She opened the door and forced a smile, but he saw right past it. Her eyes were slightly red, and they were so sad, so disheartened. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, which she never went without. With all the clothes in her closet, she had chosen an oversized tee-shirt, probably what she slept in the previous night, and a pair of jeans. “I guess.”
He tried to find comforting words in his mind, but all he could come up with was, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered quickly, avoiding his gaze.
“No, you’re not.”
“Fine, I’m not okay. How the hell would I be okay, Nick? What kind of a question was that in the first place? I’m pregnant. My parents are going to kill me. My career is gonna go down the drain. My brother is not particularly happy. My boyfriend is gone all the time and there is no way he can take care of the kid. Why would I be okay?” she screamed, bringing Leighanne dashing up the steps.
Nick stepped forward to embrace her, but Leighanne shot him a glance. “I think maybe I should handle this,” she stated. He hesitantly stepped back and allowed her to pull the trembling mess into a hug. “Tell Brian she’s in no condition to go to rehearsals today. And on your way home, pick up some good ice cream.”
As he slunk down the stairs, Madeleine sobbed into Leighanne’s shoulder. “It was just that one time, Leigh. Why did this happen to me?” she whispered.
“I don’t know, sweetie.” She paused. “I had a talk with Brian last night. He knows how much this tour means to you, and he also knows that your parents would pull you out of it the second they found out about this baby. As horrible as it sounds, we decided that it would probably be best if they never found out.”
“What? H-how would that work?”
“On one of your days off, you and I would go to the clinic, and we would take care of it.”
“You mean, an abortion?”
“Yeah. You were planning on getting one, right?”
“I don’t know. Honestly, the thought never even crossed my mind, but I suppose it would make the most sense. I don’t know how I could have the baby, with Nick’s career, and my career, and my parents…”
“I think you need to talk it over with Nick, sweetheart. If that’s what you want, it wouldn’t be a problem for me to take you.”
“Does Brian hate me?”
“No, he’s just a little shocked. He just worries about you. He’ll get over it. Don’t tell him I told you this, but if it makes you feel any better, I had a little pregnancy scare earlier in our relationship, but I’m very irregular, so I had just skipped a month.”
“Thanks, Leigh.”
“Do you want to have a girl’s night tonight? We can kick the guys out and just hang out, you and me. We don’t do that very often. Maybe it would take your mind off things.”
“I would love that.”
“Okay, we’ll order some cheese pizza and rent some movies.”
On the way to rehearsal, Nick could feel Brian’s eyes on him, but, not wanting to meet the death glare, he kept his eyes staring straight ahead. Finally, Brian broke the silence. “Nick.”
“Yeah?” Nick replied, still not meeting his gaze.
“I have no idea what was going through your mind when you got her pregnant, nor do I want to know. I am incredibly pissed off at you right now, but I’m gonna have to shove that aside.” He paused. “What are you planning on doing with this baby?”
“Whatever Mattie wants to do. Did either of you tell your parents she’s pregnant yet?”
“No. If our parents find out, they will never let her continue on this tour, and I don’t want that to happen because I know how important it is to her. For that reason, I think it would be best for her to get an abortion and just not tell them.” Nick looked at Brian and gasped. “You really think that would work?”
“Of course it would. They’re in Kentucky, and we’re in Florida. Leigh can take her one of these days.”
“If that’s what Mattie wants, then that’s what we’ll do, I guess,” Nick stated. “I’m leaving the final decision up to her because I’m not the one who will have to carry it for nine months or anything.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Brian hesitated. “If this had to happen, I’m glad you’re the father, Nick.”
“Why is that?”
“You’re a good person. You aren’t going to run away and leave her alone with this.”
“I don’t think I would ever be able to leave her alone with this. I love her too much.”
“Good, keep it that way, because she doesn’t need her heart broken.”