𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, guy germaine

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 | and then there were three

An excerpt from For Better Or Worse: Chapter Ten - Genevieve
April 1998

     OPAL WAS HAVING A rough morning. It wasn't that having a rough morning was unusual for her - that happened often now that she was sick - but this was different.

I woke up to her over the toilet bowl, throwing up her guts before I could get over to help her. I rolled out of bed as fast as I could, running to the adjoining bathroom to help her out. When she threw up, she had a tendency to not be able to control her body like she normally could, which easily meant she could fall over and miss the toilet completely.

"It's okay now, it's okay, let it come out." I tried to console her, grabbing her waist to support her weight and holding back her hair. She threw up even more, so much that I didn't know how it would be possible considering it had been hours since we had eaten.

"I'm sorry." She eventually spoke softly. "That was real disgusting."
"Nothing with you is disgusting." I sat her back against the wall, getting her toothbrush set with toothpaste. "You're always beautiful to me."
She smiled, taking the brush from my hand and obliging.

Once she had spit out and we cleaned up the mess, I pulled her back toward bed. It was 5 am, so a little early to be up. She snuggled into my side, looking up at me like she had something to say.

"Guy?"
"Mhm?"
"I took a test yesterday. And, um... I'm pregnant."
"Babe..."
I was just in awe. A baby? Opal's pregnant with our kid? Oh my goodness. I was so happy.

I kissed her sweetly, holding her body against my own.

"Seriously, you're amazing." I nuzzled my face against hers. "I'm so happy."
"You are? Really?"
"Baby, of course I am! Sometimes I think I want a baby more than you do."
"Just... are you sure? I have tour in a few months, and I'll still need to work on new music after that."
"Baby, you're okay. I'll be here to help, always."
"...Charlie and Averman are going to bully you so hard for this one. First 'house husband,' now 'stay at home daddy.'"
"Hm, an even more proud occupation." I kissed her neck, running my hands down her sides. Since she mentioned it, I could feel the slight swell in her tummy, a gentle widening of the hips. She was changing right before my very eyes, growing something, someone more important than her or I could ever be.

"Just... you promise you'll take care of them?"
"Of course I will, baby. I'll take care of both of you."
"No, I mean... when I'm too sick. And when I'm
gone. You're going to be here, but not me."
"I know. And I'll take care of them no matter what. But you're not dying tomorrow; you're not dying a year from now. No day but today."
She started crying and all I could really do was hold her.

"Opie, baby, don't cry! We're having a baby, this is a good thing. We'll have a nice little baby to hold and take care of."
"I'm gonna get fat." She giggled, still managing to cry. "I'll lose my fanbase for bein' so ugly."
"Christ darling, that's quite the jump. I think you'll be cute as a button." I booped her nose. "Who cares if you gain weight, you're having my baby!"
"I just remember my mama always got real big with us. By the end she'd be so big it was hard for her to move!"
"And guess who'll be there toting you around? ...It's me, if you couldn't guess."

❛ ━━･❪ ♥ ❫ ･━━ ❜
June 1998

TWO MONTHS LATER CAME the release party for Opal's second album, Angels Sing, just a year after the first. By then, Opal was starting to show to people in general, though nobody was about to ask. So we figured we should announce it that evening, considering her brothers and Bombay and my mother were all going to be there.