She sits up in bed, having being abruptly awakened from her sleep. She reaches over, and flips on the lamp that rests on her bedside stand. She hears the stairs creak as someone climbs them. She rubs her eyes, and hears her mother's voice calling for her. She looks at her bedroom door, which is partially open. Within seconds the door opens further, and her mother stands in the doorway with a bewildered look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Ingrid questions as Joanna draws closer.
"Why don't you tell me?" Joanna insists, taking a seat on the edge of Ingrid's bed.
"I don't know."
"Ingrid Beauchamp! Do not lie to me."
"Why are you so upset?"
"When I got home I found Wendy, and Freya in the dining room."
"So?"
"I overheard part of their conversation."
"Mom..." Ingrid tries to reason with her.
"Then I read your cards."
"I thought you didn't like to read cards for your loved ones."
"I don't, but it was apparent that Wendy had already done so, and that she found out something I wouldn't like."
"So you thought reading my cards would shed light on the situation?"
"They were talking about you when I got home."
"I am sure that the cards say the same thing that they always do, I die."
"Not this time," Joanna reveals.
"You're saying my fate has changed?"
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?"
Ingrid shrugs, "I don't know."
"Ingrid if there is something that you want to tell me I suggest that you do it now," Joanna responds, in a harsh tone.
Ingrid swallows hard, "There is nothing that I want to tell you."
"You're sure that there is nothing you should tell me?"
"You asked if there was something I wanted to tell you," Ingrid points out.
"Is there something that I need to know?"
"It seems to me that you already know."
"I want to hear it from you," Joanna insists.
"What did the cards say?" Ingrid cocks an eyebrow.
"I saw..." she trails off as she stares at her daughter's face. She reaches out, and tucks stray strands of hair behind Ingrid's ear.
"What did you see?" Ingrid wonders.
"I saw new life."
"New life? That could mean anything, couldn't it?"
"It could, but from what I heard of the conversation Wendy, and Freya were having the meaning seems pretty specific."
"Mom, what do you want me to say?"
"Why don't you start with the truth."
Ingrid shakes her head, "I can't."
"Why didn't you go to work today?"
"I was sick."
"Are you going to work tomorrow?"
"Of course," Ingrid confirms.
"Even if you're sick?"
"I can't afford to miss anymore work."
"You rarely miss work. I think that Barb can hold down the fort for a few days."
"I really don't want to talk about this," Ingrid argues.
"I don't think that we have much of a choice."
Ingrid hears the back door close. She climbs out of bed, and heads over to the window. She pulls back the curtain, and watches as Freya, and Wendy climb into Freya's car.
"Where are they going?" Ingrid questions.
"Who knows. Ingrid let's not worry about them right now. I want to talk about you."
She turns to face her mother, "I don't want to talk about me."
"Ingrid, come on."
Ingrid crosses the room, and walks around the end of the bed. She takes a seat next to her mother.
"You're still in your pajamas," Joanna points out.
"I know."
"Are you starting to feel better, yet?"
Ingrid avoids eye contact as she shakes her head, "I don't think I'm ever going to feel better."
"Ingrid I know you don't want to talk about this, but you don't have much of a choice."
"The universe has made some kind of mistake," Ingrid insists.
"Is that what you think? You think that this is some sort of mistake?"
Ingrid shrugs, finally making eye contact, "It seems like a cruel joke."
"I know."
"I don't understand how this could happen."
"Say it," she insists.
"History says that I should be dead by now," Ingrid points out.
"But you're not."
"So now we're adding a cruel plot twist to the story?"
"Is that what you think this is?"
"Mom," she breaks eye contact, "I am pregnant."
"I know."
"How could this happen? It's not supposed to be possible. None of this makes any sense. I just don't understand."
"I know that all of this is difficult, but I need you to explain to me how you think this happened."
Ingrid shrugs, "I don't know."
"You have to have some idea," Joanna insists.
"I cast a fertility spell on Barb."
"You think that it rubbed off on you, or something?"
"I don't know."
"I think we can rule that out as a possibility."
"Can we? How else could this have happened?"
"Who..." Joanna stops before she can finish the thought.
"Adam."
"I didn't know that the two of you were..." she shudders at the thought.
"We weren't. Not while he was alive."
"Oh."
"You can see why I'm so confused. This isn't supposed to be even a remote possibility. Somehow I wound up pregnant with a dead man's baby."