Wicked Game || CURRENTLY EDITING

Chapter 42: Now in Color Part 2

"Oh, then I must've imagined it," I reply. "Okay, we're gonna have to chase this thing out," I declare. Peter nods and we run at the stork, careful to not make any noise. We run back and forth but it keeps slipping from our grasp. At one point, it chases us into the nursery room before it runs back out. We pant as we try to catch our breaths.

"Why is there a stork in the house in the first place?" Peter questions.

"Uh... someone left the window open?" I lie. Peter takes a moment before he shrugs. We sneak out of the room and spot the stork walking in Wanda's direction. We creep up behind the stork while Geraldine keeps yakking.

"...like, BOOM!" she yells. Wanda screams and throws an orange at the stork, making it run away. Peter catches the orange and Geraldine turns and sees us squatting on the ground. "Oh- Wanda!" she exclaims in shock. The stork makes noise, causing her to spring up. Peter and I jump up too and exchange a worried look.

"What was that? Did you hear that?"

"No," Wanda, Peter, and I rapidly answer.

"It was like a... uh, chattering sound, like..."

"Oh! Like a..." Wanda imitates the sound.

"Yeah," Geraldine mumbles.

"That's my new icemaker built right into the fridge," Wanda claims. Geraldine looks between all of us and Peter and I smile and nod.

"Ohhh!" Geraldine squeals. The rest of us chuckle nervously. "You're fancy!" she compliments as she sits down before resuming what she was talking about.

Peter and I glance at each other and sigh. We look around and my eyes widen when I view the stork walk around the other side of the couch, moving toward Geraldine. If we try to grab it, she'll see it because it's right there. We move to the other side, to keep Geraldine focused on us and Wanda while she's talking. Peter instinctively grips my hand and squeezes it when the stork nips at Geraldine's pant leg. I squeeze back, waiting for her to notice it. She suddenly laughs and moves her legs, scaring the stork away. I sigh and glance at Peter, who grins at me in relief. He looks down at our connected hands and lets go. I grab his hand again and smile at him, making him blush.

"Thank you," Wanda weakly chuckles.

"Yes, and that's exactly what Mr. Haddox said... right before he told me to clean out my desk," Geraldine speaks, biting into her apple. We all gasp.

"Oh, no, Geraldine," Wanda voices.

"He didn't fire you," I add, now invested.

"Oh, sugar... he hired me!" Geraldine shouts out.

"Oh!" Wanda chuckles.

"You go, girl!" I praise.

"Thank you, baby!" Geraldine acknowledges me as she stands. "Oh, I landed a promotion! And now that I've gone all corporate, I need some office supplies. Which brings me to my question. Do y'all still keep those in your spare room?" She begins to near the nursery room, causing us to panic. "Because I was hoping you wouldn't mind sharing with your good friend."

"Wait! Wait!" we shout as we run after her. Wanda picks up a flower vase on the way to hide her tummy. We run in and see the stork posing in front of the stork painting.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Oh, a stork, yes! We can explain," I nervously chatter.

"No! The crib!" Geraldine clarifies, whirling around. Wanda suddenly grunts and hunches over, dropping the vase.

"It's coming. Oh, the baby's coming," Wanda rambles, groaning in pain.

"You're pregnant?" Geraldine questions. Peter and I each grab one of Wanda's hands.