Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail

I tuned out Brady's predictable comeback and perused the toiletries. I didn't know if I chose that aisle on purpose or if my wanderings guided me to the right spot, but as I kept moving down, I saw a couple of pregnancy tests resting on the white stand. I caught my breath and stood frozen for a moment. Should I move away, ignore what I already worried about, or should I… I had no idea. This was above my head.

Something kicked in my stomach, perhaps my guilt. Without thinking I reached out and picked up one of the foreign boxes. This box, this tiny, simple box could hold an answer for something that could change my life. I blinked away tears and ignored the sudden pounding in my chest. The box felt too heavy to hold. As my hand started to fall, another caught it and tucked it against his chest.

I looked up and saw Brady. He held me tight against him and transferred the pregnancy test from my numb fingers to his.

"Are you worried about this?" There was a gruff note in his voice, but there was something else.

I shook my head. "We didn't use…"

Brady switched the box to the other hand and squeezed my hand with his free one. "We'll get through it. I promise."

I wanted to believe him. I really did. I wanted to close my eyes and know that whatever Brady said was true. He could do anything. But this, I knew he couldn't stop something that might already be growing inside of me. The time to stop it had already passed.

"Don't make promises that you can't keep," I whispered back.

Looking up, Brady caught his breath at my emotion. I let it shimmer, bright and shining, because I needed him to see how serious I was. I couldn't have him shrug it off and party it away. This was real, could be real.

"Holy. Mother of God. Are you kidding me?"

I whirled around and saw Viola at the end of the aisle. Her eyes were hot and she gripped the ice cream pail until her knuckles became white. Her face lost all the blood flow as she stomped forward. "You had better be joking. This had better be an elaborate pathetic joke, Brady. I won't be laughing if I'm the brunt of this awful, awful trick. Brady? Tell me you're kidding."

A lesser man would've laughed off the false joke. He would've taken the opening and ran for the hills.

Brady tucked me behind him and lifted a sober chin. "We'll handle this. Rayna and me."

"Like hell you will!" Viola whipped out, her eyes storming. She stepped forward with her hand outstretched to grab me, but Brady shuffled me out of her reach. She reared back. "You give her to me now. I can't believe you—I can't believe the two of you—Rayna! What were you thinking?"

"All due respect, Viola, we weren't thinking. We were doing what most kids do. We were living in the moment."

My grandmother's mouth clamped shut, but she flung a finger up and thrust it against his chest. "You know better," she seethed. "Of all kids, of everyone, you know better! You don't give me that crap. Now Rayna, she's sheltered, but you knew better."

"And she doesn't?" Brady firmly planted himself in front of me. "You treat her like she's a two-year old. You act like she's this fragile future spinster who doesn't know how to walk on her own two feet. You're clueless about her."

"You don't tell me about my granddaughter." Viola bristled in her rage. "You don't tell me."

"All due respect, but I know your granddaughter a little better than you do."

"No, you don't."

Brady quieted, but he only lasted a second. "You have always preached to me about making her live a little. You wanted her to have adventures, but still stay the same person. You wanted me to be the person to help her with that. You picked me on purpose. You saw how I was going to be a long time ago and you constantly called me over for lunch and supper. You handpicked me to be friends with Rayna. You knew that I'd take care of her. And now that the friendship has gone to another level, what'd you expect? You know who I am. You've always known who I am. What'd you expect?"

Viola surged forward and gritted out, "I expected you to respect her. I expected you not to treat her like one of your hussies. I expected you to not have sex with my granddaughter, who you know doesn't do those things easy. She's not like the rest of them."

"Like the rest of who? The rest of the skanks in this town? Or just the ones I sleep with?" Brady tilted his chin up further.

"I'm inferring that you didn't respect her enough to use a rubber," Viola lashed back.

"Enough!" I cried out.

"Rayna, no…" Brady urged.

I ignored him. "Grandma, we can talk about this later. I think it'd be the smart thing to schedule a doctor appointment for me tomorrow or as soon as possible."

"When?" Viola gutted out.

Brady flashed a triumphant smile, but I inquired, "When what?"

"When'd you do it? It might not even need to be done."

"Oh you mean about the—it was within seventy two hours, but I won't even think about any abortion pill. If it's…," My throat was tight. It was painful to swallow. "If it's supposed to be, it's supposed to be. I do think I could benefit from a check-up and further birth control measures." I finished and then tucked my chin against Brady's shoulder. It took everything I had to muster that maturity.