What if there was something wrong with the baby? She had thought she didn’t want to have a child but now – it was different now.

        "Please tell me what’s going on," Mimi pleaded. Chloe sat quietly next to her, silently adding her moral support and being a surprisingly good friend.

        The blond woman across from her gave an appraising look at the file in hand and regarded Mimi.

        "Have you told you’re parents yet?"

        "No, I couldn’t, I was just going to keep it a secret until after Brady and I were married and . . . they’d be really, really disappointed in me."

        "Well, I’m glad you didn’t. It would have been a lot of trouble for nothing. You’re not pregnant, Mimi."

        Chloe’s eyes doubled and Mimi sat in shock, only managing a few words, "But the test, it said--"

"There must have been some inaccuracy," Dr. Bader answered.

        "And my cycle?"

        "You’ve been stressed, that could have been the cause. You are perfectly healthy."

        Her shock turned into relief that filtered into something else she couldn’t pin. Disappointment maybe? Mimi stood and shook the doctor’s hand.

        "Thank you so much, Dr. Bader."

        "No problem, we miss you around the hospital."

        "I kind of think my bedpan days are over," Meems smiled.

        "I understand," Dr. Bader returned.

        "Thank you," Chloe nodded. She had never met Dr. Bader before but she seemed very nice.

        They bid their good-byes and Mimi walked to the elevator with a new attitude. Maybe she was a little sad she wasn’t going to have a baby but she was still so young and she didn’t want to start a family like this. Unwanted. It’s said things work out for the best and she couldn’t wait to tell Brady.

~*~

        "You know that old saying that things work out for the best?"

        "I’m vaguely familiar with it," Mimi smiled as he quoted her thoughts from two hours before. Brady approached her and sat down next to her in the grass of Salem Park.

        "I had a talk with my dad today. He’s hesitant for some reason to marry off Belle, not that I mind, Shawn is an idiot."

"Be nice," she answered lightly. It was her usual response now; she never felt that same welling of anger when Brady teased Shawn. Brady just grinned at her and picked up her hand, giving it a kiss. "Continue please."

        "Since my father isn’t pushing Belle to marry he’s told me he won’t be pushing me either."

        "What?" she asked quietly.

        "He said it’s hypocritical, he does know so much about that," Brady smirked. "He gave me three days to decide.

        He turned to see her stricken face and offered a grin instead.

        "Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave the girl with my bun in her oven. My real bun anyway," he told her as he put his hand over her stomach.

        . . . He was allowed to stop their engagement? And she was upset? Wasn’t this what they were working for? Why did she feel so bad? His face was still happy but Mimi didn’t respond, just placed her hand over his own. It would be so easy to lie, to keep him happy and become pregnant later . . .

        "Brady . . . I’m not pregnant."

        So easy isn’t exactly so right.

        His face fell now, and he pulled his hand away.

        "How do you know?"

        "I had cramping and I went to see Dr. Bader this morning and she told me . . . I’m sorry, Brady."

        He shrugged his shoulders and stared out over the park, "Why should you feel sorry? It’s a good thing right? What we wanted, right? Now we don’t have to get married or anything."

        "Brady?"

        "No, it’s okay. I have to go anyway. I’ll talk to you later," he said as he stood up and then gave a short chortle. "But then maybe I won’t. It was fun while it lasted, Meems, I’ll see you around."

        "Brady!" she called out. He didn’t turn and didn’t make a move to show he heard her, just left her on the warm grass in the warm sun. If he turned he didn’t want to think about what he would do.

        Or feel for that matter.

        Mimi watched with tears. This was the same spot Jan and she had talked about their engagements. She went away from that day feeling down and today she felt crushed.

        She had to stop coming to this damn park.

~*~

        "Mimi, what happened to you?" Nancy Wesley asked the next day as she opened her front door. There she found the future Mrs. Black with tears running down her face and her eyes swollen from crying.

        "Hi, Mrs. Wes-Wesley, is Chl-Chloe home?" she hiccuped.

        "Yes, come on in." Once ushered in Mimi stood in the foyer while Mrs. Wesley called out for her daughter, she came with a reluctant expression until she spotted Mimi.

        "What happened?" she said gently as she approached her.

        "He-He bro-broke up wi--" Another crying binge stopped the sentence and Chloe hugged the shorter girl.

        "It’s okay, we’ll go up to my room and talk, okay?"

        Mimi nodded miserably and Chloe guided her to the stairs.

        "Should I call someone?" Nancy asked. "You’re parents? Brady?"

        The last name made the tears come harder and Chloe shot an angry look at her mother, "Just stay out of this, Nancy."

        "I was just trying to help!"

        "Then go away! Come on, Mimi, lets get upstairs."

~*~

        "You want to tell me what happened now?"

Mimi drew in a shuddering breath and wiped away some tears. She had been crying for a good ten minutes since she arrived.

        "I . . . Bra-Brady broke up with me yesterday."

        "Say that again?" Chloe asked with obvious disbelief.

        Mimi glared at her and nearly shouted, "BRADY BROKE UP WITH ME! Why don’t you ask me to keep saying it? Drive the pain a little further!"

"Alright, calm down, we don’t want Nancy to hear since she is most assuredly OUTSIDE THE DOOR!" They heard the sound of footsteps trying to be hush as they left and Chloe turned to Mimi again. "I just don’t know what to say, I mean after what he told Phillip last week."

"That he was saddled with me? That he *had* to marry me? Tell Phillip that’s wrong. He doesn’t have to marry me, his father told him he was allowed to make his own decision and-and I DON’T CARE!"

"That’s obviously a lie."

"Shut up! It is not a lie, I’m just emotional because my parents were upset and-and . . . I HATE HIM!"

"No you don’t," Chloe answered.

"Yes I do!"

"I don’t think you do," she said as calm as Mimi was excited.

"I DO! He’s a jerk! He couldn’t even tell me to my face. As soon as I told him there was no baby he probably ran to his father as fast as he could! He had three days to decide but did he even consider? NO! JUST WENT! The same day too! But, me? I don’t care. I don’t, he could disappear for all I care! Cause I DON’T!"

Chloe listened quietly now, she couldn’t understand what had happen, especially now.

"But Phillip told me--"

"WHAT? What did that blabbermouth say?" Mimi asked annoyed through the new onslaught of tears.

"That Brady loved you," Chloe said quietly.

" . . . What?"

"Phillip said that Brady told him last week. He said he was in love with you and he didn’t know how it happened. He went from wanting to ditch you to being in love with you, in Phillip’s words he was all ‘wigged out’."

Mimi sniffed and looked hopeful, "He said he was in love with me?"

"Yeah."

Her expression went from hopeful to pissed and she grabbed a handful of pillow and hit it off of the bed they were on.

        "THEN WHY DID HE BREAK UP WITH ME?"

        "I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t think you feel the same way," Chloe defended as she put a hand over the poor pillow to keep it from flying across the room.

        "I . . ." Mimi began but paused, straightening her back a little. "I don’t."

        "You don’t?" Chloe said skeptically.

        "I do not."

        "Then why are you still wearing your engagement ring?"

        Mimi looked down on the glimmering diamond, emeralds and rubies before she gave a protesting pout.

        "Forgot to take it off."

        "And you’re crying your eyes out because?" Chloe added.

        "Because--"

        "Don’t say it’s because your parents were upset. They would have been upset if the Jan fiasco had worked too."

        Mimi was quiet and looked at her newfound confidant.

"I’m a little upset over what happened in the doctor’s office too."

"Another point," Chloe nodded. "I saw you after the appointment, Mimi. Were you disappointed that you weren’t having a baby or that you weren’t having *Brady’s* baby?"
       
        " . . . Okay, maybe I like him – A little."

        "Like him? You want to have his BABY, Meems. I think that’s more than *like*."

Mimi lowered her head and the tears came again, she hated crying now, she wasn’t even going to sappy movies anymore. But Chloe was right, it was Brady Black. The ultimate jerk.

        Maybe not a jerk really.

Sure he was pretentious and sometimes a complete . . .

But he could say something that made her want to laugh when she was sad . . .

Though he could do something is completely moronic and male like playing that stupid invaders game when she was trying to say she was pregnant . . ..

But then he would hold her when she was upset and make her feel better . . . And he would stroke her hair away from her face as they lie in bed after making love. And he would get that goofy grin when she did something like take his hand in public. It was something she thought he wouldn’t even care about but he did. And when she tried to sit across from him because she felt silly about the burst of feelings she got when she even looked at him. . . He would pull her beside him and smile and it was better than staring across the table and wishing she had taken the seat next to him.

And she was in love with him.

        And she thought life was complicated before.

to be continued...

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