Change of Plans
Chapter 6: Their Child

Grace was the first to wake up in the morning, and she was happy to find Karen still there when she did. The other woman was pressed up against her, still sleeping, and had put her hand under Grace's. Grace smiled, squeezing it and holding it against her stomach, wishing that the act would somehow bond Karen to her baby. And with that thought she groaned, remembering that they'd have to have a talk about the baby, and the sooner the better.

Grace immediately regretted groaning out loud, however, because with it Karen began to stir. She'd been enjoying lying there as Karen was sleeping. But her eyes opened and her thumb was removed from her mouth, and Grace was greeted with a smile. "Morning," she said, "Sorry to wake you."

"No problem at all," Karen said with a grin, "Now I can try to convince you not to leave for work." With that Grace's eyes widened. "Work! I have to go! What time is it? I'm almost done and I just want to finish… Then I'm on maternity leave! Just one more day, I promise. You don't even have to show up." She was scrambling out from under the covers and scouring the room for a clock. "Don't you ever need to know the time?"

"Grace, honey, relax," Karen said, sitting up in bed. "It can't be past ten yet, or Rosie would have come in to wave the salts under my nose! Now come on. Calm down and come back to bed." With a bit of reluctance, Grace sat back down on the bed. "I'm sorry. I just want to finish. I'm so close. It feels like just one more full day, and I want to get it over with as soon as possible. What if I work half a day today, then half a day tomorrow? How does that sound?"

Karen bit her lip. "I don't know, honey. I mean… I think you should do a full day tomorrow and stay here today. There's something we really need to talk about, and I think we might need all day to sort through it." Grace did not miss the fact that Karen's gaze lead directly to her pregnant stomach. A sudden bout of fear overcame her, followed by a slight relief that she hadn't had to bring it up. She sighed and grabbed a pillow, hugging it to her. "I know," she said, "There really is something we need to talk about."

Karen was not comforted in the least at Grace's reluctant and uncomfortable-looking posture. Did she really not want to let her into her child's life? "Well, we should just start now, I'm afraid on how this is going to go. I'd prefer to get it over with as soon as possible," she said. In return, Grace was not comforted in the least by Karen's statement. Get what over with, the talk or the relationship? But she did agree that they should just start talking about it right away, and decided to just blurt it out.

"Look, Karen, in about a month I'm going to be having a baby. As much as I care about you, I have to put my child first. If you're not going to be able to accept the baby as a part of my life and attempt to make it a part of yours, then we can't do this," Grace said, having just barely been able to say it without crying. She was now whimpering quietly into the pillow she'd been clutching, giving Karen an imploring look to say something. Karen, for whatever reason, looked floored. This confused Grace. Maybe that wasn't what she'd meant they'd have to talk about? Why would she look so surprised that I want her to accept my child?

But Karen was really surprised that Grace was threatening to leave if she didn't accept the baby. As normal as it would seem to others, Karen had been thoroughly convinced that Grace didn't want her to be a part of the baby's life. And now there she was, crying and with only a pillow to comfort her, because she was afraid of Karen not loving the baby! Karen could feel the tears welling up in her own eyes. She knew what she had to do.

"Grace, honey, let's go for a walk," she said, getting up out of the bed and holding her hand out to Grace. Grace, however, only appeared more distraught by the gesture. "Karen, please. Just tell me whether or not you'll accept my child into your life. I can't drag this out any longer." With that, Karen felt the tears that had been threatening to fall do so, and she saw Grace's eyes go from upset to confused. "Please, honey, I need to show you something. I swear I'll answer you when we get there."

Grace then took her hand and got up to follow her, going back and forth between perplexed and annoyed and being just very, very sad. What on Earth did Karen have to cry over? She supposed she'd find out, once they got wherever they were going. And she was interested to find that it was somewhere in the manse. She had originally thought that they were going to head outside. They were both quiet through the entire walk, except for Grace and her sniffling.

Karen soon stopped in front of a door, and took in a deep breath. "Grace, inside here is what I need you to see. Keep in mind that it has been exactly like this for over eight years now. I think… I think it will answer your question, but I will still need to speak." She opened the door slowly, almost not wanting to go inside, and lead Grace in.

Grace's mouth hung open, and the tears in her eyes no longer shone with such sadness as they did before. She scanned the room over and over again, speechless as she was still processing and didn't know what to say. Karen decided she should speak up, her tears coming back once more.

"About eight years ago, I thought I was pregnant. Well, I had this room made right away. I pretended I wasn't, but Gracie, I was so excited. I never told anybody but Jack. But then it turned out I really wasn't. I didn't come back to this room until a few months ago. I couldn't bring myself to do it, it hurt so much. But again, there was Jack. He found it. He's the only one who has ever seen it besides me, and now you. I loved that baby so much, and it never even really existed. When I found out you were pregnant, it made me really happy. It meant that there would be a baby that I might be able to help take care of. Well, then you moved in here, and I was more excited, because if you stayed I could help even more. And then you kissed me, and I knew you loved me, and I knew that I loved you too. And since I love you, I love this baby as much as if it were my own. And I've been hoping that you'd let me. I want us to raise this baby, Grace. I want us to raise it in this room. This was built for my child, and all those years ago I was so upset when I found out it wasn't really coming. But I was wrong. I was assuming that my child would be growing inside me. But no, I am one hundred percent certain that it is growing inside of you. I can feel it so deep down. That's my baby, whether I'm technically its parent or not."

Grace recovered much more quickly from the shock than Karen had expected, though unexpectedly started crying even harder. When Karen had finished her lengthy speech, Grace wasted no time rushing over to her and squeezing her close, her face buried in Karen's shoulder. "Please," she said, the trembling sound muffled by fabric, "Please tell me this isn't a dream. I want this to be our child. I want this to be our child's room. Please, Karen, tell me I'm not dreaming."

Tears were still coming freely from Karen's eyes, but she managed to say with perfect clarity, "Oh honey, you're not."