Do I Dream Again

Henrik and Jonathan stared at the two women in shock. “What?” they asked at the same time, both having a deer in the headlights look on their face.

“I’m pregnant,” she repeated even more quietly than before.

“You’re pregnant?” they asked in unison, still in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Kyra said slowly, nodding her head to confirm. She stared directly at Henrik, wanting to gauge his reaction, but he just stood there, his eyes wide open. “I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly, tears brimming her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she repeated before running towards the bathroom, not wanting to stand there any longer.

“Hank!” Sadie exclaimed, shoving him in the chest, as she ran after Kyra to make sure she was okay. She swung the bathroom door open and saw Kyra standing there, tears streaming down her face. Sadie made sure no one else was in the bathroom before she locked the door behind them, wanting to give them some privacy. “Kyra,” she said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“God, Sadie, it’s happening all over again!” Kyra exclaimed through her tears. Sadie stared at her, confused by what she was referring to. “It’s just like my first pregnancy. Why am I such a whore?” she cried.

“Kyra, you’re not a whore,” Sadie assured her. Kyra looked up at her, not believing a word she was saying. “You and Hank love each other.”

“Sadie, we’ve been going out for a couple of months, and I’m pregnant. That’s the definition of a whore,” Kyra told her. Sadie opened her mouth to protest, but Kyra began talking once again. “I don’t know why I do this to myself. I’m going to be a single mother once again,” she sighed.

“What?” Sadie exclaimed. “You know Hank’s going to be there for you. He wouldn’t leave you, especially when you’re pregnant with his kid!”

“That’s just it,” Kyra said. “He’s going to feel obligated to stay because I’m pregnant. And, then he’s going to end up hating me because I trapped him or something. And, God knows what the fans are going to say.”

“First of all, Kyra, Hank loves you. He loves Sophia, and he’s going to love this baby the two of you made. Second of all, who the fuck cares what the fans think. The four of you are going to be a wonderful family, no matter what anyone else thinks.”

“I can’t do this to him,” Kyra mumbled, and Sadie looked up at her. “I can’t trap him like this. He’s got so much more he can do with his life. You know that he’s at the top of his career. I can’t burden him with this child.”

“You can’t burden him?” Sadie nearly screamed. “Kyra, it’s his child, too. You didn’t create this baby by yourself. And, we both know he’s not going to think of him or her as a burden. You’re not giving Hank enough credit here. Let me go get him, and you two need to talk,” Sadie said, unlocking the door to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back,” she told Kyra, who nodded her head.

Sadie walked back to find Jonathan and Henrik in their same exact positions before, talking quietly. “Hank,” Sadie called out, and Henrik turned around to look at her. “You need to go talk to Kyra. She thinks she’s ruining your whole life because she’s pregnant, and she thinks she’s going to be alone throughout it again.”

“What?” Henrik asked. “I’m not going to leave her!”

“I know, but you need to go assure her of that right now. She’s in the women’s bathroom right now,” Sadie told him, and Henrik raised his eyebrow at her. “No one’s in there! Just go and talk to her!” she ordered, and Henrik rushed over to the bathroom, slowly opening the door, scared that someone else was going to be inside with Kyra.

Sadie looked up at Jonathan. “She’s really scared right now,” she told him. “She thinks Hank’s going to stay with her out of obligation and not because he wants to,” she explained.

“He’s scared,” Jonathan admitted. “But, I mean, what man wouldn’t be when the woman he loves tells him that she’s pregnant. He’s going to be there for her and the baby because he loves them, not because he feels like he has to be.”

“I know, and I tried explaining that to her, but she wouldn’t listen to me,” Sadie said before looking up at Jonathan. “What would you have done if that would have been me?” she asked suddenly. “If I had been the one that had come out here and said I was pregnant?” she asked curiously.

Jonathan shook his head, not really knowing how to answer the question. “I would have loved you and the baby, and we would have had a great family,” he answered.

“Good answer,” Sadie smiled as she saw Henrik come out of the bathroom. She knitted her eyebrows, wondering if Kyra had kicked him out or what exactly had happened. “What are you doing out here?” she asked him, walking towards him, meeting him halfway, with Jonathan right behind her.

“She’s not in there,” Henrik told her.

“What are you talking about?” Sadie asked. “I just left her in there,” she said, walking towards the bathroom and swinging the door open. She looked all around but didn’t see Kyra anywhere. She quickly walked back outside. “Where the fuck did she go?” she asked, coming back outside, running right into Kristina. “Sorry,” she quickly apologized, stepping around her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kristina asked, pulling on Sadie’s arm to spin her back around.

Sadie looked up at her and Valtteri. “Nothing, everything’s fine,” she lied.

“Sadie,” Kristina began in a warning voice.

Sadie sighed before looking over at Henrik and Jonathan who were walking her way, not knowing if she should say anything or not. “Kyra’s pregnant, and now she’s taken off, and we have no idea where she’s at,” Henrik answered for her.

Kristina and Valtteri’s eyes widened. “Kyra’s pregnant?” Valtteri questioned, and Sadie, Henrik, and Jonathan all nodded their heads.

“What do you mean she’s taken off?” Kristina inquired.

“She told me that she was pregnant, and then she took off to the bathroom, and she talked to Sadie for a little bit. Sadie came out to get me, and when I went in there, Kyra wasn’t in there,” Henrik explained.

“She wouldn’t just up and leave,” Valtteri said.

“Yeah, she has to be around here somewhere,” Kristina said.

“Guys, she was really upset,” Sadie told them. “She kept saying that this was going to be like her first pregnancy and that Hank was only going to stay with her out of obligation. I wouldn’t be surprised if she just took off.”

“Have you guys tried calling her or anything?” Kristina asked.

“I’m doing that now,” Jonathan said, the phone up to his ear. “But, it’s going straight to her voicemail,” he sighed.

“Where the hell would she have gone?” Sadie muttered, just as Sophia, who had been with some of Valtteri’s family, came up to her.

“Where’s Mommy?” she asked, glancing up at Sadie.

“Um,” Sadie began, trying to figure out what she should say.

“I don’t know,” Henrik said. “But, I’m going to find her,” he promised, heading for the door.

***

Kyra finally slowed down when she came to a small park. She had been running for the last fifteen minutes or so, ignoring everyone’s stares as she bolted down the sidewalk in a bridesmaids dress and heels. She sat on the bench, unable to believe what was happening to her.

Just forty-five minutes ago, she had been in the bathroom at Kristina and Valtteri’s wedding reception taking a take-home pregnancy test. She had confided in Sadie the day before that she thought there was a possibility that she was pregnant. She didn’t know for sure, but she just had a feeling that she was pregnant. Sadie, not wanting to wait any longer to find out, had decided to buy a take-home pregnancy test for her. Kyra had refused to take it, but when she couldn’t get the possibility of being pregnant off of her mind, and she had become so distracted by it at the reception, Sadie had dragged her into the bathroom, handing her the pregnancy test, which she had apparently kept in her purse all night long just for that occasion, much to Kyra’s amusement.

When those two lines had appeared on the test, Kyra felt her world crashing around her. All she could think about was how if she told Henrik that he had a child on the way that she would be ruining his entire life. She had contemplated not telling him at all and figuring out everything on her own, but Sadie had instantly put an end to that idea, saying that Henrik had a right to know that he had a child on the way.

Kyra stared at the ground, tears falling down her cheeks again. She still couldn’t figure out how she still had tears to cry. She seemed to have been constantly crying for the past thirty minutes. She felt the bench that she was sitting on shift, and she lifted her head to see Henrik sitting there. “How’d you find me?” she asked quietly in between her tears.

Henrik shrugged his shoulders, putting an arm around her. “Luck,” he answered.

“Hank, I know that a child would ruin your life right now,” Kyra began. Henrik opened his mouth to protest, but she continued talking. “I’m not asking you for anything.”

“Kyra,” Henrik said, not wanting to hear anything else she had to say at the moment. “This is my child, too. You can’t keep me away.”

“I don’t think you get it, Hank. This child is going to change your life. Right now, you’re at the top of your career. You don’t need a child tying you down.”

“Tying me down?” Henrik questioned. “Do you expect me just to let you walk away and not do anything? Kyra, you’re not going anywhere. You, Sophia, me, and this baby, we’re going to be together,” he promised her.

“Are you sure?” Kyra asked, looking up into his eyes. “Because if you want to walk away from it all right now, I’m not going to blame you. In fact, I’d encourage you to do it.”

“Kyra,” Henrik said. “I’m not going anywhere. I love you.” Kyra looked up at him, hearing him say those three words to her for the first time. “I love you, and Sophia, and this baby on the way. I love you,” he repeated, knowing she wasn’t going to believe the words the first time she heard them.

“I love you, too,” she said, barely above a whisper.

“What do you say we go back to the reception? Your daughter’s wondering where you are,” he told her, standing up from the bench and reaching his hand out, which she immediately took.

“Sophia!” Kyra exclaimed. “I almost forgot all about her being at the reception. God, I’m horrible mother.”

“No, you’re not,” Henrik assured her. “Besides, Sophia’s just fine. She’s with Sadie and Jon right now. She was just wondering where you’re at.”

“How do you think Sophia’s going to take the fact that she’s going to have a brother or a sister fairly soon?” Kyra wondered aloud.

“I’m sure she’s going to love being a big sister,” Henrik smiled as they slowly made their way back to the reception hand-in-hand.