(Carrie's pov)
I didn't know what to do. Jamie and Mary were so excited when Mary announced her pregnancy. The thing is, normaly I would be able to know if someone was pregnant before they could. I knew Sue was pregnant before she did, and my powers haven't gotten weaker. I hoped I was wrong, I hoped she was pregnant.
"Alex, can we talk, outside please?" I asked, while Jamie and Mary were calling their families as well as setting up an ultrasound for Mary
"Yeah, okay." he replied, getting up from the couch
I led him out to the patio, and sat on the porch swing across from him.
"What's going on?" he asked
I sat silently for a moment, trying to map out in my head how the next few hours were going to play out.
"Mary isn't pregnant." I finally replied
"What? What are you talking about? Was she lying when she said she was? I doI undersst-" he began before I cut him off
"I always know when someone is pregnant. Ever since I was able to get better control of my powers, I could always figure out if someone is pregnant. Either I hear multiple sets of heartbeats within one person, or I can read multiple minds with one body."
"Wait, you can read minds?" he asked
"Sort of." I replied "it's not like I can hear what someone thinks, it's just small fragments or blury images."
"and you could only hear one heartbeat when you're near Mary?" he asked
"Yes" I replied, feeling the tears in the back of my eyes, I squeezed my eyes shut and exhaled, which forces them back into my head.
"Why didn't you say anything? Why did you bring it up in the first place?" he asked, frustrated
"I didn't know what to do!" I replied "She said she was late, so I went with her to pick up the test, and then it came up as positive. She was so excited and I couldn't exactly tell her 'Hey, you're not actually pregnant. Oh, how do I know this? I'm telekinetic, and I can read minds but I couldn't see anyone else's heartbeat but yours!' What was I supposed to do?"
"It's okay, it's okay, you're right. There was nothing you could've said to her without looking like a lunatic. Especially since she doesn't know about your powers." he said in a comforting tone as he placed his hands on my arms.
"What do we tell them?" I asked
"Well, I guess for now we just let them think she's pregnant, and they can see the doctor, and they'll find out then." he replied
(Alex's pov)
As much as I want to be happy for Jamie and Mary, I know something is wrong. She had to have two ovarian cysts removed when she was 16, and the doctor's told her that the procedure would greatly decrease her chances of baring a child. And Carrie's statement didn't help either.
We went back inside, and tried to put on the best fake smiles we could. Unfortunately, Mary was already on the phone with our moms when we walked in. Obviously they were going to find out sooner than later, but I hopped they wouldn't know until after Mary saw a doctor.
"Has something like this ever happened to you?" Carrie asked, as Mary and Jamie were both on the phones with their families
"What do you mean?" I asked back
"You know, getting someone pregnant, hoping it's actually happening." she clarified
"No" I replied "normaly you actually have to have been with someone in order for them to get pregnant."
"You mean, you're a..." she began
"Virgin? Yeah, I am, and now you know my terrible secret." I replied, chuckling
"It's okay, I am too." she replied, also chuckling
Mary and Jamie looked like zombies when they walked into the house. They had just got back from seeing the doctor to find out if she was pregnant, and judging from their facial expressions, it didn't go well.
"What happened?" I asked Jamie as Mary walked silently into their bedroom
"She isn't pregnant, it was a false positive, and that wasn't even the worst news. The doctors told her that another cyst was on the verge of rupturing, and she has to go through a complete hysterectomy in order to ensure that this never happens again." Jamie replied "She's lucky though had we not came in when they did, the cyst would've ruptured within a week, which would cause her to bleed eternally and die within hours." he then followed Mary back to their room.
Since they were in there for a few hours, I guess he held her as she cried, and they fell asleep together.
Carrie ended up coming over later that night. I could tell she was worried, she always taps her foot in the ground and makes her hands into fists whenever she's worried. "How is she?" Carrie asked
"She's doing okay." I replied "They've been asleep for most of the day?"
"She's lucky to be alive though. I mean, I know that isn't what their mindset for this is at yet, but there's always a light at the end of every tunnel." she said
"Yeah, I guess, but I'd reframe from mentioning that to her for now." I replied
"He was going to propose to her today." I blurted out "He was gonna do it when they went out to dinner to celebrate. I guess that's not happening now."
"Why should this stop him?" Carrie asked "I don't mean he should do it tonight, but that doesnt mean they shouldn't start a life together."
Out of nowhere, Jamie and Mary's bedroom door opened. They walked out hand in hand as they approached us. Carrie stood up and hugged Mary when she got close enough.
"How are you feeling, Mar?" I asked
"I'm okay, I'm feeling a little bit better." Mary replied
Suddenly, Carrie and I noticed a gold circular ring on her finger, I don't think Mary noticed it. Jamie looked at me and pointed to the back yard.
"I need your help with something." Jamie said as I shut the sliding glass door behind me
"First, explain to me why you felt today was the ideal day to propose to her, especially after the hell the two of you just went through." I ordered
"It's not what you think." Jamie replied "She fell asleep in the car on the way to the appointment and I just thought that would've been as good a time as any. I didn't think this was gonna happen, and to be honest, I thought she would've noticed it by now."
"I can't help you with this." I replied "You got yourself into this so you need to get yourself out of it. I'm sure she'll understand why you did it."
Suddenly, the entire house went black, only for the power to turn back on five seconds later. Carrie came out while Mary went back in her room to lay down.
"You're lucky this ring was too big for her." Carrie said as she walked out, handing Jamie the ring
"She didn't see it did she?" Jamie and I asked
"No, it fell off her hand just before the power went out and I picked it up before she saw it." Carrie replied
"Oh...well, uh, thanks, I guess." Jamie said as he stuffed the ring in his back pocket and walked inside
"Well that could've gone a lot worse." Carrie commented
"Yep, that blackout couldn't have conveniently shown up at a better time. As well as the ring being too big." I replied, sarcastically
"You know, there is such a thing as coincidence." she said with a smirk
"This may be really bad timing, but what do you plan on doing if your partnership with Apple becomes successful?" she asked
"Honestly, I don't know." I replied "I mean, as much as I want this product to be successful, I don't want to end up running a billion dollar corperation. I'm actually thinking about just having Jamie run it, and I'd just be a consultant or something."
"Oh, well my job would probably end up being pretty boring if you weren't their." she said, blushing
"Yeah, I don't know what would happen if we weren't able to prank Garry every day. As well as watching him freak out whenever he hears 'twisted nerve' on his phone and have no idea what the hell its coming from." I replied
"I wonder if he still thinks that's just you." she said
"Knowing him, probably." I replied
(Carrie's pov)
"Are you okay?" I asked Mary while Alex and Jamie went out back, hopefully to talk about why Jamie thought this would be the best time to propose to Mary.
"Yeah, I guess." she replied, before getting her pipe and a lighter from the ottoman and took a hit of pot. She offered it to me after a few puffs, but I declined. "It's just, one minute you think your entire life just clicked together, and you think you have everything figured out, and in the next, everything gets taken from you. I know I shouldn't be upset about something I never really had, but the thought of it never happening just kills me."
"I know what that's like." I said, suddenly feeling like an idiot
"How do you mean?" she asked
"For my entire life, I was bullied by everyone that walked by me. They'd say I was ugly, that I was a freak, anything horrible they could come up with." I began
"I'd try to tell my mother, but she'd just drag me into a closet and have me pray for forgiveness, she sometimes would leave me there for hours. And during senior prom, I was asked out by a popular boy in my school, his name was Tommy. It was the first night where I actually felt welcome somewhere, nobody picked on me, no one did anything at all. Tommy and I even got elected prom king and queen, but the minute we got up on stage, one of the girls and her boyfriend poured a bucket of pigs's blood on me."
"You went to Ewen High? The school from Mane that had a 7.3 earthquake last year?" she asked
"Yeah, my gym teacher, myself, and a few other students got out just before it started, but Tommy and about 40 others didn't." I replied, trying to hide the fact that I was the earthquake
"What about your mom?" Mary asked
"When I got home, the house had collapsed and killed her." I answered
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Carrie." she replied, hugging me. The smell of marijuana still rather heavy on her breath.
"Yeah, well every day, the future can get a little bit darker. But the past: even the grimiest parts of it, keep on getting brighter." I commented
"Yeah, I guess they do." she replied getting up from the couch to go lie back down
Just before she went to open the door with her left hand (which would expose the ring), I took out all the lights in the room, and gently but quickly removed the ring from her hand without lifting a finger, and hid it in my pocket. I then turned the lights back on.
I left their house about an hour later. This may seem incredibly selfish, but I really don't want Alex to leave Ralph Lauren. We make a great team, he makes me want to get up and out of bed every morning, I feel sort of "complete" when I'm around him. I still haven't figured out what these feelings are exactly. I mean, we kissed once, but that wasn't really meant to be romantic. We have a great friendship, and I don't want to ruin that by acting on any romantic feelings I have for him. When I look at Mary and Jamie, or Sue Amd Tommy, it's clear that fate brought them together. Maybe that's the case for Alex and I, but I don't think I'm ready to know either way yet.
Author's note: I just wanted to clarify, Carrie and Alex are not together... Or at least, not yet. Also, I know that I've largely been sticking to Alex's point of view lately, but it helps while going into more detail with the newer characters. By the time this story is done (which won't be for at least a year) it will make sense.
P.s. I'm really surprised that no one picked up on the pretty big foreshadow that I set up a few chapters ago (hint: it was during a conversation between Carrie and Alex)
Also, I just wanted to bring up the x-men reference that I planted in an earlier chapter. Since I started creating Alex, even before I decided on his name, I always planned on his last name being Grey; Carrie's new middle name is Jean, so if they got married her full name would be Carrieatta Jean Grey.