Broken

• Chapter 93 •

As I lay awake in bed, my mind swirls around Ashton. How does he know him? Is that one of his secret jobs? Is Ashton a criminal? What is he? A drug dealer? Whatever it is, it's killing me. My heart aches a little in fear. Fear that if Ashton still has this job, it's dangerous, he can get hurt.

And fear that Ashton may not be who I think he is.

"Minty, wake up!"

I'm startled out of my thoughts and I sit up in confusion, rubbing my eyes, "What's up?"

My parents stand in my doorway with wide grins on their faces. "We have news," dad tells me.

I raise my eyebrows expectedly. Dad sounds abnormally happy, his eyes are lit up like a Christmas tree. What's going on?

"Well... They recently found new evidence against Derek about two months ago. It's um... A bit dark, so I won't go into details, but his date has been set. He's never coming out of jail," mom says joyfully.

My guts twist. Derek's sentenced to death? He's not coming out of jail, ever? We're going to be free from him... Forever?

"That's not the news, though," dad says somberly.

"WE'RE PREGNANT!"

I blink rapidly, "What?" I must've misheard.

"I'm pregnant!" mom is ecstatic.

My heart plummets, "Oh, wow..." I clear my throat, "That's... Great! Really, really... Great," I falter towards the end.

Dad studies me while mom obliviously nods in happiness. "When did you find out?" I ask her.

"About an hour ago," she tells me.

"Oh."

"I threw up at the interview, so we thought it was food poisoning or something. We went to the hospital and ran some tests, and they told me I'm a month pregnant! Of course, your father and I tried for a baby when we heard the news about Derek..." she gazes towards dad.

Ding ding ding. Ah. That answers that. I know they've never wanted to bring another child into this world in fear that he'd come back. It makes sense that they'd try now that they know for sure he's not coming out. I know Brandon has always wanted a child of his own. My heart sinks at this realization.

"That's awesome," I offer them a smile, "I'm really happy for you..."

Dad frowns, "Well you should be happy for yourself too, Minty. You're going to have a sibling!"

I shake my head, "Right, yeah. I'm happy for me, too."

Mom's phone goes off, "Excuse me. I need to take this call," she says as she darts out of my room.

I look up at dad, who's carefully studying me, "Are you sure you're happy..?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I force a smile and he remains silent. "Anyway. I should probably get some sleep," I tell him.

"Right. Good night, sweetie," he plants a chaste kiss on my forehead and leaves.

I climb into bed with an aching heart. I've got this terrible pit in the bottom of my stomach, and I can't tell where it's coming from. Is it the news about Derek? Or the news about the baby? Why am I so upset all of a sudden? I'm going to have a sibling. I should be happy.

I bury my insecurities and negative thoughts deep in the back of my mind and convince myself that this will be a good thing. Fake it till you make it, right?

Or in this case, fake it till you become it.