Castle in the City

51

"Hey, honey," Mom smiled while opening her arms for a wide hug. School was finally over, and Damien and Nico had picked the gang up. Everyone was going to stay at my home for the weekend, and we planned to have a little party to celebrate our return.

I smiled, "Hey, mom."

"Glad to have you home," she smiled as we broke our hug. She then went on to hug my cousins, Natalie, and Zach.

We then all entered the house, and I saw my father coming downstairs with two suitcases in his hands.

"You're leaving?" I frowned.

Dad and Mom answered, "B-"

"Business trip, yeah, I figured," I nodded. "How long?"

"Just a week this time. Then we're gonna go on a family trip to wherever you and Nico want," Dad answered, causing a wide smile to stretch across my face. He then gave me a hug and kissed my forehead before he and my mother said their goodbyes and parted.

Nico smiled, "Since we got the place for ourselves...."

Damien chuckled, "I'll get the liquor. Y'all get the snacks."

We were gonna have a party much sooner than I thought. "I'm coming with you," I said to Damien, and he smiled and nodded. We then got back in the cars, only everyone else was in Nico's car except for Damien and me.

"You want anything special?" Damien asked as he drove off, and I shook my head. "Aight." We continued to drive in silence until he asked, "Why so quiet?"

I shrugged, "I don't really know what to talk about."

He smiled, "How was your last semester?"

"Eh," I said while scrounging my nose. "My grades were on fire, but my social life wasn't it."

"That's cause you didn't balance out fun and school," he chuckled, causing me to smile because he was right. "Are you at least excited to be back home?" I nodded eagerly, and he smiled in response. I then nervously played with my fingers as I looked away. "You good, babe? You kinda seem a bit off today."

"How so?" I asked, even though I knew the answer to that question.

Damien answered, "Well you haven't been talking much, even when we were driving from the school and to your house, you've been avoiding eye contact with me, and you seem a bit nervous around me. I know you've been a bit sick last week, but I can't help but feel as if you're hiding something from me."

I stared outside of my window as I sighed, "You're right, but I don't know how you'll react. I myself don't know how to react. I haven't told anyone."

"About...?" Damien asked as he parked the car in front of a liquor store.

I sighed, "Can we talk about this later?"

Damien sighed before nodding and getting out the car. He then went into the liquor store and, after about ten minutes, came back with two bags with two bottles in each. He placed the bags in the trunk before getting in the driver's seat and staring at me.

"What?" I asked shyly.

"Are you pregnant?" Damien asked with a straight face while staring into my eyes.

I blushed, "What? Why would you think-"

"Are you pregnant, City?" he asked again, and I looked away.

I stared out the window as I sighed, "Yes. I found out last week when I was throwing up. I took a few tests to confirm, and all did. I guess one of the condoms tore or something. I don't know."

He took my hand in his, and I slowly met his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" Damien frowned.

I shrugged, "I honestly just feel so lost right now. I don't even know what to do about the situation, or what you want to do about it. I didn't know if you'd get angry or scared or happy or hurt or...I don't know. I just don't know."

Damien sighed, "I'm here for you, always. It's your body at the end of the day, City, so you have to decide what you want as well."

"And what do you want?" I asked.

"For you to be happy," he answered. "If you want to keep the baby, I'm in a hundred percent. I'll do whatever it takes, but it's gonna be hard- especially with you having to go to school. We can get an apartment or even a house near the school, and since you'll be a sophomore, you can live there instead of on campus. I'll watch the baby while you're at school and when you're doing your schoolwork. I'm already working as a manager at one of your dad's companies, so I'm making enough to get us somewhere cozy by August. And if you don't want to keep the baby, I understand and am in a hundred percent too. I'm still gonna be with you at the end of the day. I'm not going anywhere."

I lightly smiled, "Okay," and he smooched my hands. "I need some time to think about it."

"Take as long as you need," he nodded understandingly, "and if you ever wanna talk about it more, I'm here."

"Okay, babe," I smiled before smooching his lips, but he pulled me into a long, passionate kiss as he caressed my cheeks.

When we pulled away he smiled, "I love you, okay?"

I blushed while nodding before replying, "I love you too."