Two Pink Lines

8

A knock on the door draws Alice out of bed, she's slept in much later than she normally would, hoping to wake up and realize it's all just a bad dream.

She ties her robe around her body and walks down the staircase, looking out the peep hole and seeing Fred on her front step. She opens the door with a small smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Figured you'd be having a rough day so I thought I'd come check up on you. And I've got food." He holds up a Pop's bag to show her and she smiles.

"Thanks Fred." She steps aside to let him in and he follows her into the dining room.

"Is Betty here? I picked up some extra food for her if she is."

"No she stayed the night at Veronica's, I'll put it in the fridge for her though."

He places her food down while she gets them both a drink. "How are you doing this morning?"

She shrugs, pouring out two glasses of orange juice. "As good as I can be I guess, I keep seeing his face, he looked so heartbroken when he realized I didn't believe him."

"Don't beat yourself up over that too much, Alice. It's hard to believe someone when there's such solid proof."

She hands him a glass and he thanks her as she sits down in the chair across from him. "I guess. It's just, he's my boyfriend, I know him better than anyone, so I don't know why I can't trust him when he says the drugs aren't his."

"Well you've spent the most time with him lately, do you honestly think he was selling drugs or using them?"

"No, that's not like him, that's what doesn't make sense." She sighs, taking a bit of her pancakes.

"Is it possible that Gladys had an influence on him when she came back? Like could she have convinced him to start selling for extra money?"

Alice's mouth gapes open. "Oh my God I didn't even think about her."

His eyebrow quirks. "Really?"

"I honestly forgot she was even in town, I've just kind of blocked her out. FP told me she was back but I know I don't have anything to worry about so I've just completely forgotten about her."

"So do you think she got him to start selling?"

The pieces start coming together in her mind as she thinks harder about it. "Honestly Fred, I don't think he was selling. But I do think Gladys had something to do with it."

"What do you mean? Do you think they're hers?"

"I mean... maybe? Think about it, FP suddenly gets arrested for drug possession a few weeks after Gladys comes to town? That can't be a coincidence, can it?"

"Maybe you're onto something. I mean we all know Gladys doesn't have the best ethics."

"And FP has been doing so well, it doesn't make any sense why he'd jeopardize that." She pauses for a moment as a wave of nausea comes over her. "Excuse me." She forces out before she's scrambling out of her chair and rushing to the bathroom.

Fred follows her quickly, standing outside the bathroom door as she gets sick. "You okay in there?" He asks nervously. "Was it the food?"

She opens the door, gargling some mouth wash before speaking. "No it wasn't the food, I've been nauseous the past few days. I think all the stress with FP getting arrested has been getting to me."

Fred looks at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Are you sure it's just stress?"

She nods, walking back to the dining table to finish breakfast. "It's gotta be. I mean I've been so worried about FP and I've been getting myself all worked up about it, that has to be the reason."

"I suppose but I mean, I'm just going to assume you and FP aren't exactly celibate, so maybe there's another reason why you're nauseous."

"Are you trying to suggest that I'm pregnant, Fred?" She scoffs at the thought, there's no way.

"I mean is it so impossible? You're only forty-three."

She's quiet for a moment. "I didn't even think about that." She looks at him wide, scared eyes. "Fred, what am I going to do?"

He reaches over to hold her hand, not wanting her to panic. "Let's not jump to conclusions, you might not be."

She narrows her eyes at him. "You literally just told me I could be and now you're saying the opposite?"

"I just... I don't want you to freak out, I know this probably isn't ideal. All I'm saying is that you should take a test just to be sure."

"What if I am?" She asks him quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "My baby daddy's in prison."

"And we're going to prove that he's innocent." She opens her mouth to say something but ultimately closes it again. He knows what she was about to say. What if he isn't innocent?

He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze. "No matter what happens, no matter what you decide to do, and no matter what happens with him, I'll be here to help you through it, I promise."

"You will?"

He nods, giving her a smile. "Of course."

•

When Fred leaves an hour later, Alice sits nervously on her couch. Is it possible that she's pregnant? Her and FP aren't always safe, and it would definitely explain the nausea and her emotions. She thinks on it for a moment, realizing that her period is also late.

She makes a decision and heads upstairs to change out of her pyjamas and into actual clothes, and then she's heading out to her car and driving to the nearest store.

She slips on a pair of sunglasses just to help hide herself in case she sees anyone she knows. The last thing she wants to do is explain why she's buying a pregnancy test at her age. People would judge, wonder why she hadn't used protection, wonder who she could possibly be having a baby with since she only divorced her husband earlier that year.

Luckily she doesn't see anyone she knows and she leaves the store with a pregnancy test in hand and a stomach full of butterflies.

She reads over the directions carefully when she gets home, setting the test on the counter after taking it.

She busies herself with making her bed as she waits the few minutes to check the result. And even when she can check it, she's not sure she wants to.

Having to tell Betty that she's pregnant with her boyfriend's dad's baby? That's not something she wants to do. And FP being in prison makes it even more stressful because he's not there to hold her hand.

She picks up the test, taking a deep breath as she turns it over and swears she feels her heart stop when she sees the two prominent pink lines.

She can feel herself starting to panic and clenches her hands into fists, her fingernails biting into her palms, as her eyes well up in tears.

She has no idea what she's going to do but there's one thing that's for sure, FP is going to know about their baby this time.