Chapter nineteen

The slam of a door wakes me up the next morning. My eyes sting and I rub them as I try to make sense of where I am. I look around and see I'm still in Levi's room. I'm on the floor, a wool blanket spread out on the ground and my bedspread on top of me.

I roll over and see Daniel on the other side of the blanket. He's facing me but is a whole arm length away from me. He sends me a smile, "Good morning, Sunshine, are you ready?" Before I can ask what I should be ready for, Will barges into the room, fuming.

"What are you doing?" Will yells and pulls Daniel up from our makeshift bed. He throws him down a few meters away from me before he turns to look at me, "What were you thinking?" He turns back to Daniel, "And you, you promised to keep your hands off her."

"Come on man, we were 18," Daniel says. Even I know he should have thought of a different defence. Will growls and tackles Daniel to the wall. I hear him grunt and get to my feet. "Will, please don't kill him. My baby needs a father. You don't want to be the reason I can only show the kid photos of its dad."

Will turns around to face me, "He knocked you up, and then left you. Now he's with the other girl and-" I hold up my hand to stop him, "It was a mutual decision. We didn't know at the time." I lie through my teeth, but at this point, I'd lie about almost anything to keep my baby's father safe.

Will looks over his shoulder at Daniel, "Don't speak to me." He leaves the room, but not before he gave one last punch in Daniel's stomach. Daniel curls over in pain and I hurry over to him, "Are you alright?" I ask rubbing his back.

"I'm supposed to save you, not the other way around." He says, breathing heavily. I laugh, "I've never been the damsel in distress." He nods, "That's true." He sends me a smile, "Thanks, Linds." I nod and get to my feet, "I'll get you a cup of coffee."

"I need you to take make your own breakfast." I say, placing Daniel's coffee in front of him "I have a morning class I need to get to." I grab a banana and start heading to the door. "Wait." I stop and turn to look at Daniel. His hands are wrapped around the cup of coffee and he's leaning against the door frame.

"What?" I ask, half irritated at him for keeping me from leaving. "When are you going to stop the classes?" He asks. I roll my eyes, "The last month before the baby comes." I say and leave the house.

At the studio I start typing up a letter telling the parents of my pregnancy and that classes will continue as usual. And luckily the baby is scheduled to come early January, so everyone will be on holiday so they won't miss much.

I print out the letter and head to the studio where the little girls are waiting for me with their mothers. I hand out the letter and take the little ones into the class and shut the door. While I work with them I see the mothers talking very intensely, glancing into the class every now and then.

After the forty-five minute class, I open the door and let the little girls run to their mothers. "Thank you for coming." I say smiling at the mothers. Everyone ushers their children down the hall to the exit. I hear a few congratulations as they leave, but no one really says anything.

Except for one mother. She sits her little girl down on one of the chairs and turns to face me. "Did we miss the wedding?" She asks, a bitter tone behind the forced politeness. I shake my head, "No, you didn't." She glares at me, "What example are you setting for our children?"

"They don't know how things work." I say looking at her little girl, playing with the butterflies on her coat. "Yes they do, they see things. They pick up on things." I shake my head, "The girls won't be affected by this. Classes will run as normal and-"

"And when you start getting fat?" She grumbles. I bite my tongue and try not to snap at her rudeness. "We'll face that problem when it comes if it comes." She rolls her eyes, "That's not a good plan." "It's the best I have. I'll tell them I'm having a baby and we'll move one." I glare at her, waiting for her to challenge me.

"Then you leave us to answer the question where babies come from." She almost yells at me, luckily she remembered her daughter sitting on the chair. I sigh, "As I said, we'll cross the bridge when we reach it." "Catharina will hear about this." She snaps, turning around and picking her daughter up off the chair, "Come, Holly." She places the girl on her hip and walks down the hall.

Holly looks back and waves at me with a smile. I wave back and watch them leave. Maybe she was right? Maybe I shouldn't keep on teaching while I'm pregnant. I should also call Catharina. I hurry to the office and dial her number.

She picks up after a few rings, "Catharina." I take a deep breath before I start talking, "Hello, it's me, Lindsey." I hear her chuckle on the other end of the line, "Oh, my dear, I haven't heard from you in quite some time. Is something wrong?" She sounds worried, but not too worried.

"I just felt I should call and tell you that I'm having a baby and that I-" "A baby?" She asks, excitement in her voice. She speaks to someone else, "Come here, Lindsey is having a baby!" I hear Anina speaking faintly in the background, "A baby?" Catharina answers and then I hear them both laugh with joy.

"Who's the father?" Anina asks. "It's not important, I just wanted to let you know. The baby is scheduled to come in January so I will be able to teach, but some of the mothers don't seem to be happy about it, so I was thinking maybe I shouldn't teach-" Catharina cuts me off again, "Do you think I stopped teaching when I was pregnant with Anina? I danced to the day she came." I laugh, "What about the mothers?" She grunts, "Let them be, they'll get over it."

I nod to myself, "If you're sure." She laughs, "I'm sure my dear, we need to go, but good luck with the baby. Hopefully, we'll be back before the little one arrives." The line dies. I put the reviser on its hook and sit back in the chair.

I hope that there aren't more mothers who felt like Holly's mom. It will be much easier to stay positive if everyone were just as happy as Catharina and Anina. At least they reacted much better than the Greene family. I let out a sigh and print out more of the letter.

I decide to go home since my next class isn't until later today. When I arrive at home I see an unfamiliar car parked in the Greene's driveway. I try to see who's car it is from where I stood in my own driveway.

"Abby, wait." I hear Daniel call from across the street. I step back behind my car. "Abby, please." I peer around the car and see the red-haired girl get into the car and drive off. Daniel left on the sidewalk. I step out and walk over to him. "Is everything alright?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I told her." I bite my lip and look away. "She says she needs time to think about everything." He says softly. I nod. "You did tell her it happened way before you got together right?" He nods, "I did." I sigh, "I'm sorry."

He turns to face me, "Will you stop apologizing? If she doesn't want to be apart of this amazing thing that's happening in my life then it's her loss." I shake my head, "But you really like her." He shrugs, "I do." I look away from him, "I don't know. Sometimes I feel like it's causing a lot more hurt than joy."

Daniel uses his index finger to turn my head back to him, "Don't let what's happening around you ruin the joy you're supposed to be feeling about this." I try to smile, but I'm pretty sure I failed. He places a soft kiss on my forehead and I shut my eyes, savouring the moment.

"I should go." He says, stepping away. I nod, "I should too, time to feed the little one." I pat my stomach. He laughs, "Make sure to eat enough." I nod and cross the street.

I stop in my tracks when I see Amanda on my porch. She is playing with her bracelet, she must be very nervous. I walk up the stairs and stand in front of her. "Can we have some tea?" She asks, still playing with the bracelet. I nod and unlock the door, letting her in first.

"I had to talk to you. I didn't get the chance last night." She says shakily. I don't interrupt as I get out the cups and put on the kettle. "Lindsey, I need to know the truth." I cringe at her use of my name. She and Dwayne rarely call me Lindsey. She's silent for a moment. "Don't you guys love each other, I mean you obviously did enough to- you know." Her eyes flash to my stomach.

"Amanda, we, I do love your son. I did at that moment, and I'm sure he did too. But things didn't work out and he moved on. He's with Abby now, and me having his baby doesn't change the way he feels about her." I tighten my jaw, trying to ignore the slight pain in my heart.

"But, you're having his baby." She says, sounding close to tears. I nod, "I am, yes, but like I said, it doesn't change how he feels." She shakes her head, "But it has to." "I'm sorry, Amanda." She sighs heavily and I see a tear roll down her cheek. I pour her a cup of tea and give her a tissue.

Before I can say anything else there's a knock at the front door. I excuse myself and hurry to open it. I am met with Will's angry eyes, "What were you thinking?" I roll my eyes. I should have known he'll come back to finish what he started this morning. "Hello to you too, Will." He rolls his eyes at my sarcastic remark and pushes past me.

"How could you sleep with him?" He grumbles. "Well, we were talking and then we were kissing and he started to-" "Shut up, Lindsey." He snaps, "You know what I mean." I roll my eyes, "Why is this such a big problem for everyone?"

"What would mom and dad say?" Will asks looking me in the eye. I glare at him, "Don't you dare bring them up to me. What would they think of you, Will? You've been sleeping around since you figured out how to do it." He rolls his eyes, "But you were the pure one. You were the one they were going to be proud of." I shake my head, "Why? Because I am a girl? Why is it fine for you to do what you want but when I do it, it's frowned upon? Why am I seen as the slut in this situation? It takes two to make a baby."

"I know, but you won't let me hit him." Will grumbles. "Hitting him won't change anything." I sigh, "Look, it happened, so why don't we all just move forward?" I ask looking up at him, "Please, for the baby." Will grumbles something then nods. "Great."

"I just want-" Will's cut off by another knock on the door. Why am I so popular today? "Can you keep Amanda company? She's in the kitchen, try and convince her that things will be fine." Will nods and leaves the room.

I open the door and wish I'd just stayed at the studio. "Abby. Come in." I step aside and let her in. I shut the door and shoot up a quick prayer. I turn to face her and put on the best smile I can muster. "How can I help you?"

She looks at me and I see her eyes are puffy and red. I bite my lip, waiting for her to say something. "You're beautiful." I'm taken aback by her words. "I can see why he likes you." I don't know how to respond so I don't. She looks down at her feet. When she looks up again she tucks her hair behind her ear, she's letting it grow, and at that moment I can also see why Daniel was taken by her. She's small and beautiful and fragile. Perfect for him.

"I need you to be honest with me." She says softly. I nod. "Is he in love with you?" Her voice breaks and a tear rolls down her cheek. I shake my head, "I don't think so, no. I know he likes you though." I take a deep breath before continuing, shoving the sharp pain in my chest to the side. This is for Daniel, he'll be heartbroken if he'd lose her too.

"I asked him if he was happy with you before I told him." She looks up at me, expectantly. "He got this goofy grin on his face and said he was." I force a smile, "He's been worried about how you'd take it ever since." She smiles and wipes at the tear on her cheek, "Really?" I nod, "Really."

She wraps her arms around me, "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She chimes before pulling away. She hurries out the door with a quick goodbye over her shoulder. I stand there, stunned at what happened. I spot her through the window as she runs across the street to the Greene's.

I let out a sigh and sit down on the sofa. I did it for him. I remind myself as I hold back the tears. He needs to be happy. Even if it isn't with me.