And Baby Makes Two - Dyan Sheldon [27]
She looked like she was trying not to cry. She started saying all the usual stuff about how much responsibility a child is and how hard it is to bring one up on your own, but I wasn’t going to listen. I grabbed my jacket from the arm of the couch and shot out the door.
I went straight to Blockbuster.
There were a few customers strolling past the new releases, and a boy and a girl behind the desk with Les.
He gave me a wave.
“You read my mind,” he called. “I was thinking of taking a break. Do you fancy a coffee?”
We sat at our table in McDonald’s, in the corner by the window.
Les had had a big fight with a customer who said he’d brought back a video that he hadn’t brought back.
“People!” He shook his head. “You’d be amazed at what they try on.”
“I know.” I’d stopped crying by then, but I snuffled a bit so he’d know I was upset. “It’s incredible.”
He looked at me over his coffee. “You OK? Your eyes look funny.”
I glanced in the mirror behind him. I looked like a panda.
“I had another fight with Witch Hilary.” I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand. “My mascara’s run.”
“What about this time?” Les grinned. “Did you forget to buy the milk again?”
“Not exactly.” I looked into my cup. “Can I go home with you tonight? I’ll tell you what happened then.”
Coffee sloshed over the sides of Les’s cup.
“To my place? Tonight?”
I handed him my napkin. “It was a really big fight. I don’t want to go home.” I gave him a stern but affectionate smile. “I’ve really got to talk to you.”
He was busy mopping up the table. “Not tonight, Lana. It’s impossible tonight.”
“But I can’t go home.” My voice was a little shriller than I’d meant it to be. “Please let me stay with you.”
He was shaking his head. “Another time, but not tonight.”
“But I’ve got to talk to you!”
He blinked. I’d never shouted at him before.
“Well, here I am,” said Les. “Talk to me.”
I like McDonald’s, I really do. And I know McDonald’s really likes kids and everything. But it still isn’t the sort of place where you announce that you’re pregnant.
“Not here,” I said. “Somewhere private.”
Les waved his arm. “This is private. There’s no one near enough to hear us.”
He gave me a look. Now we were even. I’d never seen him pissed off with me before either.
“If you keep your voice down,” he added meaningfully.
I ignored him.
“Why is it impossible tonight?” I demanded. “It’ll be late. No one’ll even know that I’m there.”
He paid no attention.
“So what was the fight about? How come you need to talk to me?”
I pushed my drink away. “I want to go home with you.”
“And I’ve told you, you can’t.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ve got to get back. We’ve got a trainee tonight.”
“What about our talk?”
He got up and pushed in his chair. “Talk on the way to the shop, or it’ll have to wait.”
“It can’t wait. My biological clock is ticking.”
Les laughed. “What are you on about now?”
I sat up straight. I folded my hands on the table in front of me.
“Les,” I said. “I’m going to have a baby.”
He laughed again. “Yeah, course you are.”
“I am,” I said. “Your baby. Ours.”
He sat back down.
“Jesus,” said Les. “I can’t believe this. I thought you were on the pill.”
Why would he think that?
“But you knew I was a virgin. Why would I be on the pill?”
He stared back at me as if I was a difficult customer.
“I thought you had it sorted. That night when I came after the stag party … I thought…” He shrugged. “I thought you were, you know, ready…”
“I was ready…”
I started to cry again. It wasn’t like you could just go to the chemist and buy a packet of birth control pills like a pregnancy test, was it?
“But I wasn’t on the pill.”
Les reached out and put his hands on mine. “Do you want me to go to the clinic with you? I’ll go if you want. You shouldn’t go alone.”
I swallowed some tears. “What clinic?”
“For the abortion,” said Les. He squeezed my fingers. “I won’t let you go on your own.”
This was not in my script.
“But I’m not having an abortion.” I smiled through the teardrops. “I’m keeping the baby.”
“Keeping the baby?” You’d think my hands had turned into hot coals,