Matt enters the bedroom, and looks at his sister. I can't believe how much everything has changed. I should have moved back before, when Mary first got into trouble. Now she's having a baby. He walks over to Mary, and hugs her.
"Are you feeling any better today?"
"Yeah."
"That's good. Are you OK with al of this?"
"Sort of. I'm scared, but I guess everything will be fine if I get help." Mary starts to cry, and Matt pulls her closer.
"Matt, will you help me?"
"Sure. I'll be here for you, all nine months, plus."
"No, I mean now. Mom's really mad at me."
"Why?"
"I had Wilson take me to go pick up the results. Then when I came home I locked myself in the bathroom. She came upstairs to talk to me, and before I knew it we were yelling at each other. When I came out of the bathroom, I went to Wilson's house. We went out for ice cream and we talked about all of this. Then when I got home, I was going to apologize to mom for being so rude to her before, but before I could get out one sentence she started screaming at me. Will you talk to her, please? I don't want to fight with her. I'd talk to her myself, but I don't want to get screamed at again."
"Ok, I'll do something. Don't worry, its ok. Stop crying."
Matt gets up and Lucy sits down on the bed next to Mary. She puts her arm around her.
"It'll be OK, really, it will."
"I'm not upset over that. I'm upset over Mom. She mad at me because of Wilson, again. I don't get it."
"I do. I like Wilson, you know I do, and I have no problem with him, but I know how Mom's feeling. She feels left out, just like I did. You didn't even talk to me, for like, a day. I figured you just needed time though, and you did. Mom just wants to help you. You're her daughter, and she wants to be the one you go to when something's wrong. Think about it, you've seen Wilson five times in less than 48 hours. That's a lot. Even if Wilson wasn't a guy, it still isn't good. I know he's Wilson and everything, believe me I get it, but because he's Wilson there's no guarantee he'll be here forever. Or maybe that means he will be, I don't know. But you're family is definitely going to be in it for the long run. She's trying to help you see that, but it's hard for her. She's hurt. I know you didn't mean to, but you hurt her."
"When did you get to be so smart Luce?" Mary asks, with tears running down her face.
"I don't know. Maybe you missed it when you were with Wilson." Mary gives her a look, and Lucy retracts her statement. "Kidding, I'm just kidding."
They sit like that for about 5 minutes, and then Mary speaks.
"Luce, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure. Anything. I'm here for you."
"When Wilson and I were talking, we, he, came up with a good plan. I know that you're here for me and all, but will you promise me that you'll be there for me at school? This is going to be really hard. I need your help."
"Sure. I completely forgot about school. What are you going to do?"
"Well, nothing, as far as I know. I'm not telling anyone, and neither are you. Wilson said that I won't start to show for about 3 or 3 and a half months. That'll be around June. So hopefully, if all goes well, no one will know or be able to tell."
"Oh, that's good it worked out like that. But don't you think…"
"Yeah, I know. Mom and Dad probably have other plans. Knowing them they're probably on the phone right now with the school or something."
"They'll make sure everything's Ok. Don't worry."
"Too late."
Lucy smiles sympathetically. "I'll be here for you, home, school, whatever. I'm not going anywhere. Besides, I don't think mom and dad are going to let me date, or even leave the house, for a long time because of what happened to you. So whenever you need me, I'll definitely be here."
"Thanks. And I really am sorry for the way I've been acting the past couple of days."
"Its OK. You don't have to apologize; I understand. I love you."
"Love you, too."
They give each other a sisterly hug, and Annie walks through the door. Mary notices her mother, and pulls back.
"Mary, can I talk to you for a second?" Lucy gets up, and Annie takes her place.
"Mom, I'm really sorry. I hate us fighting. If you want me to talk to you, I'll talk to you. And if you want me to stop calling Wilson, I guess I could cut back on that, too."
"I would like it if you talked to me more, and if you spent a little less time with Wilson, but I'm not forcing you to do that. This is my fault. I expected you to come running to me crying every second, and you didn't do that. And even worse, you cried on someone else's shoulder, someone who wasn't in the family. I like Wilson, I really do, but I guess I was jealous of him. Can you forgive me?"
"Yes. And I am going to talk to you more. I just needed some time to myself. And the whole thing with talking to Wilson, I don't know. Everyone has questioned me about it and I don't have any answers, except he makes me happy." Mary smiles, and Annie looks concerned.
"Well, that's nice. But, your focus right now is not boys. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. And I don't want to see you get hurt if friendships turn into more, and then you loose that friendship, a friendship that you obviously need."
"I know Mom. We're just friends though, really. He already said that's what he wants. He's trying to respect me."
"Wilson's a nice guy. He's not what worries me, though, you do. One mention of him and you're smiling. That's not a good sign."
"I am?" Mary blushes, and wipes the smile off of her face.
"So are we OK now?"
"Yeah. I love you."
"I love you, too. And I'm going to be here for you, forever, longer than any boyfriend, so promise you won't forget about me?"
"I won't, don't worry." They hug each other, and tears fill up in both of their eyes.
"Mom? I have one question."
"Ask away."
"What am I going to do about school?"
"SCHOOL! I completely forgot about that! Well, we'll talk to you're principal and work everything out for you. Leave this up to your father and me."
"Do I have to go back tomorrow?"
"No, of course not. You go back when you're ready, but don't take too long."
"Ok, thanks."
"Now, if we're all done here, I have to go check on the twins."
"Can I help?"
Annie smiles, "Sure. But thank your brother first."
Twenty minutes later, Mary is downstairs, attempting to feed Sam, while her mother feeds David. Annie is avoiding from bringing up any emotional topics, and is making small talk with her daughter. All of a sudden, Mary breaks down into tears.
"Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just let me cry."
Mary has been realizing that, now, unlike before all of this happened, once she starts crying it's hard for her to stop. After 20 minutes of weeping, she starts to think of Wilson.
"Mom, would you be upset if I called Wilson?"
"No, go ahead. And, you know what? I was thinking, since you'll be the only one home tomorrow, maybe Wilson could spend the day here with you, if you'd want him to. I'm trying to see if I could get your father to spend some extra time home tomorrow. I think all four of us could use a talk. He could bring Billy, and they're more than welcome to stay for dinner, and we could chat about everything. Would you want that?"
"Yeah. That'd be nice. You sure that's OK with you and Dad though?"
"Its fine with us. Here, go call Wilson."
Annie hands Mary the kitchen phone. She watches Mary run upstairs to call Wilson. How could all this be happening? She's still my little baby. I remember the day she took her first steps like it was yesterday. Now she's running away from me. At least I'll get here back if Wilson is here with us. Annie gets teary eyed, and waits for Mary to come back downstairs. 20 minutes later, Mary comes back down the stairs glowing to report the good news: Wilson can come over tomorrow and spend the day.
"What about Billy?"
"Wilson's mom offered to watch him. I met her today. She told me that anytime I needed Wilson she'd gladly watch Billy for him. I guess she really meant it. Thanks for doing this Mom. It really means a lot to me."
"Well, I just thought that it would calm everyone's nerves if all four of us got together and talked. And I figured you would spend at least part of the day with him tomorrow anyways, so he might as well spend the day here with you."
She walks over to her mother, and gives her a hug and a peck on the cheek. "I love you Mom. But I'm really tired all of the sudden; I think I'm going to go upstairs and take a nap."
"Ok, hunny, get some rest. I love you too."
Mary goes upstairs and is shocked to see that her room was empty. She tries to sleep, but makes herself wake up. This is the first time I've been alone and not been in trouble. I should use this time to think…about Wilson? No, don't think about him. Think about, uh, Robbie? Yeah, that's good. Mary gets up and walks over to her window. She stares out it, and watches the world pass her by. Lucy walks into the room, and questions Mary.
"Uh…what are you doing?"
"Just thinking."
"Oh. You ok?"
"No, but I don't think you could help."
"Really? Try me."
"I'd rather not, sorry. It has nothing to do with you."
"OK, that's fine. I'm not going to pry."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Well maybe what I meant was I'm not going to pry…now. I'll find out later. You know I'm here if you want to talk to me."
"I know, but I really don't want to talk about this. It's nothing."
"If you say so."
Lucy grabs her backpack and walks out of the room. Mary tries to get some sleep. But, like before, her thoughts keep her awake. Maybe I should tell him about this. No, I couldn't. He already said, err wrote, no. I don't want to pressure him. I just have to convince myself that I need a friend more than a boyfriend…
Mary drifts off into a deep sleep, and wakes again at 4:00 in the morning. She remembers she didn't have dinner, and hears her stomach growl with hunger. She quietly gets up, trying not to wake anyone, and goes downstairs to get some food. Mary gets herself a sandwich and a glass of milk, and sits down at the table. She starts to cry, and she doesn't now why. Wilson's face flashes through her mind, and when it fades away, she feels the same hurt that has been mounting up inside of her for the past three days. That's it. If the time is right tomorrow, I'll try to bring it up. I don't know why this is so hard for me. She continues to cry, and eventually hears someone coming down the stairs. She tries her best to compose herself, but it doesn't work that well. Lucy walks down the stairs, and sits down next to Mary. She puts her arm around her, and starts to talk to her.
"I woke up and rolled over and you weren't there. I got scared so I came looking for you. What's wrong? Do you want to talk now?"
"I don't know if I should say anything."
"Why? Is it something bad?"
"Let me rephrase that. I don't know if I want to say anything. You wouldn't understand, no one would."
"How do you know?"
"I just do. You haven't been through what I've been through. You wouldn't get it, trust me."
"Ok, fine. Are you going to come back upstairs?"
"Maybe in a little bit." Lucy gets up and gets the box of tissues. She sits them next to Mary, and pulls one out for her.
"Alright. I'll be upstairs if you change your mind. Don't stay down here too long, you looked exhausted."
Mary takes the tissue and dries her eyes. OK, you're going to stop now. Don't get upset over this; it's the least of your worries. You still have school. You're going to be a mom in 9 months. You're going to have a baby that's your responsibility. Worry about that, not you and Wilson. If it's meant to be, then it'll work out. Calm down. Mary finishes the last of her sandwich, and goes back upstairs. She falls back asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow.