Stay with me, always.

Chapter 58. Memory Garden

I don't think I heard that right.

"What?" I asked, feeling the way I had when Titus gave me that concussion. Soarynn nervously looked up at me, "I'm pregnant, I think at least. I don't...I don't know how to get a test," she mumbled.

I rested my hands on either side of her waist, to give myself something to hold onto. So my hands would stop shaking.

I swallowed, "You're sure?" I asked, looking down to see no instant signs of pregnancy. Soarynn sighed, carding her hand through her hair.

"I mean, I'm not sure but think about it Coryo, we've had unprotected sex twice now, and if the first time wasn't enough, the second time definitely was. You even said so yourself, you might just fuck a baby into me."

I raised my hands in self-defense, "I didn't mean it! I was in the moment!"

Soarynn rolled her eyes, "Well duh, but that doesn't matter now does it?" I guess it didn't. But the more I thought about it, the more it started to seem like an actual possibility.

It was plausible.

The loss of appetite, the mood swings, the emotions, her sleeping patterns, her crabbiness.

"Is that what you were talking to your dad about?" I asked, suddenly very interested in what was exactly said in that phone call conversation. She nodded, "That and a couple of other things, but mainly the baby."

The baby.

We could have a baby.

"Are you...are you excited?" I asked, settling my hands on her hips, she very well could say no, that she wasn't ready, that we weren't ready.

Which we weren't.

We were nowhere near ready, but that didn't really matter right now did it? We were barely ready to be married and that was already happening. She swallowed, "I don't know" she admitted, "I know we have all the resources, all the help, and in the end, it would all work out."

I nodded, this was perfect timing for something like this if I'm being honest. We'd keep it under wraps until after the wedding, maybe even announce it at the wedding. By the time I became President, we'd have our first little bundle of joy. And Soarynn wouldn't really start to look pregnant for a while, so the fittings could go on as scheduled.

"But what do you want Soarynn?" I gently asked, it really wasn't up to me.

She bit her lip, "What's the other option? If I'm not ready, what do we do?"

I frowned, it was sad to think about abortion, but it was something that women dealt with every day. "You would have an abortion," I said slowly, "I'd be with you every step of the way, and it would be quick if we caught it early."

We could probably do it at home, have the family doctor come to perform the procedure, or would he just give her a pill to take with her next meal? Either way, she had all the resources she needed for whatever decision she made.

She nodded, "I just...I was hoping you'd have all the answers. My dad told me to ask you what we should do," she said, looking up at me, her eyes painted with fear of the unknown. I felt a small pat on the back in the fact that the Mayor trusted me this much with his daughter.

That instead of insisting she come home or go to someone with more authority, he told her to go to me. He had said that I loved her after all, and I really, really did.

And I'd love this baby. If she chose to keep it.

"It's your body Soarynn," I whispered, "and it's your choice. I will love you either way." Soarynn sniffled, "I'm just so scared, what if something goes wrong, or people get mad at me?"