Ch 44

Sarah had dozed off in front of the TV, and was startled out of her nap by knocking at the door. Wondering who it could be, she dragged herself off the couch and opened the door.

"Merelinda! What's going on, why are you here?" Sarah couldn't contain her surprise at seeing the beautiful mermaid standing at her front door.

Merelinda smiled at her. Sarah couldn't be sure, but it seemed like her smile wasn't as warm as it had been when they last saw each other.

Sarah showed Merelinda inside, and they sat in the living room. "I need to talk to you, Sarah," Merelinda said coolly.

She could see Sarah tense, and a flash of guilt shot through her for what she was about to do. She truly liked Sarah, and found it hard to act cold towards her. It wasn't normally in her nature to act so selfishly, but she was desperate.

"Jareth won't be marrying you," she said bluntly. Despite seeing Sarah's shock, she continued. "He has chosen to marry me instead. I'm sorry Sarah, but believe me, it's best this way for all of us."

Sarah was so stunned, she couldn't speak for a moment. When she finally found her voice, she asked a simple question. "Why?"

Merelinda paused for a moment, then plunged ahead. "Sarah, I'm pregnant, and Jareth has taken responsibility and agreed to marry me."

Sarah shook her head slowly, trying to grasp what Merelinda was saying. "You're telling me you're having Jareth's child."

Merelinda merely smiled. Sarah looked at her first in shock, then disbelief, then finally fury.

"You're lying, Merelinda, you have to be. Jareth would never do something like this to me. He loves me, he doesn't love you! I refuse to believe that he got you pregnant, he wouldn't lie to me or cheat on me. I know him." Sarah was doing her best to believe her own words.

"I'm two months pregnant, Sarah. I can assure you, Jareth never cheated on you." Merelinda felt awful, seeing how upset Sarah was. She almost hated herself for what she was letting Sarah assume. She didn't say that Jareth was the father of her child, but she'd carefully worded it in a way to be sure Sarah jumped to that conclusion.

Merelinda stood up. "That's all, Sarah. Forgive me for not staying to chat longer, but I have a lot I need to attend to."

"You can't just leave!" Sarah cried. "You have a lot to explain-" It was no use; Merelinda was gone.

"Bitch!" Sarah yelled to the empty room. She was too shocked to cry. What the hell had just happened? Did Merelinda, who Sarah had thought of as her friend, really just come her and tell her she was having Jareth's child, and that Jareth was going to marry her?

Yes, she thought viciously, that's exactly what just happened.

"Damn you Jareth," she whispered as she felt something break inside of her. The tears started flowing, softly at first, then harder as she recalled the events of the last few days. They had been so happy; how could this be happening? Why hadn't he come himself? Was he too scared to face her?

Or maybe Merelinda was lying. The thought stopped her tears as she pondered it. What possible reason could Merelinda have for lying about this? Sarah didn't know, but she clung to that hope with all her might, because it was the only thing that was keeping her from completely breaking down.

Still, she couldn't stop the stray tears that fell from her eyes as she thought of how long it was until she was supposed to see Jareth again. "Just in time for our wedding," she said bitterly. She wanted desperately to call for him, but she held back. Even if it killed her, she would not call on him. It was up to him to come to her.