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“Riley.” He poked me softly, and I opened my eyes. “Hey, how are you?” He spoke softly, as if I were a child.
It was strange because he usually yelled his words and barked his orders, but today he treated me like I was a piece of fragile glass. I moved around on the bed and pushed my tangled hair back.
“I’m going to have the abortion.” I took a shaky breath and watched how he reacted. He didn’t say anything; he just ran his finger over his stubble and thought.
“Is that what you want?” he asked after a while.
“No, but that’s for the best. We can’t have a baby Mason; it’s not fair to him.”
“Him?” He asked, looking down at my stomach. “You know it’s a boy?” I almost smiled because he was so naive about this. How could I possibly know that?
“No, I just think it’s a boy.” He smiled a little.
“Huh, I think it’s a girl.” My eyes got big because I was surprised he even thought about the baby’s gender. It wasn’t a baby at all last night; it was “just a bunch of cells.”
“You do?” I asked, my voice full of disbelief.
“Yeah, she was cute and caused trouble and stuff, but her big blue eyes made me melt, so I could never really be mad at her. I even gave her a name.”
“You did?” My voice was now high-pitched with shock. He named our child?
“Yeah, Melody.” I laughed sadly because I couldn’t picture myself calling my daughter Melody. He said, “It was my mom’s name.” “And I thought, I don’t know.” He started to blush.
“What?”
“It’s sort of a nod to you because you’re a diamond—”
I finished his sentence with “Among the rocks,” and he smiled.
“Yeah.” He took my hand and looked at me with a lot of intensity. “Riley, I’m sorry. What I did yesterday was wrong. You needed me and I wasn’t there. It was a lot; I never wanted kids and I never even thought about the possibility of getting you pregnant. I just— I don’t know— I panicked. I had just found out and that wasn’t fair because you had just found out too.”
“What are you trying to say, Mason?”
“I’m saying,” he said, stopping to think and biting his lower lip. “I mean, I want you to keep the baby. I want us to keep the baby.”
He sighed and said, “How?”
“I don’t know; I haven’t figured it out yet, but it starts with not getting an abortion. I have nine months to figure out the rest.” He moved up next to me on the bed and wrapped his arms around me.
“Are you really in this one hundred percent? Because if you change your mind again, my heart won’t be able to take it.”
His hands touched my stomach, and I felt butterflies in my stomach. His eyes were so warm, protective, and safe.
“That’s my baby in there. My little, defenceless baby. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Riley. I’m going to protect you, our baby, and our family.”
“Daddy,” I whispered.
His eyes sparkled with such strong feelings that they might have even gotten a little watery. Mason, the robot cried. It was beautiful how his humanity came through.
“Daddy.” He said it again, this time with thought. “I like it.”
I kissed him sweetly with my head tilted up. His warmth wrapped around my body, his chest rose and fell slowly, and his big hands cradled my face. It made me feel less alone in this.
The static from Mason’s walkie-talkie filled the room, and he rolled his eyes, unhooked it from his belt, and held it to his lips.
“Come in, Red Dog. This is your commander. Is the girl ready?” His eyes floated to mine, almost see-through like the sap on a tree’s bark.
“Trust me, okay?” I nodded, but I was scared.
“Sir, Miss Rivers and I seem to have different opinions. She really wants to move forward with her situation.”
“Wow,” I said quietly after he took his thumb off the button to talk. “God, I thought you were this strong, brave man, but you’re just going to sit back and let me take the blame for not wanting to kill our baby.”
He said softly, “Trust me,” and his eyes were so sure. “I’ve got this. Nothing is going to happen to you or our baby.”
“Bring her in, red dog. I want to talk to her.”
“On our way, Sir.”
The commander was pacing the floor of his office with the door wide open, waiting for us. He told us to close the door and sit down. He stopped walking and looked straight into my soul, burning away what was left of my innocence.
“So you’ve changed your mind? Tell me, how do you think that will help your child?” His voice was sharp and hurtful.
“Well, first of all, he or she would be alive.” I bit back, feeling the sharpness of my own tongue.
“Riley,” Mason said, cutting me off because he didn’t like how snarky I sounded. The commander raised his eyebrows and looked at Mason.
“Riley?” he asked. “Lieutenant, do you talk to all of the recruits like this?”
“No, sir,” Mason said politely. There was a pause before he dropped the bombshell. “Only the ones I get pregnant, Sir.”
My mouth dropped open, and I couldn’t help but look at Mason, who kept his eyes on his father with unwavering strength.
The commander’s voice changed from a harsh tone to a higher pitch, showing how shocked he was.
“I have to admit, Sir, that Riley and I have been very close and she is having my child. Your grandchild, Sir.”
The room went quiet, and I slowly turned to the commander to see how he would react. He just looked at his son with no expression. Understanding.
It was like two strangers talking to each other.
The commander finally shook his head and laughed to himself in a dark way. “You idiot.” Mason stiffened, getting ready for more of his father’s abuse and bullying.
“I don’t think you’re that dumb.”
He looked down at me with shame, like he had just found out that his son had slept with a hooker and gotten her pregnant.