Recap:
Amy sat up. "Everything's wrong!" She practically yelled. "Don't you get it? I'm in love with you and… and I'm upset that I didn't get there first. I didn't get to you first."
"Wait… you're in love with me?"
Chapter 5:
"Hey," Amy greeted Ephram when he walked up to meet her at the school's main doors.
"Hey." Ephram gave her a quick kiss.
Amy smiled. "That was nice."
He grinned and put his arm around her as they walked toward their lockers.
"Why so happy today?"
"I dunno, I just am," he said. It wasn't that he was perfectly content with the world, he was just so in love with Amy, that every time he saw her she completely brightened his day. "Um, hey… I've been meaning to ask you… does your dad know yet that… well, you know… about Madison?"
Amy hesitated. "Well, I think so. I mean, I don't know why he wouldn't, since he does work with your dad and all."
Ephram nodded.
One night a few weeks later while Ephram was in the living room reading with Delia, who was still oblivious to Madison's pregnancy, the phone rang. It was already almost 10:00, so Ephram figured it was Amy. No one else usually called this late. Ephram smiled at the thought. He loved Amy so much. He couldn't believe they had already been together four months. They had gotten even closer in the past few weeks. He picked up the phone, ready to have their nightly chat, but was surprised on who spoke over the line. Ephram's smile quickly faded off his face.
"Oh my god… Ephram?" It was Madison. Her voice sounded panicked. "Oh god…"
"What the hell," Ephram quickly mumbled under his breath. "Madison? What… what's wrong? Why are you calling here?"
"Madison?!" Delia screeched. "Let me talk to her!"
Ephram waved her off.
"I didn't have anyone else to call," Madison said through clenched teeth. "Where's your dad? I…" Madison gasped. "I think I'm having the baby."
"What?!" Ephram freaked. It was only the middle of October. The baby couldn't have been due until sometime in December. "That's not possible," he said. "Wait, where are you? You're supposed to be in San Francisco."
"I was here in Everwood visiting my mom, I was alo—oh," Madison wheezed out, "For God's sake, get your dad!" Madison ordered. "Ohh, I can't believe I let myself get pregnant… by a 16 year old," Ephram heard her growl. He knew she was only saying it because she was in pain and, well, pregnant, but it still hurt him. He dropped the phone and ran upstairs to find his dad. "Dad! DAD!" Ephram's voice rang out through the house.
Delia looked worried.
"What? What?" Andy said coming out of the bathroom with his hair wet.
"Madison's on the phone, she-she-she's having the baby!"
Delia's look on her face turned from concerned to horrified.
"What—why did she call here?" Andy asked. "Wait, isn't it October?"
"YES!" Ephram said. "Just go talk to her!"
Andy rushed into his bedroom and picked up his own phone. "Madison?… Okay, calm down, where are you?… uh huh… uh huh… I'll be right over." Andy grabbed his coat getting ready to run out the door.
"DAD!" Ephram yelled frantically.
Andy froze, realizing that his son had no idea what was going on. "Ephram, Madison's going into labor early. This baby is probably going to be premature, but…"
"Dad, I have to go."
"Ephram, I can't allow that."
"I don't care! I'm going, come on!" Ephram grabbed his coat and rushed out the door before Andy could say anything else.
Delia just stood in the middle of the living room, confused and scared.
"Oh, Delia," Andy said rushing back in the house. "Come on, I'll drop you off at Nina's." He picked her up and flew out the door once again.
Ephram and Andy tried to get to Madison's mother's house as fast as they could. Ephram drove. "1202 Blossom Drive…" Andy muttered. "Stop, Ephram, this is it." Ephram parked on the side of the road and they both rushed out.
Andy knocked on the door. He waited for a moment, then opened the door. It was unlocked. "Madison!" He yelled. "Madison!"
"Great…" Ephram mumbled.
"Ephram, go check upstairs. I'll look around down here," Andy ordered. Ephram did as he was told.
The father and son duo searched the house for a full fifteen to twenty minutes, with no sign of Madison or anyone else.
"She's not here," Andy said when he and Ephram met back at the front door.
"It was the weirdest thing," Ephram told Amy the next evening. They were in Ephram's room, just spending time together. Ephram was leaning back on the headboard of his bed with Amy's head in his lap. "My dad called your dad and the Denver hospital to see if she was checked in. But she wasn't."
"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation," Amy assured him.
There were a few moments of silence before Ephram spoke again. "I'm so glad you're okay with this," he asked.
Amy sat up. "There's no reason why I shouldn't be," she said. "I love you," Tears still came to her eyes every time she said those words to him, "I won't let this mess us up, not after we've waited for so long."
Ephram smiled. "Me neither," he said, before giving her a passionate kiss.
"I called Madison's number in San Francisco again today," Andy told Ephram one night at dinner. "I got nothing. I just can't track her down."
Ephram sighed. "Don't worry about it, Dad," he said. "I'm sure there's a reason for all of this."
If only I knew what it was, Ephram thought.
"Dad, how is Madison having a baby?" Delia asked innocently.
Andy hesitated. "Well, you know where babies come from, honey. We've talked about this before."
"But why is she having one now?"
"Well, I don't know, Delia," Andy said honestly. "I don't know why she decided to have a baby," he said, implying that he didn't know why Madison and Ephram ever decided to have sex when they weren't ready.
Delia settled with that answer, for now. Ephram put his head down and took a sip of water.
Ephram and Amy held hands as they walked through the general store, looking for candy to buy for Halloween. "This should be fun," Amy said, smiling. "You and me, giving kids candy together at your house." She held up a bag of Starburst before putting it in the basket that Ephram was carrying.
"Of course," Ephram said. "Giving candy to little kids, having them yell at you when you give them something they don't like, having you get onto me when I give them too much or too little…"
Amy swatted Ephram playfully.
"These are Delia's favorite," Holding up a bag of miniature Reese's peanut butter cups before putting them in the basket.
"So…" Amy started slowly. "Do you want to dress up?"
Ephram started laughing. "You're joking, right?"
"Not really."
"Amy, I haven't dressed up for Halloween since I was five, and I hated it."
"Oh, come on. We can both be some kind of famous couple or something. It'll be fun," Amy said. "I miss dressing up."
Ephram thought about it. "Okay, if that's what you want to do, I suppose I could sacrifice," he said. "Just don't pick out anything that will make me hot, itchy, or totally embarrassed."
Amy just looked at him and smiled before linking arms with him and putting her head on his shoulder.
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I'm sorry if things have been kind of slow/boring lately, especially for E/A fans... but it's going to get better, I promise! I'm getting a little discouraged because there aren't enough E/A fans on this site, but please, review if you're enjoying the story. I've already started on chapter 6, so it should be up faster than this chapter was!