I close the door behind us as we walk back into Dan's room. With all the dishes clean and the food packed up, there was no more putting it off. I had to tell Dan about the sonogram.
"Dan, I need to tell you something." I say, sitting beside him on the bed, holding his hands in mine.
"If it's about the Charlie thing, I don't really care that you lied to him about doing the paper. I get why you did it."
"No, Dan. It has nothing to do with that." I swallow and he looks at me, confused. "Has your mom gone through menopause yet?"
Dan looks shocked. "I don't know! What the fúck, Lola?"
"I know, sorry. That came out wrong." I cover my face with my hands. "I only said that because I saw your mom crying when I went to call her for dinner."
"So?"
"So...she was holding a sonogram, Dan."
Dan breathes in as he absorbs the information. "You think she's pregnant."
"I honestly have no idea, Dan." I say, pushing his fringe back lovingly. "Do you know if there's a possibility she could be?"
"I don't know either." He says, moving away from my touch and getting up. He paces the small space in front of his bed. "What do you think we should do?"
"Ask her?" I say, unsure of whether I even want to do that.
"Yeah, yeah..." Dan stops pacing. "I think that's the best option."
He walks to the door and opens it quickly. I yell after him as he opens his mother's door, right across from his. "Dan, stop!"
"Mom?"
I follow him in regrettably. Denise is lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. She sits up as soon as we enter and Dan sits at the foot of the bed, motioning for me to join him. I can already tell that she knows what this is about as she looks worriedly at me.
"Mom, are you pregnant?" Dan asks softly. I somehow knew he was going to get right to the point. My heart strings tug as Denise's eyes start watering.
She looks away for a few minutes and I can hear Dan's breathing getting shallower. When she finally turns her eyes back to us they're bloodshot.
"I've been needing to tell you this for a long time." She says. "I'm not pregnant, Dan. But I was."
"What do you mean?" Dan asks.
"Do you remember that weekend I went up to your father's cottage to see him? To try and sort things through?"
"Our last weekend in England?"
Denise nods. "Four years ago, today."
"You got pregnant then?" The puzzle pieces suddenly fall into place, and I clamp my hand over my mouth as the words tumble out. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."
"It's okay, honey. You're right." Denise looks at Dan, whose eyes are watering.
"What happened mom?" He asks weakly.
"I miscarried." She chokes, the tears starting to flow again. "I'm only 40, Dan. I'm still able to have children you know."
"I know." Dan says. "I'm sorry, mom. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was embarrassed, honey. I know you weren't a big fan of your father at the time and for some reason I didn't think you'd approve."
"You don't need to worry about me. I'm a big boy." He says, gripping my hand. Denise looks down to our intertwined fingers and smiles sentimentally.
YOU ARE READING
Foolproof • Dan Howell
Fanfiction[ ON HOLD ] I never knew I could love someone as much as I loved the brown-haired boy in business class. He was smart, cute, sweet, and funny. I never meant to fall in love with him. That was my biggest downfall, my fate, the inevitable. They say if...
