Pillow Talk

10~ Liars and Cheaters (River)

I woke up in the middle of the night to Scarlet screaming at the top of her lungs.

I immediately sat up, grabbing at her hands so she wouldn't hurt herself or the baby while thrashing around.

"Carls!" I said, touching her cheek with my free hand, "Scarlet, it's just a dream, wake up." I felt her hands grow limp in my hand, her eyes fluttered open only a minute later.

"River?" She whimpered, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Hey, it's okay." I barely had time to turn in her direction before I felt her nails start digging into my shoulder blade.

"The baby." She hiccuped. "Car accident." I buried my face in her hair, caressing her cheek.

"It's okay, it was just a nightmare. You're okay, Carls." She started shaking her head again, sniffling.

"No, Riv, you don't understand." She lifted her head a little, her eyes searching mine, "It wasn't our baby or me." I stared down at her in confusion, my free hand dropping on to her stomach.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It was Daisy." She whimpered, fresh tears rising to her eyes, "And River, she lost it. She lost the baby."

*

By the time Scarlet finally got up, I was almost done finishing the nursery. She had been trying to decide between sky blue and a royal blue for a month and a half, so I had finally decided to just go half and half with it.

"Wow, this looks wonderful!" Nina gasped from behind me, resulting in my foot slipping and the paint brush hitting my cheek before falling to the ground.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry." She rushed over and helped me wipe up the floor.

"I didn't mean to scare you. I thought you heard me." Her cheeks were bright red as she lifted her head to meet my eyes.

"It's fine, Nina." I assured her, dropping the brush back into the paint can, "Really."

After closing the paint cans and rinsing the brushes, I turned to find Nina standing a few feet behind me, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Have you told her about this place yet?" She asked, curious.

"No. I don't plan to until the baby's born either." I replied, scratching the back of my neck.

I wouldn't tell her about this place, not yet. She thought I had been painting the spare room back at the apartment, she didn't even know about the house out here, in the suburbs.

I remember clear as day, back when we were younger, she had promised herself she'd never raise her kids in a huge city. My aunt had been so set on making everything perfect for me after Ryan's death, she had even paid for a house about an hour away from Campus.

"For you two and the baby." She had said, "Ryan would have wanted you to be happy, River. Just remember that."

Everyone had been saying shit like that for the last few weeks as we planned the funeral. The pitiful looks, the bullshit lies, it all meant nothing to me.

Nobody understood the fact that I had taken care of my brother for over ten years, I had made sure he had everything he needed after our parents died. In a way, I guess he was like my son. He was the only thing in this world other than Scarlet that I loved, that I would always love dead or not.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked, then hearing how rude I sounded, went on, "Shouldn't you be out with Collin doing husband and wife things?" I joked, nudging her a little with my elbow. She smiled, but I could tell without a doubt that it was forced.