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"Alright, Em, tell me what's
wrong."
"Huh?" Emily asked
and looked with a startled expression at Lucky. "Oh, nothing's wrong, Lucky.
I'm just thinking."
"About what? You haven't
said a word since we got here."
"I'm hungry," Emily
said hastily, and flagged a waiter down. "Could you bring me a salad after
all?" she asked. "Italian dressing." The waiter nodded and hurried toward
the kitchen.
Lucky frowned. "I
didn't realize you were that hungry."
"I haven't eaten today,"
Emily replied quickly.
"You still haven't
told me what's bothering you."
Emily groaned. "I
*told* you, Lucky. Nothing is bothering me. I haven't been sleeping or
eating very well lately. That's all."
"That's all?"Lucky
asked incredulously. "Emily, there could be something seriously wrong with
you. You need to see a dcotor."
"I already have,"
Emily replied simply, then turned her attention to the tablecloth. There
was something very fascinating about it all of a sudden.
"Well?" Lucky asked
after a moment. He lifted his glass to his lips and sipped slowly at his
water.
"I'm pregnant."
Lucky sprayed a mouthful
of water across the table and stared at he with wide eyes. He set his glass
down with a shaky hand. "You're *what*?" he asked.
"I'm pregnant, Lucky.
And *yes*, you are the father."
Lucky leaned back
in his chair, and inhaled shakily. "How, I mean when-"
"You know when Lucky,
and I certainly *hope* you know how," Emily said, exasperated.
"NO, I mean when did
you find out?" Lucky managed to sputter.
"After I gave you
the, uh----pills, the doctor wanted me to have a pregnancy test just to
be on the safe side. I found out three weeks ago."
"Three weeks?!" Lucky
shouted angrily. "Why are you just now telling me, Emily? You should've
told me as soon as you found out."
"I'm only a month
pregnant, Lucky. There's plenty of time to do something," Emily said.
"Do something?" Lucky
questioned. "What do you mean?"
"I can still get an
abortion," Emily responded.
Lucky paled. "NO you
can't," he said coldly. "You can't kill the baby."
"It's not a baby yet,
Lucky, it's a fetus. It hasn't even begun to develop yet." Emily lowered
her eyes, then looked uncomfortably across the table. "It wouldn't be like
killing a baby, Lucky."
"NO!" Lucky shouted,
and rose to his feet. He stared down at her angrily. "You're not going
to kill this baby," he said firmly.
"Lucky, it wouldn't
be killing. You can't kill something that hasn't even begun to live-"
"Exactly!" Lucky cut
her off. "It's murder! And i won't stand by and watch you commit it."
"It's MY choice Lucky!"
Emily screamed and jumped to her feet. They glared at each other across
the table. "I'm the one carrying the baby, Lucky. It's my decision whether
I keep it or not!"
Lucky clenched his
fists and regarded her with hat in his eyes. "Are you so irresponsible,
Emily?" he asked. "That you would murder the first decent thing you brought
into this world? You can't even take responsibility for the baby that I
helped you create?" Emily felt tears sting her eyes, but stubbornly stood
her ground. "Are you going to do like the rest of your family?" Lucky asked,
his voice shaking in rage. "Just sweep this under the carpet amd pretend
nothing ever happened?" Emily did not respond, but watched silently, mouth
quivering. "Then I don't want to have anything to with you," Lucky said
and left her alone at the table.
Emily stared after
him, then collapsed back into her chair, sobbing.