Chapter 28

WILLOW

I hear a crying sound.

When I open my eyes, it’s morning.

I reach for my stomach. Instinct, I suppose.

My stomach is… normal.

I quickly sit up in bed and throw the covers off my body.

I hear the noise again.

Definitely crying.

Not an adult crying.

It’s a baby crying.

I hurry to get out of bed and look around.

This is not my room. Not at all.

There are windows and furniture and… it looks too…

I walk to one of the windows.

I’m not on the ground floor like in my dorm.

I’m in a house. A bedroom in a house.

I’m looking outside to a front yard.

There’s a small white fence around the front yard.

A curved sidewalk with stone that is gray and red mixed together.

I hear the crying sound again.

I hurry around the large bed and out the bedroom door.

My toes dig into the soft carpeting of the hallway.

The crying sound is coming from downstairs.

“I’ve got you,” a voice says from downstairs. “This is a good time to learn the art of patience. Can you do that?”

The crying sound echoes again.

I begin my descent down a set of steps I’ve never seen before.

I come to a landing, turn to my right and continue down more steps.

Now I’m downstairs.

There’s a large window next to a front door.

“Almost ready for you,” a voice says.

I walk - carefully - and end up in the doorway of a dining room.

I walk through into a large, bright kitchen.

When I see the highchair and the baby sitting in the highchair, I cover my mouth.

Then I see someone standing at the sink.

A pink towel over his shoulder.

I know it’s Knox… but… what is happening here…

Knox turns around, holding a bottle in his right hand.

“Hey, baby,” he says. “Did you get some sleep? You were out cold when I woke up. This little princess has been awake for four hours already.”

I look at the baby in the highchair.

It’s a girl. She has piercing blue eyes and she smiles when she sees me.

I start to cry.

“Willow,” Knox says.

That’s when my eyes pop open in real life.

I sit right up in bed and touch my chest.

My heart is slamming as I take deep breaths.

That had to have been one of the realest dreams I’ve had in a long time.

My mouth is dry.

My hands are shaking.

I look to the other side of my bed.

Empty.

I really wanted Knox to spend the night and morning.

I wanted to wake up next to him and just have a moment for us.

Reality though…?

Knox and I aren’t together.

He doesn’t owe me a thing more than what he’s done so far.

I climb out of bed to go pee.

I feel like I sit there for two days just going and going.

My next step is to find coffee.

I’m not sure about caffeine and pregnancy though.

I have to do some research or maybe I can just ask Mila for her advice.

If I have to give up coffee for nine months, I’ll do it.

As I shuffle out toward the kitchen area of my dorm, the door opens.

I gasp.

“Oh, shit, did I scare you, baby?” Knox asks.

“Knox,” I say with a smile.

“I wanted to get back before you woke up. I snuck out to get some coffee and donuts for us. I, uh, I don’t know how you take your coffee or what you like to eat… so I kind of just… grabbed a little of everything.”

I nod.

I swallow hard.

That’s kind of a weird thing too.

The fact that Knox and I don’t know much about each other.

He doesn’t know how I like my coffee… two creams, four sugars.

He doesn’t know my favorite donut is glazed with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

Yet I’m carrying his baby.

I swallow hard a second time.

“Is this okay, Willow?” Knox asks. “I don’t want to be too… you know… pushy or up front or in the way…”

“It’s perfect,” I say. “It’s exactly what I want and need right now. It’s such a sweet-”

I instantly stop talking and turn and run for the kitchen sink.

No… fuck no… no…

I grab the edge of the sink and lean over it.

Guess who suddenly has morning sickness?