TONIGHT WE'RE GOLD

THIRTY

'I'm pregnant.'

Both Frank and Gerard turn to her, shocked. Frank's stomach hurts thinking how young she is, and going through all of this. He doesn't know what to do. He's obviously never been in that situation, but he can't help thinking about Jamia getting pregnant and having to deal with an addict, and can't imagine how it must be for Kaya.

'I –,' he tries to say, but she cuts him off.

'I just found out this morning, and I don't know what to do. And I went to look for Dave –'

'Your boyfriend?' Frank asks.

She nods. 'I couldn't even tell him. But he begged me to get back together, and he was obviously drunk and –' She can't finish her sentence because she starts sobbing. 'I'm so stupid!'

Frank doesn't want to hear any of this. He wants to go and beat the guy up for ruining all her hard work. 'Hey, you're not stupid!' He wraps an arm around her, trying not to think about the smell. 'How far along are you?'

'I don't know. Probably around three months.'

Frank nods, rubbing his face in frustration. 'Look – it's too late for all of us, and we can't do anything right now. So let's go to bed, and we can talk tomorrow, okay?'

She nods.

'You can stay for as long as you need, but I think you do need to talk to your sister about this, and whatever decision to make.'

'I know.' She pauses. 'Thanks for letting me stay. I didn't know where else to go.'

'And you're always welcome here.'

Gerard looks at him, amazed at how he takes care of the problem, even though it's obvious he's freaking out.

'C'mon,' Frank says, leading her upstairs, and to the guest room. 'We obviously don't have women's clothes here, but let me give you one of my shirts for you to sleep in. You need anything?'

'No, I'm good. Thank you.' And out of nowhere, she throws herself at him, and hugs him. 'Thanks for helping me.'

'Of course. We're gonna get through this.'

***

When Gerard joins him in the bedroom, he finds him crying in bed. 'Hey, hey – no, don't cry.' He doesn't need to ask to know what's going on. 'It's not your fault, just like it wasn't my fault that you relapsed. You should know it, it's not easy if you're around the wrong people, but you get up and try it again.'

Frank nods. Why does Gerard always know what to say to make it better? How does he do it? 'But it's not just that –'

And Gerard knows.

'I just feel so weak sometimes, and like at any moment I'll get up and go buy a beer.'

'I know, but you're not weak. And I'll be here to help you if that happens, okay?'

He nods. Gerard hugs him from behind. 'What are we going to do?' Frank asks.

'I don't know. I think it depends on what she wants to do. So let's go to sleep, and we'll talk about it tomorrow.'

'Okay.'

***

Frank couldn't really sleep, and now he's getting up to take the dogs out. Kaya isn't up yet, so he gives her sometime. He needs time alone to think too.