Holly's mind was racing as everyone stared at her. Her initial impulse was to deny everything but she knew that she couldn't. It would buy her a little time, granted, but it would have to be dealt with sooner or later. Might as well get it over with now.
"I…" she started, but Roger cut her off.
"It's a good thing that Maureen died, isn't it?" Roger said. "And Ed must be so delighted with the new baby. You can just move right in, Holly. That's all you've ever wanted, right?"
Two things happened at the same time. Michelle burst into tears and Ed launched himself at Roger, punching him in the face.
Holly considered trying to separate them but ultimately decided that Roger deserved every blow coming his way. Instead, she walked over to Michelle. She tried to hug Michelle but she was shoved away.
"Is that true? What Mr. Thorpe said?" she asked again.
"No," Holly said. "Your dad wouldn't…no."
"Whose, then?" Michelle asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
Holly just sighed. "It's just mine. It's the best thing I can do for the baby."
Ross had finally managed to get Ed to stop hitting Roger. Blake was crying.
Roger staggered to his feet. "As always, Ed…"
"For once in your life, Roger, shut up," Ross snapped. "This isn't the place."
"If I see you anywhere near Michelle, you're dead," Ed said.
Roger looked like he still wanted to say something, but Holly spoke up first.
"Come on. We need to talk."
She walked past him, not stopping until she was outside. Once they were both outside, she whirled around to face him.
"What's wrong with you? Why can't you be the same person for more than five minutes in a row? Don't you think Michelle and Ed have been through enough? Her mother is dead! And she hasn't even been buried but you're already lying to Michelle about how Ed and I are having an affair."
"Oh, please," he responded. "You can lie to Michelle all you want but don't you dare lie to me. I saw you."
"I don't know what you saw, and I don't care. There is nothing you could say that would make your behavior in there acceptable. You're so twisted inside and you don't change. You never…"
"Right. I don't change, but neither do you. So don't worry, Holly," he said, his voice venomous. "I'm sure you'll worm your way back into Ed's heart and bed. Especially now that you're carrying his child. And it's a good thing you are; otherwise you'd probably kill that one, too."
Holly slapped him as hard as she could.
Then Ross stepped between them.
"Roger, Ed's called the police. Get out of here before you get arrested."
Roger looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but he ultimately left.
Holly fought back tears. She hated the way that Roger was always able to hurt her so easily. He always knew exactly where to hit so it hurt the most.
"Are you okay, Mom?" Blake asked.
Holly scoffed. "Yeah, Blake. I'm just fine."
She went to go inside, but Ross stopped her. "Ed's up with Michelle. Maybe you should come back tomorrow."
"Michelle called me and asked me to come. I'm sure she's got questions."
"Oh, I'm sure she does. I think we all do. But she doesn't need to get answers today. Her mother just died, and her house became a circus."
"None of that is my fault," Holly said, bristling.
"No, it's not. But it's not hers, either, and she's the one who paid for it."
"Ross, I've had more than enough of slinking off into the night because Roger's embarrassed me in public. I'm not doing it again. If Ed wants me to leave, he can tell me himself. And if Michelle doesn't want to see me, she can say so. God knows she's not shy."
Ross didn't say anything but just held the door open.
She started up the steps but Ed came out into the hallway.
"Let's talk in the living room."
Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, Ed looked upstairs to make sure Michelle's door was still closed.
"Are you back with Roger?"
"Does any of what happened today make it seem like Roger and I are together?" Holly was dumbstruck.
"Answer the question, Holly."
"No. We're obviously not together."
"But you're pregnant." He wasn't asking.
"Yes."
"And it's his."
She nodded.
"Holly, I can't have him around Michelle. He's dangerous. He ruins lives."
"I don't want him near her, either!" she protested.
"I can't take the chance. You understand that, don't you? You and Roger…you're never over. Not really. You're drawn to him and I don't understand it."
"That's not true. You know it's not, Ed. We had sex three months ago and I've barely been around him ever since. I haven't been…I don't know what you'd want to call it…pining over him. I haven't even been thinking about him."
"Your entire life is based on whether you're together or fighting." He said it kindly but it still stung.
"You're not being fair."
"My wife died today. I don't have the luxury of being fair."
"Okay, well, Roger and I aren't together. Are you really going to keep me away from Michelle?"
"Why doesn't anyone ask me what I think?"
Holly and Ed had been arguing so fiercely that neither noticed Michelle opening her door and then coming downstairs.
They both turned to face her.
"I'm sorry I threw the pills at you, Holly."
"It's okay. I should've ducked."
Ed chuckled and turned it into a fake cough.
"And I'm sorry it's my fault that Mr. Thorpe found out you were pregnant."
"He would've had to find out at some point, sweetheart. And…I'm going to correct him. I don't want people thinking that your dad did something he didn't do. So as far as that goes, you don't have to worry. No one's going to think your dad cheated on your mom."
"I think anyone who knows my dad would know that," Michelle said. "If…if you need to lie about it to keep yourself safe, I don't think my mom would mind."
"Well, I mind, Michelle," Holly said. "And I think your dad might mind. I'll figure something out, okay? This is not your problem to solve."
"And while I'm apologizing, I'm sorry I yelled at you. It's just you've been around so much and now you're pregnant…"
"Honey, you know that people don't get pregnant just from being around men, right?" That was Ed chiming in.
The scathing look that Michelle gave Ed made Holly wince from secondhand embarrassment.
"Yes, Dad. I know where babies come from. I ALSO know that you and Holly were married before. And I know that usually when people get divorced, they don't spend time with their exes like you two do. I don't care about that, but Holly is the only one in my life who tells me the truth."
"That's not true," Ed protested. "I tell you the truth!"
"You just acted like I thought Holly got pregnant because you hugged her."
Ed looked over at Holly, who gave a slight nod in response. "You did," she said.
"I want to keep spending time with Holly. I called her today and she came right over. Ben and Bill don't understand how I feel but I think she does."
"I'd never let Roger around her, Ed. I don't want him around me or the baby, either."
"Also, Holly, I don't think you should be having a baby with someone you don't want to be around."
"That's sound advice and I could've used it a couple months ago, Michelle."
She looked over at Ed.
"I don't need a babysitter, Dad. I don't want one."
"Michelle, I don't want you alone at night when I have an evening shift."
"Would you rather if I come over here in those cases, Michelle? Or would you want to be at my house?"
"I would prefer you be here," Ed said. "If that's okay with Holly."
"It's fine with me."
"Okay. Honey, could you please let us finish this discussion? I'm not going to keep you and Holly apart unless I don't have a choice. I promise you that. But we do have some more things to iron out."
Michelle looked over at Holly, who smiled and nodded at her in the universal "Everything's fine!" look that adults give children.
After she went upstairs again, Ed said, "Let's go talk in the kitchen."
Once they were safely out of Michelle's earshot, he said, "I mean it, Holly. I can't have him near her."
"I'm not arguing that he should be. I don't want that either. We're not together. I can't keep saying it."
"So what are you going to do, Holly?" Ed asked. "Are you going to convince him that you also had a one night stand with a third person? I don't think there are many eligible bachelors in town. But I'd be willing to bet that if you said it was Billy Lewis, you might give Roger a heart attack and that would solve all your problems. Alan Spaulding might work, too."
"Alan? Ed, come on. Do you think that my life has sunk that low?"
He laughed but then got serious again.
"If there's anything I've learned in the decades I've known you, it's that you're never fully over Roger."
"That's a cheap shot, Ed."
"I'm not trying to hurt you. None of this is fun for me. I'm just trying my best to take care of Michelle. My entire life just imploded this morning."
He closed his eyes and Holly could see just how hard he was fighting to keep himself together. She pulled him into a hug and he started crying.
"I know," she said softly. "I'm so sorry, Ed."
He pulled away and closed his eyes. "Well, that's the first day almost over with. Only every other day to go."
