Queen of Denial

Her words hit him like a bag of bricks, taking his breath away again, so he was quiet for a long moment. Playing the words in his mind over and over again, their night together coming back to him in fleeting fragments of memories. He finally took in a deep breath, and made a move; he stepped forward, away from the loud festival going on behind them, and sat down beside her, bringing his arm around her to pull her close to him, resting his chin on her head. “We’re going to have a baby,” he repeated, holding her gently against him, his hand rubbing her back as he pressed a kiss on her forehead. “It’s going to be okay, Bambi.” He had no idea if what he was saying was true, but he needed her to believe it. He needed to believe it too, otherwise, he didn’t know how he was going to go forward. 

Amber leaned into his embrace and sighed. She wasn’t emotional because they were doing this and she wasn’t necessarily emotional other the situation as a whole, but that she was scared of what she was going to do to her child. She didn’t know what unconditional love looked like. Or a functional mother-child relationship was. “I feel like I need to be the one telling you that.” She moved around so she was hugging him. “It will be okay,” she echoed is words. “I never really imagined having kids, but at least the one I will have is going to know what it’s like to have a real dad.” She pulled back, and with tears still streaming down her face, she smiled at him. “You’ll do great, I know it.” She kissed his cheek and sighed. “Sorry to drop it on you all at once, Charming,” she added.

“You just did, what?” Will raised his brow, gaze locked onto hers as she continued on, explaining what she meant. “Valentine’s Day?” He started to make a joke about how ironic that was, to end up pregnant after having sex on Valentine’s Day, of all days, but he stopped, as suddenly, he remembered. It was just fragments of memories, but it was enough to put together. He remembered them drinking, a lot. He remembered kissing her, and suddenly being in bed together. He’d woken up alone the next morning, with no recollection, which was why he was so caught off guard. Not just by the fact that he was suddenly going to be a dad, but because he and Amber had slept together. Him and Amber. Prince Charming and Bambi. It was all sorts of crazy, and he was shocked to his very core as he watched her walk off, sitting down as she waited for him. “—-Holy…. shit.” He let out a big breath, staggering back, catching himself just in time from falling over. He was not going to be the guy to faint after finding out he was going to be a dad. Nope. “–I…. We—— Baby???”

Amber felt bad about how she had just dropped this huge ass bomb on his lap, but was there really any other way? She was too tired to try and slowly introduce him to the idea, especially since she knew she’d get frustrated with him not making the connection and end up screaming it or something along those lines. She was never good with patience, after all. And now she really didn’t have the urge to try. She was still confused and worried herself. When she heard him talk finally, she nodded. “Yes,” she finally spoke, keeping her eyes fixated on him. “We’re going to have a baby.” 

“Not that busy,” Will quickly replied, letting out a small laugh. It was basically a joke, him having to be there to make sure things didn’t get out of hand– chances were, he was going to drink a couple more cups of cider, maybe reprimand a drunk and send him home, then go back to the station and spend the rest of his shift on his phone, unless his boss had him fill out some paperwork. “What’s going on?” He watched Amber, noting how unlike herself she was; she was anxious, and obviously bothered by something. He began thinking of what it could be that was making her feel and act like this, wondering if maybe he had to kick someone’s ass for hurting her. But as she finally uttered the words, revealing what was going on, he let out a breath, nearly laughing. “Oh…. shit. Bambi, are you serious? –You didn’t tell me you were sleeping with anyone. –Have you told the dad? Listen, if he ends up flaking on you, let me know, and I’ll knock some sense into him, okay?”

Amber felt a little bit relieved, though now she was back to normal self and rolling her eyes at his “chivalrous” attitude. Since she hadn’t remembered until the doctor’s visit that anything had happened, she didn’t really expect him to remember. She snorted as a mental image of him beating himself up popped into her head. “It was a bit of a one night thing. Didn’t even remember anything had happened until your mom told me the test was positive.” She crossed her arms over her chest. She wasn’t interested in playing anymore running around games, right now. “I just did.” She pursed her lips and watched him closely. “Valentine’s Day. I know you don’t remember, but I’ve been getting little flashbacks. And well, I haven’t been with anyone in months before that and according to how far along I am, it would’ve been around that day, so... Congratulations, you’re a dad. I know it’s a lot to take in, so I’m going to go sit down while you figure everything out.” Amber walked over to one of the benches and sat down.

Will was on duty tonight, appointed to patrol the town square in case anything eventful were to happen– which was highly unlikely, considering how small Granier was, and low the crime rate was. But still, it was a formality, ordered by Teresa Lucas herself. He mingled with his fellow officers, as well as some of the townspeople, who were kind enough to buy him refreshments and make his time at the festival pass fairly quickly– so quickly, that before he knew it, the moon had risen, and the festival was well under way. He was sipping on a cup of apple cider when he felt a tap on his shoulder; turning to find Amber, his best friend standing before him. “Hey, sure– what’s up?” he asked, giving her an affectionate smile before glancing away, still focused on his job to protect his community. 

Seeing him made her want to turn around a run away, but that would’ve definitely set off a red flag. She began fidgeting with her hands and avoiding any kind of eye contact. For Amber, she was acting so different than her normal self and she wanted to kick herself in the butt for it. So many thoughts were running through her head and she didn’t even know how to begin. “I know you’re busy right now, but it’s one of those things that I felt if I didn’t tell you now that I would always find reasons to avoid it. Of course I can only hide it for so long as eventually it would come to light, but still... And now I’m rambling.” She groaned before taking a deep breath and slowly looked up at him. “I’m pregnant.”