Evelyn
I fall asleep next to Thaddeus and Ryland. Orion brings back movies, and I don’t even last through one. The next day I wake up, and Thaddeus and Ryland are gone. Sitting up, I find Orion on the bed next to me, reading a sheet of paper with a box in his lap.
“Good, you’re up,” he states, putting the paper down.
“Where did Thaddeus and Ryland go?” I ask.
“Out. Thaddeus needs more blood. Now tell me, and don’t lie to me.”
I look down in his lap at the box that sits there. It is a pregnancy test, and my heart rate picks up just by the sight of it.
“So, I guess I am correct in assuming that is why you were staring at your belly when I walked in and why you refused a smoke when Ryland offered it,” he states. I say nothing, just look away from him. “Well, you can’t be that far along. When was your period due?”
“The second, last week, we were at Imogen’s.”
“That would explain why you can’t see anything yet.”
“Yet?”
“Supernatural pregnancies are half the time, Evelyn,” he says, sitting up and grabbing my hand. He pulls me off the bed and thrusts the box in my hand. “It says you need to pee on the stick and wait,” Orion says. “Now, Evelyn, before they get back. And the door stays open, so I know you don’t tamper with it.”
I take it from him and walk into the bathroom. I try to close the door, but Orion walks in and closes it. “You can’t watch me, Orion.”
“I will turn around. Just hurry up; they won’t be long,” he says as he turns his back to me.
I suddenly get stage fright; I always need to pee first thing in the morning, but it is awkward with someone standing there. I quickly pee, thanking the gods pregnancy tests are done via urine sample and not a stool one. That would be humiliating.
I flush, hand him the stick with the cap stuck back on, and he sits on the basin, staring at it intently like it is some sort of experiment while I wash my hands. Three minutes feel so long, but then, I hear him growl. Orion grabs my hand and yanks me out of the bathroom. “Come on; we need to go.”
“What?” I ask, confused.
“You’re pregnant, Evie. We need to go now so we can get rid of it.”
His words make my blood run cold. Get rid of it? I am not getting rid of it. “No, Orion,” I tell him, pulling my hand from his and backing up. Orion makes a noise in his throat that makes goosebumps rise on my skin.
He turns on me, backing me into the corner. “You can’t keep it, Evelyn; it will kill you!”
“I’m not aborting my child, Orion.”
“You don’t have a choice; I won’t allow it to kill you,” he says, grabbing my wrist and trying to pull me toward the door.
“No, Orion, let fucking go of me!” I scream at him as he keeps trying to get me to follow him.
“Look, we will get rid of it, then if you want something to look after, I will get you a puppy,” he says.
I shake my head. “This isn’t your choice.”
“Like hell, it isn’t; you’re irrational; what part of ‘it will kill you’ don’t you understand?”
“No! My body, my choice!”
Orion growls, grips my arms, and presses me against the wall. “I said no. It’s simple, we get rid of it, then if you feel bad, I will get Thaddeus to erase it from your memory, get you a puppy, and everything will be fine.”
“No!” I scream to his face.
Orion growls, hitting the wall above my head. Tears are streaming down my face; he wants to kill our baby, and I know deep down there is nothing I can do if he forces me.
“Stop crying; this is what needs to be done. Now, come with me before I call Thaddeus to get you,” he says, grabbing my wrist. He yanks me toward him and I put my hand out to stop from smacking into his hard chest. “I am trying to be nice, Evelyn. Come with me now and do it the right way or I will get rid of it myself,” he snaps.
His eyes turn crimson; I feel the fog creep over me and know he is going to try compelling me. I slap him, the fog instantly lifts. The growl that escapes him is menacing. He grabs me, but I go limp, escaping through his hands, dropping to the floor, cradling my knees to my chest.
“You said you didn’t want kids yet! I don’t see the big deal, Evelyn. Simple choice, either you or a baby; I choose you, end of argument,” he snaps at me.
“I didn’t want one yet, but I am not getting rid of it; it’s our baby! How can you be so heartless?” I scream at him.
He tries to pick me up off the floor, but I kick and hit him, making it hard for him to grab me without hurting me.
Suddenly, the door bursts open.
“What the fuck are you doing, Orion?” Ryland yells, walking in with Thaddeus behind him. Shit, now I have three of them to go against.
Orion ignores him, and I can feel his anger hit me hard through the bond, making nausea roll over me. “Get up, Evelyn! NOW!” he bellows at me, reaching for me again, but Ryland growls when I pull away from him, slamming him against the wall.
“What the fuck has gotten into you? You’re scaring her!” he screams at him.
Thaddeus steps into the room, assessing the situation. Orion shoves him back and walks into the bathroom. He grabs the box, walks to Thaddeus, and slams it into his chest. Thaddeus glares at him, grabbing it. “Talk some fucking sense into her,” Orion snaps, walking out the door.
Thaddeus watches him storm out. Then, he stares at the box. Ryland walks over to him to see what Orion gave him, and their eyes snap to me.
“You’re pregnant?” Thaddeus asks, wide-eyed.
“You can’t keep it, Evie,” Ryland says, walking over to me where I am frozen on the floor. My heart is pounding in my chest so hard I am finding it hard to breathe.
“I’m not aborting my child!” I scream at him, frustrated.
Ryland rubs the back of his neck, looking toward Thaddeus, who sits on the end of the bed, looking down at the pregnancy test in his hand. “Evie-” he starts, but I instantly cut him off.
“No! And I won’t forgive you if you make me!”