Chapter 1
I was eighteen and I was walking out of graduation with my three best friends and Zach beside me. We were all walking to the after-graduation party. Zach and I were trailing behind my friends while my friends chatted excitedly. Zach and I were holding hands and he pulled me in the nearest secret passageway but they didn't notice.
"What's up, Zach?" I asked.
He gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Cammie, I want you to know I love you."
"I love you, too, but what's this about? You seem really upset," I said.
Zach stared at the ground. "I've been asked to go on a mission."
"So? You'll be home soon. I know you'll be okay. You always are. We took down the whole COC and we're fine. I'm not worried about it," I replied unconcerned.
Zach shook his head. "Gallagher Girl, it's for at least five years."
I stared at him in shock. "You can't take it."
"I've already accepted," he replied. Tears stung my eyes. "I know. I love you and we've been through so much, but we need time apart. We have to experience our lives. We should be free to do what we want in our first years as spies. When we have stable lives and careers, we can try again, but I feel like we need time to experience life alone for a little while."
I glared through tears. "So, you want to go date other girls? That's all this is! I can't believe you didn't even tell me about this mission until right now. How could you do this to me?"
"Gallagh-" he began.
I cut him off. "Don't call me that. We're done. For good. I never want to see you again." I stormed out. I walked back to my room and laid on the floor sobbing. Half an hour later, my friends walked in and looked shocked to see the state I was in. They instantly went to comfort me.
I spent two weeks locked in my room. It took me a whole afternoon to get out that Zach left me to Bex who told Liz, Macey, my mom, Abby, and Solomon. They all took turns visiting me. Macey walked in with pizza for myself and her. I smelled the pizza and ran to the bathroom. I was throwing up and Macey held my hair back as her eyes went wide. When I finally stopped, she was still muttering to herself and I was laying down on my bed.
I finally got sick of her muttering. "What are you freaking out about?"
She sighed. "I don't know how to say this. Don't freak out, but... Are you pregnant?"
"What? No! Of course not!" I exclaimed.
Macey raised an eyebrow. "Are you one hundred percent sure? There's not even a small chance?"
I shook my head. "No, no. No way." My eyes suddenly got really wide.
"What is it?" Macey asked nervously.
I sighed. "A month and a half ago, after a date I had with Zach in town, we said I love you for the first time and, well, um..." I blushed.
"Oh my gosh! I'm getting you a test right now!" Macey practically screamed. She ran to her drawer and grabbed three out and threw them at me.
"Why do you have these?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes. "Emergencies. Take them and I'll get the girls." I walked to the bathroom and Macey got Bex and Liz. I left them in the bathroom and I was waiting the five minutes to check when they walked in with freaked out faces. Macey clearly told them and I was thankful she did.
"How much longer?" Bex asked.
I answered, "Two minutes and 21 seconds." She nodded and we waited in silence until the little alarm I'd set beeped. I stood up to go get them, but stopped. I started crying. "What am I going to do if I am pregnant? Zach left and he made it clear he wanted freedom. A child would chain him to me. Do I tell him? If I decide to, how will I even find him? Will he even want this child? Should I even keep the baby? How will I take care of it? Oh my gosh-"
"Cammie," Liz cut me off. We were all kind of shocked she was the one who cut me off. "If you are pregnant, you have nine months to figure out what to do. And we don't even know you're pregnant yet! Calm down and read the tests." I nodded and walked to the bathroom. I picked up the tests. Positive. Positive. Positive. I walked out of the bathroom and back to my friends with tears in my eyes. I handed each of them a test.
Simultaneously, they read, "Positive." They all gave me a big hug as I broke into sobs. Them reading it for me made it official. I was pregnant and I had to deal with it. At that moment, I decided to quit worrying about myself and start worrying about my child. I would love him or her so much and I was going to keep it.
"Now, we talk about what to do. Decision one and the most important, will you keep the baby?" Bex asked.
I nodded. "I wouldn't even consider terminating it. I already love the baby too much. I also can't imagine someone else raising the child I spent nine months caring for. I'm going to keep my baby!"
"And I'll dress the baby up and make it a little heartbreaker, no matter what gender!" Macey said excitedly with tears in her eyes.
We all laughed and Liz said, "Are you going to tell Zach?"
"I don't know. What do you think I should do? One of you do pros and someone else do cons," I told them.
"I'll take cons!" Bex said. "Okay. He broke your heart because he wanted freedom. He's my friend, but clearly he doesn't want stability right now. He wants to be spontaneous and crazy. If you tell him about this child, one of three things will happen. Option one: He'll do what he knows is right and take care of your baby with you. You'll get married and live out a perfectly nice life, but Zach will always have a small piece of him that regrets it. You don't want him taking that out on your child or you. Option two: Zach shows up, helps for a little after the baby is born, but then runs off, leaving you and a child asking where daddy went. And option three: Zach breaks your heart and tells you he wants nothing to do with you or the baby." By the end of her speech, I was crying more. I knew Bex was right on.
When Macey didn't step up, Liz sighed and said, "I guess I have pros. Wouldn't you want to know you have a child? It's unfair to Zach to not at least inform him that a child exists. And what if Zach realizes he made a mistake? You could have your baby and it could have it's mommy and daddy. You decide."
"Liz, you put up a good fight, but your scenario was the end of a movie while Bex's were real life. I know Zach and I know Bex got it exactly right. I can't tell him. If anything, it's for his and the baby's happiness. They're better off not knowing each other. If Zach finds out, we say it's not his baby. Only the four of us, Abby, mom, and Joe can know about this. Now we have to go tell them," I said. My friends nodded and followed me to my mom's office.
I knocked and heard my mom say, "Come on in." She was sitting on the couch with Joe and Abby was in a chair across from them. "What's up, girls? Are you feeling better, Kiddo?"
I took a shaky breath. "Kind of."
"What do you mean kind of?" Abby asked.
I sighed. "I'm pregnant."
My mom and Abby looked shocked while Joe said, "I will kill Zachary Goode."
"No. I'm happy about this. I'm keeping my baby and he'll have nothing to do with it. I'm letting you know no one is allowed to tell him that this is his child. It's my baby, not his. If he finds out, we say I had it with someone else," I replied.
Abby stared at me in shock. "You know this is almost exactly what Catherine did to Townsend, right? Now you're going to do the same thing to his son?"
"No. She did it for selfish reasons. She planned to make Zach an assassin. Zach was clear with me before he left that he wanted some freedom. A child doesn't scream freedom to you, does it? I love Zach and I know this is what is best for him and it breaks my heart. My baby won't have a dad because of my bad decisions, but I'm going to be a great mom," I commented with tears flowing down my face.
My mom hugged me. "I think you thought this out really well. I'll be there every step of the way to help."
"So will I," Joe said. Abby sighed and nodded in agreement.
"I don't know where to go now, though," I said. I couldn't go on missions while I was pregnant. I needed a new job and a place to stay.
My mom told me, "Your father and I actually bought a house here a year before he disappeared. We never used it but I've held on to it. You can move in there."
"And you have some money from taking down the Circle," Abby commented.
Solomon said, "And we weren't going to tell you yet, but I was considering taking a year off teaching CoveOps to heal some more. I'm still in pretty bad shape and Abby wants to take some missions, so if you want, the job is yours."
I grinned. "I'll take it."
"And we'll stay and work from Roseville," Bex said. Macey and Liz nodded.
I hugged them. "You guys are the best." Everyone hugged and we prepared for my changing life.
Hi! Please review with what you think the baby should be. Boy or girl, one or two babies, and possible names! Thanks for reading!
