But Loving Him Was Red...

A Week Later

I grumbled, getting out of bed, noticing Sidney was already up and gone. He’s been spending the past few days in my bed with me, he says he feels better knowing there is someone next to him just incase something happens to him during the night.

This concussion thing was really scaring the shit out of him.

I walked past my calendar, and groaned, knowing my period was happening today. I hated my period. I stepped in the bathroom and grabbed a tampon out of the box. I took a quick shower and got myself ready for the day, and applied my tampon.

It was happening today, according to the schedule I keep. It’s usually in the morning, but sometimes it comes later.

I pulled my hair as I headed down the stairs, finding Sidney and Lucia sitting side by side on the couch with matching bowls of cereal and the TV on. “Good morning,” I smiled, walking past them into the kitchen.

I made a cup of coffee and sat down, taking a few sips from it while I was reading the paper. I was feeling sort of nauseous and sick to my stomach these past few days, but I just attributed it to my period coming.

I usually got cramps on the first day, but after a day goes by, I was fine.

“Are you having breakfast?” Sidney asked, setting their bowls in the sink. I slowly looked up at him. “Em, you are hypoglycemic,” I had to smile. He remembered so much. Even the small things I said to him, he remembered. Why can’t all guys be like him?

“I know,” I smiled. “I’ll grab something in a few, my stomachs upset,” I put my hands on my stomach. “I get my period today, so I’ve been preparing for this,”

His cheeks blushed and he looked at his feet. Even when we were together, he couldn’t handle talk about my period. “Oh, well… uhm…” He scratched his forehead. “Congratulations?” It sounded like he didn’t know what to say. What guy does know what to say?

“Oh yes Sid, every time I get my period, it’s a fucking party,” I hopped off my stool and grabbed a granola bar out of the box and tore off the wrapper. My stomach was begging me not to do it, but it’s the only way to shut Sidney up about eating.

He’s on my case about it all the time. I’ve been getting sick and feeling just sick to my stomach for the past few weeks. It’s horrible. I feel like absolute crap.

“I need to go back to my house today,” Sidney said, standing before me. He had on a muscle shirt and a pair of jeans. “I’ll drive and take Lucia with me, so you can have the house to yourself,” Was he crazy? He has a bad concussion, and he’s going to drive.

“Sidney, you can’t drive,” I shouted with my mouth full of my granola bar. Bits of it flew out and landed on the counter. “I’ll drive you,”

“No, its’ fine, my visions not that bad anymore, I can stand on my own,” He assured me. “I’ll drive slow,” He grabbed my keys out of my purse and scooped Lucia off the couch. “We’ll be back in about half an hour, did you need anything?”

I sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to stay home no matter what I did, so I just gave in. “Gravol? Maybe some pamprin and I’m almost out of tampons,” Once I said tampons, his cheeks blushed and he set Lucia on the ground. He shook his head ‘no’ and I shrugged. “Please Sidney, you’re going by a drugstore, just grab me some tampons, please,”

“Oh Emily,” He dropped on the stool. “You know I don’t like going down the awkward aisle, please don’t make me,”

“I need them, I have two left and that wont’ last me, you know how bad I am,” My periods weren’t that bad, but I could have a heavy flow, and some days it was light.

He covered his ears. “Emily please…” He rested his head on the counter. I batted my eyelashes. “I swear to god,”

“I need them, just be thankful I’m getting my period,” I spat in his face. He instantly sat up and looked at me. “Oh, you thought I forgot,”

He shook his head. “Fine,” His face couldn’t possibly get any redder, but it did. “Just write it down and… I’ll do my best,” I scribbled it down on the paper and handed it to him. He read it over and looked at me a few times. “Damnit Emily,”

I hugged him tightly and stepped back when he walked out of the house, carrying Lucia. Heehee. I got him to buy me tampons.

= = =
I hurled the granola bar up and sat down on the floor, resting my hands on my stomach. What the fuck was going on? I stood up when I heard the front door open.

I skipped out of the bathroom and hurried down the stairs. “Hey Sid, did you get me my tamp-“ I stopped halfway down, seeing Taylor standing there, carrying Landon. “Hey Tay-Tay, what are you doing here?” I got down the stairs and gave her a quick hug and pulled back the blanket on Landon. He was so freaking cute.

“Sid called me and said you needed these,” She held up a bag of tampons. What a baby. I rolled my eyes. “I couldn’t believe you actually got my brother to say the word ‘tampon’ he was stuttering his words on the phone, it was the funniest thing really,”

“Thanks,” I accepted the bag from her hands and looked inside, seeing it was my brand. “I’m supposed to get it today, but I’m puking and I feel really sick to my stomach,”

“I’d laugh if you were pregnant,” Taylor laughed at her own joke, when she sat Landon on the chair. What? I looked over at her, and let the bag fall from my hands. “Emily, I was just kidding,” My heart began beating faster and faster. “Emily?” She repeated my name.

“That’s impossible Taylor,” I whispered. “You have to have sex to get…” Oh fuck. Sidney and I had sex almost 2 months ago. Oh fuck. “Oh shit,” I put my face in my hands. “Your brother and I… that was almost two months ago,”

She was silent and then a smile met her lips. “This is too perfect,” She practically danced around the living room and stopped; a goonish grin on her face. “I hope you are,”

“Taylor,” I screeched at her. “I can’t be pregnant, Sidney and I aren’t even together, this is fine and fucking dandy, he’s going off to marry Carly and I’m going to start seeing Seth, this can’t be happening, I’m not pregnant,” I put my head in my hands.

I mean, there was obviously a chance of it happening, anytime you have sex, you risk it, but I was hoping I wasn’t. I didn’t want to put another kid through what Lucia has to go through.

= = =
“I told you, I’m not pregnant,” I held up the negative pregnancy test to Taylor. “I could just have the stomach flu, or my period is really being a dick,”

“I don’t get it,” She snatched the test from my hands. “Take another one!” She ordered me.

“I took five and all are negative,” I stepped out of the bathroom and gathered the pregnancy tests in my hands. I would dispose of these. Sidney didn’t need to know about this, it was my dirty little secret. “Don’t even fucking tell Sidney,” I pointed my finger in her face.

“My lips are sealed,” She smiled. I stuffed the tests deep down into the bathroom garbage can and we headed out, turning the light off. I was kind of afraid to be pregnant again. Was I really ready for that? We got downstairs and Taylor helped me start the dinner.

“Hey ladies,” Sidney smiled, walking in the door with Lucia, trailing behind him. She had a bag of candy in her hands. “I got the pamprin stuff,” He threw a bottle at me. “But they didn’t carry Gravol,” I sat the bottle down beside the can of sauce and our freshly cut tomatoes.

“What about my tampons?” I asked, stirring the noodles in the pot. We were having goulash tonight.
His cheeks blushed again. He was too cute. “Oh… uhm, I had…” He cleared his throat nervously and looked at Taylor. “Taylor to uhm, bring some to you,”

“I didn’t bring any, I couldn’t find them,” Taylor smiled, nudging my ribcage. “Would you mind going out and grabbing Emily some more?” Watching his face was priceless. What was it about lady products that got guys all red-faced and nervous?

“Yeah Sidney, I am going to need them,” I smirked, setting the spoon in the holder.

“Maybe,” Taylor giggled. I quickly looked over at her, telling her silently to keep her yap shut. Sidney looked between us. “Who knows about that one,”

“Yeah, sure,” Sidney turned and walked up the stairs.

I immediately looked at Taylor. “Don’t tell him,” I grumbled. “I am not-“

“Hey guys,” I heard Sidney come down the stairs. “Is one of you… I hate to ask this question, because I’m probably not going to like the answer,” He walked across the floor and set one of the pregnancy tests down on the counter. “I really doubt this is my daughters, sooo… it’s one of yours,” Why did it have a positive sign? Where the fuck was it?

“Uhm.” I stumbled over my words. “Where… where did you find that?”

“It was laying out on the floor, just in front of the bathroom, who’s is it? It sure as hell ain’t mine,”

“It could be,” Taylor whispered under her breath. I discreetly stomped her foot. Sidney didn’t hear that, I hope. “I mean, it’s mine,” She scooped it up. I dropped my jaw and looked at her. Did she really just… take the fall for me? “Congratulations, you’re going to be an uncle… again,”

“I am going to kill Tyler,” Sidney turned and headed for the door. Taylor hurried around the counter and stopped him. “I can’t believe he knocked you up, Landon isn’t even a year old yet, couldn’t you have at least waited, how long have you guys been sleeping together?”

“A while, look, we both want a baby and he’s amazing with Landon, just calm down,” Taylor explained, her voice slowly rising. “And you have a concussion; you don’t need this added stress,”

“Added stress? You are 17, with two fucking kids, do you not know of birth control, or trying the word ‘no’?” He laughed. “Come on Taylor, you told Dad you would attend school,”

“I am, look Sidney, I am almost an adult; I can make my own choices,”

He took in a deep breath and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Taylor, you are my baby sister, I will never be able to see you as an adult, but you really bring out the best in Tyler,” He gave her a hug. “I’ll support you,”

She was beaming, and gave me a thumbs-up. “Thanks Sidney,” She grabbed her bag off the chair and the car seat holding Landon. “Look, I better go, but if the egg hatches, you let me know, okay,” I gave her an odd look and she made the motion with her finger entering a hole on her other hand.

“Oh my,” I dropped the spoon into the sauce. “Uhm, I will let you know,” I wiped the sauce that splattered up onto my face. Once the door shut, Sidney came over to me and helped me stir the noodles. “So, Taylor did bring me tampons, we were just fucking with you,”

“I can’t believe she’s pregnant,” He held the spoon tightly in his hand. “I mean, hello… she’s 17, she’s already got one kid, and Tyler is 23, that is statutory rape,” Do I tell him the truth? Do I let him believe the test was Taylors? Why did she take the fall for me?

“Uhm, Claude was 24,” I tossed in casually. His face turned red and he looked at me. “I felt like I was going to marry him, you know,”

“Wow, you just want to marry everybody, don’t you?” Sidney laughed. “Everybody but me,”
“What’s that even supposed to mean?” I smirked, nudging his ribs. “You are getting married; you don’t need to worry about that stuff,”

“When can I meet Seth?” He asked seriously. I sucked in a deep breath. Seth and I weren’t exactly together, what do I say? “Come on Emily, you met Carly, I have every right to meet the guy you are going to marry,”

“Uhm, first of all, having her glare at me, and scream at you in the hallway, is not exactly what I would call ‘meeting’, but sure, let’s call it that,” I air quoted the word ‘meeting’ and Sidney rolled his eyes. “He is a nice guy, he doesn’t drink, he doesn’t do drugs, he’s going back to school in the fall to be a welder, he’s an amazing guy,” Woah. Was I falling for Seth too?

“That’s great, Emily,” He placed his hand at the small of my back. “But I still want to meet him,” I sucked in a deep breath, wishing something would kill me.

“You know how you are,” I patted his chest. “All you’ll do is glare at him and look at any flaw, you don’t want him around your daughter,”

“I want to protect my daughter is that such a bad thing,” He huffed, turning and storming up the stairs. Damn kid. I finished the supper in peace when Lucia went up the stairs with him. What do I do?