Cassandra looked around the bathroom that Amy had set up for her. There was a bath water waiting for her, a robe folded on the toilet, and aromatic candles lit on the side table. She knew Amy had meant well, but right now the smell of the candles made her sick, which is why blowing them out was the first thing she did.
The whole nausea thing was why she'd started to suspect the pregnancy in the first place. She hadn't expected it to be true, as she was on the pill, but after a while she hadn't been able to think anything else before knowing whether it was true or not and that had become a problem, especially while working.
And so, here, in this very bathroom, she'd taken the test and found out she was pregnant. Of course she'd had to be 100% sure of the result, as the home tests weren't always reliable, which was why she'd gone and gotten herself checked. Truth to be told, she didn't remember much from the appointment, only the three words that had rung in her head ever since: "You are pregnant."
These last few days felt like they had lasted a week, and Cassandra realized she'd never felt this trapped in her own body-and in a way, her body wasn't even just hers anymore.
She sighed and tried to shut her brain off. Tomorrow this time, it'll be over, she told herself, even though she knew it wasn't going to be easy.
Eventually, Cassandra stripped off her clothes, tied her hair up, and got into the bath. She tried to adjust her body in the tub and closed her eyes as the water hugged her figure. The bathroom was silent, but she could hear low murmurs coming from the room as Ty and Amy were talking. Thankfully, she couldn't make out what they were saying, because without a doubt they were talking about something relating to this situation. She already had too many voices in her head, telling their opinion about this topic, when she'd never even asked that.
After a nice cup of tea, Amy had suggested a bath for Cassandra. She was kind of stumped with the situation. She'd never come across anything like this, but she still tried her best to look after their house guest as well as she could. What she'd figured so far was that she shouldn't treat Cassandra like she was made of glass, but she would still do anything she could to make her feel less stress.
Cassandra had liked the idea of a bath and was now in the bathroom while Amy dug out fresh linens from the closet. Ty was taking his pillow and cover from their bed. The plan was to let Cassandra sleep on the bed with Amy while Ty himself would sleep on the couch. Ty knew Cassandra wasn't probably that uncomfortable physically, as she wasn't heavily pregnant, but it just felt polite to let her have a better bed, if only to give her a chance to rest better.
"What would you do?" Amy asked when she brought a sheet to Ty.
Ty looked confused as he accepted it. "What do you mean?"
"If I told you I was pregnant," Amy explained further.
"Well, I think it's hardly the same as it is with Caleb and Cass," Ty said right away. "I mean, we've been together for years, and we're married. And we've also talked about the possibility of having kids, so ... I feel like if that would happen, we would let it happen."
"Yeah, I guess so," Amy agreed. "What about if I told you I didn't want to keep it...?" she continued carefully.
It took a while for Ty to reply. "First of all, I would be surprised if you'd say that, not going to lie," Ty admitted, glancing at Amy. "It just wouldn't feel like you, you know?" Amy nodded; Ty knew her so well. "But... I think we would talk about it and get on the same page eventually, whatever that page would be."
Amy agreed. It felt like it was easier for her and Ty to talk about things like this and come to the same conclusion, as they had slowly intertwined their lives together and become more of the same whereas Caleb and Cassandra often argued or even nagged about things they didn't agree with one another about.
"In the car, when Cassandra told me, I kept thinking if it was weird that I wouldn't be able to go through with it myself, but I also wouldn't want to make Cassandra think that she shouldn't either," Amy confessed. "Does that even make sense?"
"It does to me," Ty replied. "I mean, at the end of the day, we can't force people to live the life we ourselves would because it's never the same. No one's lives are the same, so one pattern doesn't just fit all. It's one thing to offer advice sometimes, but it doesn't mean people have to take it, and we have to respect that. I guess what I'm saying is that I wish people would respect my choices, so in return I want to respect their choices, too. Unless those choices are stupid and hurtful to others," he added, even smiling a little bit.
"Yeah, you would know all about those stupid decisions, wouldn't you?" Amy teased.
"Well, I married you, so..." Ty hit back and grinned.
"Hey!" Amy slapped him gently when she got what he meant. Ty laughed a little. They were just about to get into a playful fight when they heard steps from downstairs.
"Coming in!" Caleb's voice announced.
Their smiles died on their lips. Amy was surprised, but when she noticed Ty seemed more nervous about how this was going to go down, she realized Ty had known about this. "Caleb, what are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to Cassandra," the cowboy explained, seemingly nervous. "Where is she?"
Amy sighed a little and looked at Ty. "We really need to get that door so people wouldn't just barge in," she said under her breath and then walked to Caleb, leaving Ty to make his own bed. "She's in the bath, but I don't want you to distract her."
"But we need to talk!" Caleb hurried. His patience was wearing thin.
"As if she's doing anything in that tub right now," Amy tried to cover her friend. "Whatever you have to say, it can wait."
"But–" Caleb couldn't even argue before the bathroom door opened. Cassandra walked out wearing a bathrobe. The man's eyes fixed on her. "Cass. We need to talk."
"I figured you wouldn't give up that easily," Cassandra said. She knew that this was going to be inevitable, so she might as well get it done now.
"Amy, why don't we do night check?" Ty suggested, even though he wasn't even done with putting on the linens.
"Yeah, let's go," Amy agreed, figuring Caleb and Cassandra could use the privacy-even though it seemed like nothing that happened in this loft ever remained completely private. The couple went downstairs to check the horses, leaving Cassandra and Caleb to talk.