Scripted to Be

Chapter Sixty-Three: Cradle and Deceit

Josh took a photo and posted it to his story with the caption "I'm haunted but in a nurturing way."

Norman wandered past and casually added, "Next person who finds a bottle gets to name the baby."

Steven nearly choked on his smoothie.

Again.

By lunch, a baby bath duck appeared in the dressing room bathroom sink. Alanna found it floating next to the soap dispenser.

Danai caught Steven and Lauren casually strolling by with matching drinks and matching innocent faces.

"Okay," she said, "what's in the smoothies today? Baby formula?"

Steven held up his green cup. "Matcha. With prenatal—"
He stopped himself. Froze.

Lauren blinked. "Protein. He meant protein."

"Definitely what I meant," Steven said, too fast, too loud, and immediately walked into a doorframe.

That was the beginning of the end.

Christian, watching from the shadows with her arms crossed, whispered to Andy, "Ten bucks says someone snaps before Friday."

But it happened much sooner.

That afternoon, while the cast was gathering around the monitors, Melissa suddenly froze mid-step, her eyes narrowing at Lauren.

"Maggie's been in oversized t-shirts for how long?"

Lauren opened her mouth.

Closed it.

Sipped water. "They're comfortable."

Melissa turned to Norman. "Didn't she avoid hugging you last week?"

Norman frowned. "Yeah, she side-hugged like I was contagious."

Christian, very casually, sipped her coffee and took a step backward.

Danai snapped her fingers. "Wait—remember when she was eating hot Cheetos with vanilla ice cream?"

"And strawberries with pickles," Josh added. "Together."

Andy rubbed his temples. "Jesus."

"And Steven's been bringing snacks from somewhere every day," Alanna said. "Like... gourmet snacks. Stuff you can't even DoorDash."

"And those smoothies," Emily said. "He's on, like, five a day. With mystery powders."

"And they never let anyone touch Lauren anymore," Norman said. "Like there's a secret force field."

Everyone turned at once.

Lauren froze, mid-chip.

Steven set his smoothie down slowly.

Then came the last straw—Christian, of all people, feigning innocence.

"I mean... with all the baby stuff on set lately, maybe someone's trying to tell us something."

Silence.

Lauren's gaze flicked to Steven.

Steven took a breath—

And Melissa shrieked, loud enough to make two interns drop a light rig. "OH MY GOD."

Josh stood up like he'd been electrocuted. "WAIT."

Alanna gasped so loudly it echoed.

And Norman just pointed at Lauren's stomach and yelled, "SHE'S GOT A BABY INSIDE HER!"

Chaos.

Lauren covered her face with both hands and muttered, "I hate every single one of you."

Steven laughed, too loudly. "We weren't even trying to tell you."

Christian casually sipped her coffee and said, "And yet... we all know now."

Andy leaned against the wall and grinned. "Told you someone would spiral."

"Okay, okay, okay—stop screaming," Lauren finally said, lifting her hands like she was calming down wild horses.

It didn't work.

Alanna had her hands on her cheeks like she was witnessing a miracle. Norman was already on his knees, mock-praying toward Lauren's stomach like it was a sacred shrine. Emily had grabbed Christian's phone and was flipping through pictures like she might find documented evidence of the baby's conception. Melissa just blinked, stunned, her mouth wide open in a gasp that never quite made it to sound.

Steven, absolutely no help, beamed so hard he looked like the sun. "Guys, she's only just hitting 14 weeks, okay? Chill."

"Oh my god," Alanna whispered dramatically. "So we were right. About everything."

Christian muttered into her coffee, "I told you. Devils."

Lauren sighed. "Can I finish my chips now or—"

"No!" Norman interrupted, crawling over. "You need to show us."

Lauren blinked. "Show you?"

"THE BUMP," Josh said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Guys," Lauren deadpanned. "It's not a puppy reveal."

But the group was already closing in with anticipation.

With a resigned sigh, she set her water down, gave Steven a glance that said your fault, and slowly pulled up her hoodie and the oversized black shirt underneath.

The room went dead silent.

Because there it was: a subtle but unmistakable swell, small and low. Nothing dramatic. But definitely not just burrito bloat either.

"Awwww," Emily whispered, eyes shimmering.

"I told you it was a baby ring!" Norman yelled, triumphant.

Lauren yanked her shirt back down with a sharp look. "You are never calling it that again."

"I already did," Norman grinned. "It's done."

"Wait—wait—WAIT!" Alanna scrambled back, whipping out her phone. "This is too big not to document."

"No," Lauren started, panic bubbling. "No, no, no, Alanna—"

But it was too late.

Alanna had her phone on selfie mode, grinning like she'd just discovered life on Mars. "This is not a drill. I repeat: this is not a drill! Someone in this cast is having a post-apocalyptic baby, and we are not okay!"

"Alanna!" Lauren shouted.

Alanna pressed upload.

"ALANNA!"

She tried to delete it—really, she did—but by the time she refreshed her feed, it had already been reposted by two fan pages, liked by five blue-check accounts, and shared in a "Who's the Walking Dead mommy-to-be?" Reddit thread that had been dormant for two years.

"I didn't tag you!" Alanna swore, panicking. "I didn't tag anyone! It could be any woman here! We have, like, 30 cast members!"

Lauren groaned, dragging her hands over her face. "You don't understand. These people are feral. They're going to start cross-referencing the back of my neck in crowd scenes."

Steven looked at her like it was already over. "I give it six hours before someone finds the prenatal vitamin bottle in our trash on Zillow."

Norman had tears in his eyes. "This is the best day of my life."

Melissa pointed a chip at Lauren. "You did start wearing baggier shirts."

Josh nodded. "And side hugs."

Christian just smiled into her cup like she was watching karma in real time.