Karen Roe sits at the kitchen table twirling her dark curly chin-length
hair between her fingers, quietly panicking, hoping against hope that the
home pregnancy test sitting in the bathroom wouldn't be positive.
It was a mistake; she was lonely and desperate.
Dan, of all people was there, at that bar, that night.
He had brought her one drink, then another, they had stumbled back to place; she doesn't remember much after that.
She had pushed it out of her mind, pretended it had never happened, it took her a week to realize she was late, or at least acknowledge it, and still she refused to believe that this could be happening, again. Just like she did at seventeen she tried to ignore it, which became impossible once the morning sickness kicked in.
She tries to remember the details of that one night with him, it is a blur except for that one split second in the morning when she woke up, still entangled in his arms and felt completely at peace.
The shrill ringing of an egg timer snapped her back to the present.
She stands up and almost falls straight back down again, she uses the table to steady her before walking slowly to the bathroom. She picks up the test box to make sure she has comprehended the directions; two pink plus sign indicate a positive result she reads before she picks up the stick lying on the vanity. It has two pink plus signs.
Lucas Scott quietly opens the front door to his house and hopes his mom is already asleep; he has stayed out an hour after his 10pm curfew, something tells him the his mom won't be particularly sympathetic to the fact he was fighting with his now ex-girlfriend Peyton Sawyer.
As he creeps past his mom's bedroom he is surprised to hear sobbing from the other side of the closed door. In the last sixteen years he has only seen his mom cry three times, once when he was about seven and his grandfather had died, once when he was eleven, he had fallen off of his bike and torn most of the skin off his knee, he was bleeding, a lot and she had panicked, the last, most recent time was last year when he had awoken from his coma following the car accident that almost claimed his life.
He knocks gently on the door and getting no response opens the door, he gasps at the sight of his mom not lying as he had expected on the bed but curled up in the fetal position on the cold tile floor of the adjacent three-way bathroom wearing nothing but her underwear, he spied her clothes on the floor about five feet from where she was lying covered vomit.
"Mom," he whispered trying to cover the fear in his voice.
Her only response was another sob.
He walks over to her; she is freezing, picks her up and carries her to the bed, throws the covers over her, and slumps to the floor beside her bed.
"Mom, what's wrong?" He asked choking back tears.
"Lucas, I'm so sorry." She sobbed in reply trying to pull herself together a little.
"What mom?" He asked, his tears finally spilling over.
"I'm sorry for scaring you and I'm sorry for hurting you." She whispers, her finger absentmindedly twirling his ashy blonde hair.
"Are you OK?" He asks still terrified.
She shakes her head before whispering, "Lucas, I'm pregnant."
Karen wipes her eyes and tries to absorb what she has just told her son, it is the first time she has said the words out loud and somehow saying "I'm pregnant." out loud makes it seem a little more real.
She waited for a reply from Luke, she has found that honesty is by far the best policy when it comes to him, he tends to take the little while lies people tell, often out of necessity in the moment very hard, not that it easy to tell a little white lie when you are sobbing your eyes out and have ended up getting so worked up you have thrown-up all over yourself.
After a few more moments silence that seemed like an eternity to her, Luke finally responded, "Mom, it's gonna be OK."
"No it's not." She whispers her voice breaking, fresh tears streaming down her face, "I can't do this on my own again."
"What do you mean?" Lucas replied, he had automatically assumed the baby was Keith's.
Deciding again that being honest was the right thing to do, she sobbed "Luke, It' Dan's baby."
It was a mistake; she was lonely and desperate.
Dan, of all people was there, at that bar, that night.
He had brought her one drink, then another, they had stumbled back to place; she doesn't remember much after that.
She had pushed it out of her mind, pretended it had never happened, it took her a week to realize she was late, or at least acknowledge it, and still she refused to believe that this could be happening, again. Just like she did at seventeen she tried to ignore it, which became impossible once the morning sickness kicked in.
She tries to remember the details of that one night with him, it is a blur except for that one split second in the morning when she woke up, still entangled in his arms and felt completely at peace.
The shrill ringing of an egg timer snapped her back to the present.
She stands up and almost falls straight back down again, she uses the table to steady her before walking slowly to the bathroom. She picks up the test box to make sure she has comprehended the directions; two pink plus sign indicate a positive result she reads before she picks up the stick lying on the vanity. It has two pink plus signs.
Lucas Scott quietly opens the front door to his house and hopes his mom is already asleep; he has stayed out an hour after his 10pm curfew, something tells him the his mom won't be particularly sympathetic to the fact he was fighting with his now ex-girlfriend Peyton Sawyer.
As he creeps past his mom's bedroom he is surprised to hear sobbing from the other side of the closed door. In the last sixteen years he has only seen his mom cry three times, once when he was about seven and his grandfather had died, once when he was eleven, he had fallen off of his bike and torn most of the skin off his knee, he was bleeding, a lot and she had panicked, the last, most recent time was last year when he had awoken from his coma following the car accident that almost claimed his life.
He knocks gently on the door and getting no response opens the door, he gasps at the sight of his mom not lying as he had expected on the bed but curled up in the fetal position on the cold tile floor of the adjacent three-way bathroom wearing nothing but her underwear, he spied her clothes on the floor about five feet from where she was lying covered vomit.
"Mom," he whispered trying to cover the fear in his voice.
Her only response was another sob.
He walks over to her; she is freezing, picks her up and carries her to the bed, throws the covers over her, and slumps to the floor beside her bed.
"Mom, what's wrong?" He asked choking back tears.
"Lucas, I'm so sorry." She sobbed in reply trying to pull herself together a little.
"What mom?" He asked, his tears finally spilling over.
"I'm sorry for scaring you and I'm sorry for hurting you." She whispers, her finger absentmindedly twirling his ashy blonde hair.
"Are you OK?" He asks still terrified.
She shakes her head before whispering, "Lucas, I'm pregnant."
Karen wipes her eyes and tries to absorb what she has just told her son, it is the first time she has said the words out loud and somehow saying "I'm pregnant." out loud makes it seem a little more real.
She waited for a reply from Luke, she has found that honesty is by far the best policy when it comes to him, he tends to take the little while lies people tell, often out of necessity in the moment very hard, not that it easy to tell a little white lie when you are sobbing your eyes out and have ended up getting so worked up you have thrown-up all over yourself.
After a few more moments silence that seemed like an eternity to her, Luke finally responded, "Mom, it's gonna be OK."
"No it's not." She whispers her voice breaking, fresh tears streaming down her face, "I can't do this on my own again."
"What do you mean?" Lucas replied, he had automatically assumed the baby was Keith's.
Deciding again that being honest was the right thing to do, she sobbed "Luke, It' Dan's baby."