Leaps and landings

4

Odette could already feel like something was about to happen, the way Rory had been acting a little weird, like she was hiding something. First skipping the coffee, then the picky eating, and now the avoidance of talking about some baby related topics she'd casually touched the other day. She couldn't be sure of course, but it was beginning to seem like Rory might be pregnant and not wanting to tell her. Odette knew about Rory's miscarriage and while she had no direct experience she understood that Rory had been devastated as a result, and if that was the reason for not telling her, she understood. But still the anticipation lingered in the air.

When Logan began their "We need to talk," conversation, she was pretty sure she was going to get her suspicions confirmed.

"Sure. This sounds serious," Odette noted in reply, noticing the way Rory was fidgeting with her wedding ring. If it wasn't that, it still had to be something serious.

"Rory and I have some news and that's going to put some pressure on our plans," Logan began, gesturing between himself and Odette.

"You're pregnant, right? Why else...?" Odette said drawing the only conclusion urgent enough for a talk like this. She landed on the couch next to Rory and put her arm around her.

Rory nodded, staring ahead. Clearly she was terrified.

"That's great news, isn't it?" Odette continued, looking back and forth between Rory and Logan.

"It is," Logan replied confidently.

"And I get it. We should make a plan," Odette agreed. Writing the press release would take her an hour, but she knew her father would be on the phone with her, insisting her to come home, as soon as the news was published. That was not what she wanted to happen. One may wonder how much can a father really do when the daughter is a financially independent grown women - but her father didn't exactly play a clean game. Reputation meant everything to him and threathening people's own reputations and careers was usually his ammo.

"You're okay?" Rory said, as she looked up at Odette.

"Hey, people have babies all the time, I'll be fine," she replied now realizing that part of that worry on Rory's face was about how she was going to take the news. "Besides if anyone deserves a baby it's you guys. I hope that I can kind of be like an aunt for him or her," Odette added, stroking Rory's back supportively.

"I think it might be wise to call and ask Colin to consult, in case there are any legal aspects that you need help with," Logan suggested practically.

"Sure," she agreed. She'd avoided thinking about the legal stuff long enough. She needed to get her plan together. Having delayed, pretended, for this long wasn't exactly like her, but this seemed to have been one topic she'd had a blind spot with. "So how far along are you?" Odette asked Rory, to get the timeline set in her head.

"Still early - around 7 weeks. It's okay for now, just there is little they can assure me with before 12 weeks," Rory explained. This meant that Odette had the maximum of 5 weeks to figure it out, preferably less.

"Well I'm certainly rooting for you guys," Odette added, squeezing Rory's shoulder gently.

Odette felt stupid - she should've have known this was coming. She cursed herself for not already having a plan. She was going to lose the little protection being Logan's pretend wife had given her. What she had wanted, according to the original plan, was to change her name, ideally along with US citizenship. But now, legally untied, the outlook wasn't too good. She knew the French name change policy was strict, allowing name changes only in very particular cases and even then both names would become public information. If she had been married for real, and applied for US citizenship, things would've been a lot easier, including the name change. But now she was just hiding out in her beautiful Manhattan townhouse, and other than the ocean between her and her family, there was little that could stop her family's power. Once born into their wealth, one was expected to be grateful and obey, serve, do the duties that the family brought along. Odette had done that for years - it had cost her almost all of the relationships she'd ever found for herself - because they were not approved of.