𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 1 ~ I'm Not Ready!

Note: Hello again, guys! I'm so excited to write more about Angel!!! I hope you like this second book and that it was worth the wait! :) 

I don't remember hyperventilating. I don't remember blacking out. All I remember are those three words resounding in my head:

Angel, you're pregnant...

Slowly, I blinked my eyes open. Everything was blurred but I could just make out the ceiling of the small guest room I lived in at Rick's house above me. I bit back a groan as the sound of people whispering filled my ears.

"She's what?" a masculine voice asked.

"She's pregnant, Rick," a woman's voice bit back annoyedly as if she'd already had this conversation before.

"Are you sure? How do you know?" Rick pressed on.

"I tested her and it came back positive! What more proof do you need?" the woman who I assumed to be Denise whisper-yelled to him.

"She can't be pregnant! She's only a teenager! She's not old enough to take care of a baby! And what about feeding it? Are we supposed to supply food for it now, too?" he shot back.

"Just because she's young, doesn't mean she's not capable of that! And the food isn't an issue. I know that's not what you're upset about," Michonne's voice interrupted in a hushed but harsh tone.

He was silent a moment before speaking up again.

"You know what happened to Lori-" he started but I cut them off when I let out an involuntary groan.

All eyes shot to me and I blinked my eyes once more before focusing on their faces. Rick, Michonne, and Denise all stood around the bed where I lay. Rays of sunlight filtered onto the blanket in a checkered pattern, making me warm. Slowly, I sat up in bed. Michonne walked closer to me and rested a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you alright? You passed out at the infirmary," she said gently.

I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut briefly.

"I...Denise told me...she said..." I trailed off, my eyes meeting Michonne's dark ones.

She didn't say anything, just rubbed her hand up and down my back in a motherly way.

What was I going to do know? I was going to have a baby. Owen's baby. And he wasn't even here. I was going to have to do everything on my own. I wasn't ready. I couldn't do this!

"What...what am I...I don't know what I... I can't-" I started, my breathing coming in short gasps.

It felt like I couldn't breathe. I wasn't ready to have a child. I was only a teenager, I wasn't ready.

Michonne shot Rick a look and he rushed over to the bed before sitting down beside me across from her. Denise slipped out the doorway then as he hesitantly took my hand in his.

"Angel, you need to calm down," he told me.

But I could barely hear him. His words were muffled to my ears. It was like he was somewhere far away. All I could concentrate on was the constricting of my chest, the air getting cut off as the words still swirled in my mind:

Angel, you're pregnant...

"Angel! Angel, focus on me. Focus on my voice," Rick said as my vision started to cloud.

Squeezing my brown eyes closed, I tried to pick out his voice from the others in my head.

"Just breathe, Angel, breathe!" he pressed me.

I sucked in a deep breathe and let it out slowly. Over and over, I did it as I listened to the sound of Rick's voice. After several seconds, I started to feel at peace and my breathing slowed down. I glanced up at Rick and he was watching me with a smile.

"See? I knew you could do it," he said, his voice soft.

I smiled back at him and then looked over to see a relieved looking Michonne watching us. She sat down beside me on the bed just as Rick got up. He sent me another small smile before wordlessly leaving the room.

"He doesn't say much, does he?" I joked and Michonne cracked a smile.

"Not until he knows you. Then he won't shut up," she said, squeezing my hand.

I looked down at the covers then and bit my lip.

"I can't do this. I'm not ready to raise a child..." I admitted, breaking the silence that formed between us.

"Yes, you can. Just because you're young doesn't mean you can't take care of it," she told me gently.

Pulling my knees to my chest, I rested my head on them before looking over at her again.

"Besides," she continued, "you're apart of this community now, remember? You're not alone in this."