window. "I have Lori's card, she said we could get anything we want. I was thinking of Pirates of The Caribbean for the movie." He looks over at me when I mention the movie. it was his favorite movie ever.

"Really!" He asks excitedly and I nod my head. "Yeah! We can get candy, order a pizza, or ice cream."

"Rory! You are the best aunt ever!"

"I'm your only aunt."

"I know, and you're the best." I smile as we pull into the gas station. I pull up to a gas pump, and I usually pre-pay.

"Go crazy, but not too crazy," I say and, watch as Carl piles stuff into the basket.

"Ok, I'm done." I grab the basket from him and take it up to the cashier. She scans them all and the total comes out to 65.78.

"Can I get 30 on pump 7?" She nods before adding it to the total. I pay for everything and she bags them up. Carl runs to the car and I pump my gas.

"Ok, ready to go?" He nods, already eating some candy. It was Thursday, maybe I could get Lori to let him stay home tomorrow.

"Rory?"

"Yeah, bud?"

"Do, do you think Dad will be ok?"

"Yeah of course I think he'll be ok. Your dad is a tough person. He'll pull through."

"Tell me a story from when you and Dad were young."

"Oof, that's a hard one. Your dad and I have a 15-year age gap. I was only 4 when you were born, but I think my favorite one was when I was 6. It was my birthday. Your dad threw me a birthday party. It was the best."

"Really? I don't remember that."

"That's because you were little, you were only two." I pull into the driveway and shut off the car.

"Come on, let's go." I grab a bag and walk beside Carl as we make our way to the house.

"Do you got homework?" He shakes his head, I place the ice cream into the freezer and the drinks into the fridge.

"I'm trusting you on this one, now what kind of pizza do you want?"

"Pepperoni!" Should have known.

"Ok, we'll get pepperoni." I grab the phone and dial the pizza place number.

"Hi, I would like to place an order for a large pepperoni pizza." The lady asks for my address, which I give to her.

"Alright, should be here in 15 minutes." I place the phone down and sit up on the counter.

The rest of the night was a blast. Carl and I ate food, and candy, and watched movies. Before Carl finally passed out at 10:30. I decided to stay on the couch with him.

This was just a flashback to the day she found out, it's not necessary, but it works. The next chapter is when Lori and Shane figure out.