Fractured from the Fall

The Pain of Pleasure

Lily's body bounced up and down on the cushiony bench seat of Ford's truck as it made its way down the bumpy dirt road to his parents' house. Ford reached across the seat and lovingly put his hand over Lily's stomach.

"Sorry, I know bouncing isn't good for the baby," he gave Lily an adoring smile.

"It's fine. I'm pretty sure it's still too tiny to be affected by bumps," she tried to return his adoration but all she could muster was a half-hearted smile. Lily couldn't believe how well Ford had taken the news. Not only did he not sprint in the opposite direction but he actually seemed to be excited about the prospect of them having a child. Lily on the other-hand was terrified. Aborting the baby would require her father's help and she was scared shitless to tell him. She also knew that Ford would never forgive her if she got rid of it. He wanted this baby and she knew he'd never look at her the same if she decided to end the pregnancy. But the alternative seemed worse to Lily. Being a teenage mother, was basically her worst nightmare come true. She'd never get out of this town. She'd wind up stuck, miserable and depressed just like her mother had been. She hated her mother for what she had done and she knew her baby would wind up hating her just the same. How could she be a good mother, Lily wondered, when she had no idea what that looked like? How would she not resent the baby, just like her own mother had resented her for taking her dream away? To Lily, living a mundane life filled with regret, was a fate worse than death.

"My parents are going to love you," Ford said with excitement. He was so happy. She'd never seen him like this, so light and cheerful. The weight of their lie had been lifted that night in the laundry room. They were now free to be together like they wanted but it was different than they had expected. Lily didn't want to rub their relationship in Grant's face and she was worried about what other people might think and say. She didn't need to deal with people scrutinizing her life choices. She was already crying herself to sleep every night over the baby. The last thing she needed was a bunch of self-righteous teenagers judging her. The weight of their lie had been replaced by the weight of the secret they had to keep about the baby and suddenly Lily longed for the days when all she had to worry about was them being caught together. That secret seemed like nothing compared to the one she was keeping now. Ford and Lily had agreed to wait a while to break the news to their parents. Lily had already been through so much stress with the whole situation with Grant that she asked Ford to wait. Grant was so angry with her and she couldn't bear that he hated her so much, even though she knew she deserved it. She didn't need to deal with was three angry and disappointed parents on top of Grant's hatred. She couldn't handle much more right now so Ford agreed to keep quiet.

"Can't wait," Lily smiled. She knew she needed to pull it together so that his parents didn't suspect anything, and she wanted the night to go well for Ford. He was being so sweet. All things aside, it was pretty hot how in love he already was with their baby which at this point was probably no bigger than the size of a a grape.

Ford rounded the corner and the property came into view. An enormous ranch style house sat in the foreground with rolling green hills surrounding it. Huge oak trees lined the driveway leading up to the house. Horses galloped alongside the truck on the other side of a wooden fence. 

"Oh my god," Lily said in surprise. "This is your house?"

Ford nodded.

"It's...spectacular," Lily said in awe.

Ford couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction.

"Didn't think the bad boy was also the rich kid?" he joked.

Lily hit him playfully on the shoulder and Ford jokingly recoiled as if it hurt.

"Does all this land belong to your family?"