Bosses and Butterflies

FORTY-TWO

FORTY-TWO
Callie

It's tense in the house.

We've been back home for three days now and in those three days, Miller hasn't left his room once. I've knocked plenty of times asking him if he wanted to talk. I didn't bother asking if he was okay, of course, he isn't. His brother just died. I haven't seen Ev or Nix either, they've been very busy figuring out how to get the 'business' up and running again. The house is eerily quiet, everyone keeping themselves to themselves.

Now I'm sitting on the toilet seat as I wait for the results from the pregnancy test I've just taken. I mean the answer is fucking obvious. I don't want to look at the result on my own, so I grab a tissue and pick up the stick, wrap it up and walk out of the bathroom.

Phoenix and Everest aren't home but the only person that is home is my Miller. As soon as I'm outside his bedroom door I knock once, then twice, then three times. I huff and slowly twist the door handle. To my surprise, the door is unlocked so I poke my head through the dark room. The curtains are closed but a small gap of light shines through, highlighting Miller's sleeping figure on the bed, an open book lying flat on his chest. My eyes water when I read the title of the book 'How to be a dad'. I gently close the door behind me and take small steps towards him.

I run my fingers through his soft brown hair, then his cheek and smile gently as he leans in closer to my touch.

"Mill?" I whisper so gently as the silence surrounds us. His eyebrows twitch but he stays asleep. "Miller," I say a little louder. His eyes begin to flutter open and they're already glazed over as he looks at me.

"Callie?" He croaks and sits up, the book falling onto his lap. He looks down at it with furrowed eyebrows and then blushes.

"I've been really worried about you, Miller. Every time I've come to check on you your door would be locked and I don't want you to suffer alone." I gently grasp hold of his face and brush my thumb along his soft cheeks. "I love you." Miller suddenly pulls me into a tight hug, burying his face in my neck as he cries for the loss of his younger brother.

"Why would he do that, Cal?!" He questions, pulling back with tears running down his face. "He's a fucking idiot!"

"He saved our lives," I whisper. "You know he wouldn't want you grieving like this. The crazy man probably wants you to go out partying for him or something." I lightly joke, my heart fluttering when Miller releases a small laugh.

"I know he was an idiot but he was my brother you know. He didn't need to die." I bite my lip and wipe the tears away from his face. "I'm sorry I've been pushing you away."

"It's fine. You have every reason but I want you to know I'm always here for you. I don't want you to suffer alone. You have me, you have Everest and Phoenix and you might have a baby too." I whisper and his eyes fall to my stomach.

I pull the pregnancy test from my back pocket and take a deep breath.

"The result should be ready now. I wanted us to look together." His face brightens and he takes the stick from my hands and turns it over. Our eyes fall to the two lines and my eyes begin to brim with tears.

"You know it's probably mine." Miller chuckles and I playfully roll my eyes. "I'm sorry, my love." I furrow my eyebrows.

"What for?"

"The argument we had before all of this. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you, forgive me." He pleads and I smile tenderly. "So much was going on and that's no excuse, I just want you to know I'm sorry."

"You're forgiven. Let's just forget about that argument but don't ever speak to me like that again, okay?" He nods his head and I stand up from the bed and look back down at the pregnancy test. "I mean this was very unplanned." I place my hands on my hips and release a shaky breath.