“Hey, I’m going to take a nap, okay?” Kendall yawns with a stretch.
Gregory looks over at her from the stocks in his newspaper. “A nap?”
“Yeah…”
“Okay, um, you can lay on my bed,” he says but doesn’t take his eyes off of her until she’s left the room. He furrows his brow as he gets out his cell phone, tapping the screen before holding it to his ear. “Has Kendall been sleeping at night?”
“Hi to you, too.”
“Has Kendall been sleeping or is she having insomnia again, Lionel?”
Lionel sighs. “No, Gregory, she’s slept a lot. The past few nights she has been asleep before she even made it to bed. Have you been overworking her?”
“No! She’s done nothing but sleep here lately!”
“That’s all she’s done here as well!”
Gregory frowns and looks towards the hallway, his mouth pressed into a pensive line. “Okay, thank you.”
“Maybe she’s sick.”
“Maybe…”
“Or, or...I don’t know what else it could be, Gregory.”
“Has she been taking her meds?”
“Does she ever take her meds?”
Gregory holds the phone with his shoulder and folds his newspaper. “I’m going to make her an appointment.”
“With a doctor?”
“No, with the circus.” He rolls his eyes.
Lionel chuckles. “She’d probably sleep through it.”
Gregory hangs up at that. He calls his doctor and sets an appointment for him to come by in an hour. Then he walks to his room and peeks in. She is snuggled to his pillows, sound asleep, looking exhausted. He tiptoes in and pulls the covers up over her shoulders and gently kisses her hair. He retreats to the living room, closing the door with a soft click behind him.
************
Greg hears the door open and stands up, dashing into the hall. “Prognosis?” he asks.
The doctor pats him on the shoulder with a look. “I’m going to make a call and schedule her an appointment with someone else. I think you should talk with her about it.”
“Wha-what?” Greg blinks and follows him. “Frank, what?”
“Talk with her about it!” he says and leaves.
Gregory just stares at the door for a moment before walking to his bedroom. He straightens his shirt and dusts his pants before opening the door with a small smile. “Hey.”
Kendall looks at him. She is sitting on the edge of his bed with her hands in her lap. “Hey…”
He steps in and shuts the door behind him, keeping his eyes on her. “So… How did it go?”
“Uh…” She bites her lip. “Well… His hands were cold.”
Gregory sits on the bed beside her. “Aren’t all doctors’ hands cold?”
Kendall leans her head his shoulder and he puts his arm around her. “We… We need to talk.”
“Yes, that’s what Frank said.” He isn’t sure whether to look at her or somewhere else. Something felt… Different.
“Gregory…” She shifts and looks at him and he meets her eyes.
“Kendall?”
She breaks the gaze and looks at the line where the floor meets the wall. “We need to talk later.”
“Why not now?”
“Because I’m not sure how… I don’t even… I can’t even think right now.”
Gregory just stares at her for a moment before looking away at the wall, too. “You know you can tell me anything. Just start.”
“Gregory, please…”
He closes his eyes and presses his mouth into a line. “Alright…” He begins to stand up.
Kendall looks at him and grabs his hand to keep him from going. “Gregory… I’m… I’m…”
He looks at her and slowly sits back down. “You’re?”
She looks away again. “I-I don’t know.”
“No, you’re not pulling this.” He gently turns her face back to him. “You know. Just say it, Kendall. Just spit it out, please.” He flicks a tear from her cheek with his thumb as she still avoids eye contact. “Kenny?”
She finally looks at his shirt, unable to meet his eyes. “I-I don’t know how it happened...I mean, well, I know how it did, but I just…”
“How what happened?” He softly has her by the shoulders.
Kendall finally meets his eyes. “Gregory, I’m pregnant...” she says, her eyes growing wide as she finally digests what the doctor told her. “I’m pregnant...”
He stares at her for a moment in stunned silence before laughing and hugging her close. “Oh thank God!”
“Wha-what?” She now looks at him oddly.
“I had thought, I had thought you had cancer or were dying or something when Frank mentioned calling another doctor. Oh thank God!” He hugs her closely and kisses her head. He then stops and just holds her tightly against him. “Our families are going to kill me. You’re pregnant and we’re not even married yet. Our families are going to bloody kill me.”
“What about me? I’m the one who’s pregnant!” She exclaims, pushing him away.
“No, you’re pregnant. You’ll have their mercy. I’ll be the one on the chopping block…”
“I’m sure it won’t be too bad…” She says and then pauses. “Well, not too bad once Lionel has heard and calmed down. He may actually try to kill you.” She nervously chuckles.
“As I said, I’m dead meat.” He plops back onto the bed. “I’m dead meat and I’m doing to be a father. A bloody father, can you imagine?” He looks at her with a wide smile.
“No, I can’t imagine.” She says, staring at him. “I’m not ready to be a mother!” She exclaims with wide eyes, and starts panting a little. “I’m not ready!”
Gregory quickly sits up and hugs her close again. “Hey, hey now, it’s going to be okay. Calm down.” He softly rubs her arm.
“Where would we even put a baby? It can’t sleep in a drawer!” She starts crying.
“Um…” He looks at her and then looks around. “Well… Once you move in here, we could turn the guest room into a nursery, but until the room is readied it can sleep in a little cradle by the bed.” He says slowly. “Then of course the lake house is being readied for us as well. I can just have them change the designs of one of the rooms.”
“B-but what about Lenny?” She sniffs.
“Lionel is a grown man. He can live on his own.” Gregory smiles at her. “Remember, he told you he’ll take over your old apartment when you’re ready to move in here?”
Kendall nods against his chest. “M-maybe we don’t tell anyone until after the wedding…”
“That’s still months away, Kenny. They’d get suspicious if we moved the date, and by then they probably will be able to tell if they look at you closely.”
“But Mum will be so upset!” She starts crying again.
Gregory hugs her with a sigh. “We’ll figure that out when the time comes. Let’s first just calm down and have it checked out to make sure it is healthy, okay?”
Kendall nods and tries to calm down. “O-okay.”
“Good.” He smiles and softly kisses her. “You should go back to your nap. It’s been a stressful day.”
She nods but doesn’t let go of him. “Ca-can you?”
“Alright, I’ll lay with you.” He sighs and pulls back the covers and kicks off his shoes.
Kendall lays down beside him, still sniffing. “You really think I should tell them?”
Gregory pulls up the covers and pulls her close. “We should tell them together. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to run and leave you alone with a baby.” He snorts. “That’d just be stupid.”
“Promise?”
He looks at her watery green eyes with a small frown. “Of course I promise. How could you have thought differently?”
Kendall looks away. “I-I…”
“No, wait, no don’t answer that.” He sighs and kisses her cheek. “I know why, and it’s okay. But I assure you, I am not going anywhere. You are bloody stuck with me now.”
She smiles a little. “Good… Then I’ll talk Lionel into not murdering your sorry arse.”
Gregory laughs. “Fantastic, I would love to live to see our child grow up.”
“Me too…” She yawns. “See you live to see it, I mean.”
“Go to sleep, Kendall.” He chuckles.
ns 15.158.61.7da2
