CHAPTER 64

OH TELL ME MORE BOY

Saturday morning had finally arrived, despite the feeling that it never would. Both Addison and Zed had spent the last two days walking around in a daze, finding it difficult to focus on anything else.

Zed rolled out of bed sleepily, petting Milo as he stood up. He hadn't slept much since Wednesday night. He found himself staying up all night reading anything he could find on both human pregnancy and zombie pregnancy. The more he read, the more terrified he got. Sure the thought of having a child at a young age was scary, but he knew the two of them together could handle it. What really scared him was everything that could go wrong. Tears started to fill his eyes as he stood under the hot spray of the shower. His mother had died giving birth to his sister. He knew that he would never forgive himself if something happened to Addison. He wiped at his eyes and turned off the water. He repeated the same thing he had been telling himself since Wednesday night. "We don't know anything yet." With a heavy sigh, he made his way back to his room to get dressed for the day. When he was finally dressed, he grabbed his backpack and duffle and went downstairs.

Zevon was standing in the kitchen placing breakfast down on the table for him when he walked in.

"Figured you'd want to eat something before you headed out...Freshman orientation," Zevon said in awe. "I'm proud of you, son."

"Thanks, Pops," Zed replied quietly as he sat down and pushed his cauliflower egg scramble across his plate.

"You okay? Where's the typical swagger?"

Zed ran his hand through his hair and shrugged. "Just tired I guess."

"Still trying to adjust from the trip?"

"Yeah."

Zevon sat down next to him at the table. "What time do you guys expect to get back tomorrow?"

"Orientation wraps up at two, I believe, then we have to drive back..." he shrugged. "Depends on traffic, but probably before seven."

"Gloria wanted to come by to make dinner tomorrow."

Zed's face lit up. "I totally support that idea," he smiled.

"I figured you would," he clapped Zed on the shoulder and stood back up. "Be careful driving."

"I will."

"And I want to hear all about it tomorrow night."

Zed sighed. "I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about." He set his fork down and stood up, hugging his father. "I've got to go pick up Addie."

Zevon was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden hug. "Oh, okay...what about Eliza?"

He shook his head. "She drove up with Bucky last night. He's representing the cheer squad at all the events this weekend... I'll see you later, Pops."

All too soon Zed was parked in front of Addison's house. He took a deep breath and tried to get his head straight. "We don't know anything yet." He breathed in through his nose and exhaled out his mouth. He needed to be strong for her. He took one more deep breath and straightened his shoulders, plastering his usual self-assured smile on his face before he got out the car to ring the doorbell.

A moment later the door opened and Addison stepped out smiling. "Bye Mom, Bye Dad!" She took Zed's hand without saying a word and walked towards the car. Her large smile not slipping until after her bags were in the trunk and they were driving off down the street. With a heavy exhale she finally relaxed. "Morning, handsome," she whispered leaning over to kiss him.

"Morning, gorgeous...how are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "I only threw up twice...so that's an improvement. I'm just tired. I couldn't sleep last night."

"Me either."

"Do you mind if we stop at Dream Bean before we get on the road? I could really go for about a gallon of coffee right about now...and a brown sugar cinnamon muffin...but mostly the coffee."

Zed cringed. "Um...Addie...I was doing some reading while I was trying to fall asleep last night. I think you should dial the caffeine intake back a little. If you are...you know..."

Addison let out a low growl. "I swear if you try to keep me from coffee right now I will…." she closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she tried to center herself. After a few more calming breaths she opened her eyes and looked over to him. "Sorry...Once we know for sure, then I'll read every last article I can find on the subject. But until then, I need it! Got it!"

"Yes, ma'am..." Zed said with a slight smile. "You know those mood swings are getting pretty scary."

She let out another heavy sigh. "I know. I'm trying to stop them. I just get so angry and ragey and…."

"And you feel like you want to take a bite out of someone?"

"Yeah, how did you..."

Zed pointed to himself. "Zombie...remember. That's what it feels like when we're unstable. Multiply that by a hundred and that's what it's like when we go offline completely."

"Wow."

"Yeah, not fun."

"So..." Addison said trying to lighten the suddenly very heavy air in the car. "Coffee?"

Zed shook his head and smiled. "You got it, Gorgeous." He'd do anything to keep her happy. He drove through the drive-thru, ordering them both coffees and muffins. Before they even made it onto the interstate, Addison was softly snoring.

"Addie..." Zed said softly shaking her should. "Wake up, beautiful. We're here?"

Addison's eyes fluttered open. "What?"

"We're here."

"Already?"

Zed smiled and leaned over the center console to kiss her cheek. "It's been a few hours."

Her eyes started to fill with tears. "Why didn't you wake me up? You shouldn't have had to drive all the way listening to me snore!"

"Hey," he whispered pulling her into a hug. "Your snoring was adorable, and you need the sleep. It's okay."

"But I wanted to spend time with you."

He kissed her softly. "I'm sorry."

Addison sniffled and wiped her nose. "It's okay...I'm just kind of all over the place."

"Do you want to go grab a test right now? We have about an hour before everything starts."

She shook her head. "No, we need to register, and check into our dorms, and meet up with my cousin and Eliza, and..."

Zed let out a soft laugh. "I get it...plenty to do in the next hour."

"We should probably get started."

He held her tight and kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

They sat their silently in each other's arms for a few more minutes before finally getting out the car to face the day. Zed grabbed Addison's weekender and backpack out of the trunk along with his own.

"You know I am fully capable of carrying my own bags, right?" Addison said as she walked around to the trunk.

Zed rolled his eyes. "It's the least I can do right now."

"Zed! Addison!"

They both turned around to see Stanley Winters exiting his car. They waved and walked over to meet him.

"So do I call you Mr. Winters or Stanley while we're on campus?" Zed asked as he shook his hand.

Stanley looked around. "As long as the President of the university isn't around, Stanley will be just fine."

Zed smiled. "Noted. How are Hannah and Kyla?"

"Doing great! She's getting big. Hannah just went back to work, so Ky has been spending a lot of time with Grandma." He pulled out his phone and showed them her most recent picture.

"Awww," Addison said quietly. "She has gotten big. She's so cute."

"Thank you. She keeps us busy, that's for sure. She's finally sleeping a little more at night. Colic is not fun. Between the late night feedings, diapers, and that...I didn't think we were ever going to sleep again!" he glanced down at his watch. "I've got to run. Zed...are you coming back up with Addison in a couple of weeks for the cheer clinic?"

"Sure am."

"Great. Why don't we plan to get together for lunch? I'll text you."

"Sounds great, Stanley," he said shaking his hand.

"Addison, always a pleasure."

"Glad we ran into you," she said forcing a smile to her face.

"Enjoy orientation!" He called out as he briskly walked towards the administration building.

"Zed..." Addison whispered, grabbing his arm in a panic. "I didn't even think about any of that stuff. The sleepless nights, the constant crying, the diapers, the feedings..."

He turned to face her. "Addison, look at me," he said holding her face in his hands. "We don't know anything yet."

"I know, but..."

"No."

"But what if..."

"No. We're not stressing about this yet. Got it?" He placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you. We will deal with whatever happens together."

She nodded her head and hugged him around the waist, nestling her head into chest.

"There you two are!"

They both looked over to see Bucky and Eliza walking up to them.

"You alright, cuz?"

Addison nodded. "Yeah, I just woke up."

"Still not feeling well?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. You know I always fall asleep on road trips."

Bucky laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure you got an earful, Z...it's even worse when it's her and my Uncle Dale snoring in stereo."

Eliza just smiled and stepped in front of him. "I have to go join the tour that's about to start, but I was looking at the schedules. Looks like we'll have a break for dinner. Do we want to grab something together? I mean, if you want to associate with a computer major," she teased. "I can't believe I get to say that! Me! A computer major!"

"Actually, we just ran into Sta...Mr. Winters, we're having dinner with him to talk about the upcoming signing day press conference at school. Lot's to plan!" Addison said as cheery as possible, hoping they wouldn't suspect anything.

Eliza shrugged. "Whatevs. We'll just catch you at the social after."

"Definitely," Zed said. "Enjoy the tour...and E...congratulations," he whispered, hugging her.

"Thanks, Z."

When they walked their separate ways, Zed draped his arm over Addison's shoulder. "That was very convincing," he laughed as they made their way towards the sign in table.

"Yeah, well you're a terrible liar and she would have seen right through you. I, unfortunately, have years of experience thanks to my parents and that god awful

wig." She grabbed onto his arm in a panic again. "Please tell me we would never make our child wear a wig?"

Zed pulled her into a hug. "I promise. I don't care what color hair they have. Green, white, purple, striped, polka-dot…"

She pulled back and smiled. "Polka-dot? Really?"

"What? It could happen."

Addison giggled and reached up on her tippy toes to kiss him. "Thank you. I needed that."

He kissed her back. "Anytime, Gorgeous. Anytime."

After walking Addison over to the women's dorm, Zed walked the short distance over to Bartholomew Hall where he would be staying. He made his way up the stairs to the third floor and down the hall. He checked his room assignment once more before knocking and opening the door.

"Hello?" He said as he cracked the door open and popped his head in.

"Hey!"

Zed walked into the room and dropped his bags down on the unoccupied bed before holding his hand out to greet his roommate for the weekend. "Zed."

"Zavier," the other zombie said shaking his hand. "Hey...I recognize you…We played you guys in the State Championship game this year. You scored the winning touchdown."

Zed laughed. "Oh, no...you're an Eel?"

"Well, we'll both be playing for the Rays next season," Zavier said sitting back down on his bed.

"What position do you play?"

"Center."

"Nice to meet another O-line teammate. What's your major?"

"Political Science."

"Really? That's my girlfriends major as well," Zed said smiling.

Zavier let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness I won't be the only zombie in that program."

"Oh, no...she's not a zombie. She's very much a human."

"Really?"

Zed smiled even wider and nodded.

"Cool...I don't know any zombie/human couples...How did that happen?"

"It's a long story, but...we've been together since Freshman year."

"Wow," Zavier whispered shaking his head in disbelief. "So, what's your major?"

"I'm doubling. Bio and Kinesiology."

"Damn...and playing football?"

"Yup. Figured it would help with the MCAT for Med-School."

"And I thought I was an overachiever," Zavier laughed.

A knock on the door interrupted them.

"I'll get it," Zed said standing back up. He opened the door only to be tackled hugged.

"Addie! I thought we were meeting back up in the student union in thirty?"

"That was before I 'met' my roommate," she said almost in tears.

Zed wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tighter. "Shh...it's okay, what happened?"

"They have me rooming with Morgan!"

He pulled away slightly to be able to look at her. "Morgan? Morgan, Morgan? As in annoying Morgan from school?"

"Yeah. Morgan, always flirting with you, tricked you into kissing her, Morgan!"

"I didn't kiss her..."

"Performed 'life-saving CPR unnecessarily on'...point remains."

"Awww, come here," he smiled, hugging her again. He looked over to his roommate. "This is my girlfriend, Addison."

Addison looked up and wiped her eyes. "Hi," she waved. "Sorry to just barge in. I promise I'm not usually like this. I'm just having a rough morning."

Zavier smiled and waved back. "It happens. I'm Zavier. I'm sure I'll be seeing a lot of you. Poli-Sci major."

"Really? That's awesome. It'll be nice knowing someone else in the fall."

"Between that and football, we'll probably be sick of each other," he teased.

"You play football too?"

"Sure do. I play center."

"Oh, so you'll both be playing offense. That's amazing that they put you two together! Unlike my room assignment..."

Zed bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. "I'm sorry, Gorgeous."

"I think they put us together because we're both Zombies," Zavier offered with a shrug. "The football thing was probably a happy accident."

Addison nodded. "That would make sense, Eliza's rooming with a zombie as well. I already asked if I could crash on their floor tonight."

"What did she say?"

"She said it was fine by her, but if my snoring is as bad as Bucky says, she can't be held responsible for her actions."

Zed stifled another laugh. "You don't snore that bad. I think it's adorable."

"You have to say that because you love me… I need to go get some fresh air. It smells like a locker room in this dorm," she scrunched her nose and shook her head.

He leaned over and grabbed his backpack. "I'll head out with you." He looked over to Zavier, "I'll catch you later, man."

"I don't think you're going to find my snoring adorable," Zavier said, throwing him a head nod.

"It was nice to meet you, Zavier. I guess I'll be seeing you soon."

"Good to meet you too, Addison."

When they got outside Addison took a deep breath in through her nose.

"Better?" Zed asked wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

Addison smiled and leaned back into his chest. "Much."

He bent down and kissed her softly. "You ready to go hear all about what to expect our Freshman year at SLU?"

She shook her head as she looked up into his eyes. "Not really. I'm not going to be able to focus on anything when I'm worried I'll be reading 'What to expect when expecting' while sitting in Freshman seminar."

He turned her around and ran a soothing hand down her back. "I checked the schedule. We have a break for lunch as well. Do you want to go then?"

She shook her head. "No...we have to meet with the advisers in our majors immediately after. We can't risk not being here for that."

"So we're waiting until four?"

She nodded.

"Well, if that's the case...let's focus on school, now… We don't know anything yet."

"No promises," she muttered under her breath as they set off towards the auditorium.

Addison went through her day in a haze. She wanted to be excited about things like joining Model U.N., and Future Leaders, but with every new opportunity presented to her she withdrew more and more. By the time their dinner break finally rolled around, she was completely numb. She walked through the quad towards the parking lot lost in her thoughts. It wasn't until she felt a pair of familiar arms wrap around her that she even realized someone had been talking to her. She shook her head and looked up into his eyes.

"You okay, Gorgeous?"

"Yeah...just a lot on my mind. I didn't even realize..."

Zed smiled and kissed her softly. "It's fine. I've been a bit distracted too." He unlocked the car and opened the door for her. "So...where to?" he asked as he sat down in the driver's seat.

Addison shrugged, her voice was barely louder than a whisper. "The closest pharmacy, I guess."

Zed nodded his head and drove off towards the store. When they parked in the parking lot a few minutes later, he turned to look at her. "You ready?"

She shook her head. "Not really...Z...I don't think we should go in together."

"Why?"

"We're too obvious together."

"Okay...Want me to go?"

She nodded. "Could you at least try to not stand out, though?"

"Addie... I'm a 6' 4" Zombie. I can't not stand out." He reached into the backseat and grabbed his SLU baseball cap, placing it on his head. "This is the best I can do. It will at least cover the green hair."

"Give me that," she said taking it off his head.

"What? Why?"

"You may be on to something..." she mumbled as she started rummaging through her purse. "Yes!"

"Are those your nerd glasses from spirit week?" Zed asked, looking at what she just pulled from her purse.

"Yep. If I put my hair up under your hat, and wear these..." she said putting them both on. "What do you think?" she asked looking over to him.

Zed smiled and shook his head. "You look adorable...but it does the trick."

She leaned over and kissed him quickly. "You stay here with the car running, that way if we need to make a quick escape we're ready."

"Addie, you're not robbing a bank. We don't need a getaway car," he chuckled.

"Well it feels just as dangerous," she kissed him again. "I'll be back as soon as possible." She opened the car door and looked both ways before walking across the parking lot into the store. Her eyes scanned the signs above each aisle before finally finding the one she needed. She walked down the aisle and stopped. "Good Lord, why are there so many?" she mumbled under her breath, before finally deciding on one that promised the earliest results.

As she stood in the checkout line she started to nervously look around. Her toe tapped anxiously and her fingers drummed against her leg rapidly. When her eyes landed on a large display of purple bags, she stilled. Her mouth began to water. The only thing she could think about was the spicy taste hitting her tongue. She stepped out of line and grabbed a bag of Takis from the display and ripped it open. The moment the first chip touched her tongue, she let out a loud moan. The person in line in front of her turned around.

"What?" Addison said with a shrug. "These are really good."

The woman shook her head and smiled before stepping forward to check out.

A moment later, Addison walked up to the cashier and held the chips out for her to ring up.

"Will that be all ma'am?" the cashier asked, motioning towards the pink box under Addison's arm.

"Oh! Sorry, chips...distracted...yeah, this too..." she said nervously, mouthing the word "sorry" again. She quickly paid cash and walked back out the store towards the car.

When she opened the door still eating, Zed let out a laugh. "I thought you were getting a pregnancy test?"

"I did get one. But they had a display of these by the register and then I literally couldn't think about anything else but eating these things."

Zed smiled and reached over to take one of the spicy chips.

She swatted his hand away. "My takis." She popped another into her mouth and closed her eyes, moaning. "Soooo goood."

"Yeah...we need to take that test pronto."

She licked her finger clean and buckled her seat belt. "Where to?"

"We could go back to the dorms?"

Addison shook her head. "No. I'm not spending one more second in there than I have to. I don't want to be kicked out of school before I even start because Morgan said something to set me off… The mood swings lately are no joke….neither are these cravings."

"We could go back to mine?"

She shook her head again. "I can't do this in a dorm that shares a name with my cousin…and the general 'guy' smell would probably make me lose these Takis, and then I would either cry or get angry."

Zed ran his hand through his hair anxiously. "Want to grab something to eat and think about it?"

"Probably as good of a plan as any," she said going back to the chips. "Want one?"

"Oh, now I get one?" he teased as he leaned over and opened his mouth, jokingly biting her finger as she placed the chip in his mouth. She giggled and leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"Thank you, beautiful," he smiled as he put the car in gear, driving away from the pharmacy. "Anything in particular sound good?"

She glanced at the clock. "Somewhere close to campus. We have to meet Bucky and Eliza for that stupid social."

"Addison, neither of them would be surprised if we skipped. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that Bucky has to be there as the cheer rep, I'd be surprised if they went at all."

"True..."

"So if there's something that sounds good to you and you'll be able to keep it down, I'll drive as far away from campus as needed."

She shrugged. "Any place where I'm not going to be around the k-word is good with me."

"Is that what we're calling ketch..."

"Don't even say the word..." she said holding her hand up to her mouth and closing her eyes. She took a few shallow breaths and swallowed loudly. When the wave of nausea passed, she opened her eyes and looked over to him. "If you say it, I think it, and then I can vividly remember the smell and taste of it..." she whispered before shuttering. "I could maybe go for a salad?"

"Panera?"

Addison thought it over for a moment. "That could work. It's right off campus, too...Yeah, Panera's good with me."

"Panera it is," Zed smiled as he changed lanes to head back towards campus.

As they stood in line to order, Addison leaned over and whispered, "Can you order for me? I really need to use the restroom all of a sudden."

"Sure. What do you want?"

"Um…" she studied the menu for a moment. "Half spicy Thai salad with chicken." She kissed his cheek and took off towards the restrooms. By the time she returned, Zed was in one of the booths lining the side wall by the windows with their food.

"So..." Addison said as she slid into the booth next to him. "I may have gone ahead and taken the test while I was in there."

Zed's eyes grew wide. "And what did it say?"

"Don't know yet. It takes a few minutes. I set a timer on my phone."

"Well, I guess we'll know in a few minutes..." he whispered taking a bite of his food.

"How can you possibly eat right now?"

"Three words...double bread bowl," he said scooping a bite of macaroni and eating it. "Besides, shouldn't you be eating something too...you know...in case you are…?" He scooped another bite of macaroni onto his fork and offered it to her. She leaned over and took it.

"Mmmm...needs hot sauce, though," she said as she picked up her fork and took a bite of her own salad.

Zed shook his head and smiled.

"I can't believe we're doing this in a restaurant."

"I didn't know we were going to," he said with a smirk. "But...limited options, gorgeous. Look on the bright side, if you are...you know...we could always name it after where we found out. Panera Necrodopolus does have a certain ring to it."

"Zed, I love you, but we are never naming our child Panera."

"All I'm saying is that it would be better than naming it after the conception location. Storage Closet Necrodopolus just does not work. Neither does Polynesian...Poly could though...But no, to Riverdale...But definitely not Power Plant, or Front Seat...or Back Seat...or hood really…"

"Zed, if you want to keep the un in un-dead, you should probably stop," she said trying to suppress a laugh. "If you have any serious suggestions, I'd be more than happy to listen."

"Well, I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. Those lines haven't even appeared on the test yet." He took a sip of his drink and cleared his throat. "But, I always kind of liked Jude for a boy."

"Jude? That's a sweet name," she repeated it in her head a few times and smiled. "Jude Necrodopolus...I like it. I'm surprised it's not a Zombie name though."

"Well, St. Jude is the patron saint of zombies. Us being lost causes and what not. So I guess in a way it's still a zombie thing."

"Ok, so Jude for a boy. What about a girls name?"

"That's an easy one," Zed said taking another bite of macaroni. "Zyla, after my mom."

"Zed," she whispered, as a single tear fell from her eye. "That's perfect."

"You're perfect," he smiled down at her as he leaned in for a kiss. He pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. "Addison, no matter what happens, please know that I love you. No matter how crazy life gets, it's you and me side by side," he said kissing her again.

"Oh tell me more boy," Addison whispered against his lips with a smile. As she opened her mouth to deepen their kiss, the timer on her phone began to chime. She pulled away, suddenly overtaken with panic, she looked into Zed's eyes "I'm too nervous to look... You look... No, I want to... No, I don't."

"Together?" he suggested kissing her lips softly.

"Together." she smiled up to him, taking his hand in hers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: And...another cliffhanger. Sorry (not really). But I am sorry for the delay in updating! I'll try to update sooner! Hope you enjoyed! If so (or if not...not picky here…) leave me a review and let me know!

In case you didn't know, I have another story that I recently started called On The Edge. Check it out!

Don't forget you can also follow me on Instagram at By_QuietlyScreaming