The Spider: Origins

November 26, 2021

(TW: Mentioned Rape)

"Here." Emily pushes a thick sheet of paper into my hands and I blink.

I glance down at it and I can feel a grin curl my lips at the drawing of me curled up asleep in our 'nest'. It was no De Vinci, as she had only taken up drawing when we started living in this place, it was clear she had put a lot of care into the piece.

I smile, "Do you wanna put it in a scrapbook to keep track of your progress?"

She smiles shyly and nods, "Yeah."

I nod and head over to the bookcase along the entrance hall and pull out a binder I started keeping with polaroids of our time together. I carefully fold the edges of the artwork to make sure it fits and place it on the page, picking up a pen in the cup on the shelf and writing the time and date.

I tilt the book to show Emily before closing it and putting it back on the shelf and dropping the pen in the cup.

"All safe now." I tell her and she grins.

She comes to me the next day, deathly pale, shaking, and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Emily?" I asked alarmed, standing from my seat quickly and making my way over to her. It was the middle of the day and she should be at school. I knew she wouldn't skip without a good reason.

She was sobbing so hard she couldn't speak, so I just wrapped her in my arms and held her tightly.

A few minutes pass before I feel her start to shift. I pulled back some to give her more movement and watch as she reaches into her jacket and pulls out something before she presses them into my hands.

My heart dropped the moment I realized they were pregnancy tests.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I look at them. Two solid lines on all three of them.

I take another deep breath and set them down on the counter, pulling her into my arms.

"Oh darling." I squeeze her tightly as a fierce rage builds in my belly, "Was it David?"

A shaky nod against my shoulder, "About a month before we met, just after I ran away." She sobs, "I tried to push him off! I swear I did! But I couldn't!"

I hush her, "Calm, my sister. It's not your fault. It was never your fault."

She continues to soon for several minutes and when she calms down once more I ask, "What do you want to do? You have options and you have both me and Claire."

She released a shuddery breath and whispers, "I can't bear the thought of getting an abortion. It's not the baby's fault it's genetic donor is a rapist. But I don't think I'll be able to let it go once I hold it."

I nod, "Okay. I'm sensing a 'but' I'm that."

"But what if he finds out and tries to take it from me? He's a wealthy businessman. He could take my baby so easily." She cries, "I don't want it to potentially suffer as I did."

I nod against her head, "Do you want me to take care of him?"

The implication of what I just said seemed over us like a dark cloud.

And after several moments of stunned silence, Emily slowly nods her head, voice so low I almost didn't hear it, "Yes."

"Done."

(A/N) She kept the kid cause I asked my friends "yes or no" and didn't give them any context. Of the two that responded, both said Yes, and so the baby was kept.