BBW ROMANCE: BWWM Romance: A Cowboy’s Southern Comfort (Military Cowboy Pregnancy Romance) (Interracial Army Contemporary Fantasy Romance Short Stories) (10 page)

With a satisfied chuckle, the old woman headed to her study to plan for tomorrow night. If this turned out well, she would never have to see this pathetic town again.

***

Back home, Eve fidgeted in her room as she tried to wait until tomorrow morning. Since the semester had not started yet the library was closed. And while she had tried to find the book online, the damn thing was not for sale anywhere.

Groaning in frustration, she sank to the floor. Hearing her phone slip out of her pocket, Eve thought about finally calling Ash. She did not want to even mention her condition; all she wanted to do was hear another human’s voice and have a normal conversation with them. One that was not a shrill cheerleader like the paranoid girl in the living room.

In times like these, she would talk to Colton. But the last thing she wanted to do was talk to the other potential father of the child in her. Soon enough, however, she was pulling out the board. It’s not as if he doesn’t know by now. He is a ghost, after all.

“Hey, Colton,” Eve said anxiously. “You there?”

YES.

“Do you... do you know?...” she said, too embarrassed to ask the question.

YES.

“Are you… mad… that…” Are you mad that it’s probably Ash’s? Are you mad that I deserted you for him and then crawled back to you like a desperate loser? Are you made that I’m still bothering you?

The unsaid questions rattled in her mind like wasps. It was not long before all the buried emotions resulted in tears which fell onto the board’s surface.

NO. The planchette then moved to spell: I LOVE YOU.

Holding her hand over her mouth to stop the sobs, she then whispered, “I love you, Colton. I wish I could be there with you again, but…”

The wooden piece then quickly rushed towards NO then suddenly spelling out DANGER.

“Danger?” she repeated. “What danger?”

RISEN ONES. COMING. DANGER. STAY AWAY.

The message made little sense, but was still very terrifying. Eve tried to get more information out of him, but the board was still. Colton had told her that he did his best to keep bad spirits away. Perhaps that was what he was doing now.

As Eve saw that it was already past midnight, she decided to try and get some sleep. But with those ominous words still looming, she doubted it would be very possible.

***

Skipping through the prescribed book, Eve was disappointed. There seemed to be no decent information about the situation at all. However, there was at least one section that was interesting.

Though extremely unlikely and rare, copulation with a spirit while in the body has been documented twice to result in a child. Despite a lack of seminal fluid, it is thought that an explanation could be something akin to parthenogenesis - a rare process in which female organisms, such as some lizards, fertilize their own eggs after getting stimulation from a ‘faux male’…

Eve dog-eared the book and decided to head out, but not before bumping into another person and nearly falling to the ground. Before she could, Eve was caught up by familiar face.

“You should really be more careful, Eve,” he said reproachfully.

“Ash?” she asked, her face turning white in panic. Shifting her head down, Eve then quickly muttered, “Hello” then began to walk off.

Stepping into her path he stopped her. “Really? You’re just going to walk away and not say anything?”

Furrowing her brows in annoyance, she replied, “I figured you wanted it that way. After all, I was not important enough to talk to for the last month.”

“Oh come on, Eve,” Ash said indignantly. “You could have called me if you wanted to. And you were the one that said we needed some space in the first place!” he added in a harsh whisper.

Turning her face away, Eve said, “I said to let me know when you were through dealing with Rochelle. You never said anything to me so I assumed that you-“

“Got back together?” Ash finished. “Seriously? I kicked her out weeks ago. I learned my lesson the first time.”

“Then why?” she asked. “Why did you just leave me alone for so long?”

It was no Ash’s turn to look away. “I guess… I don’t know… In some weird way…” He looked pained as he tried to speak further, “I was just trying to prove to myself that I wasn’t the clingy, desperate guy that chases girls that don’t care about him. Basically… the person I was with Rochelle.” With a bitter laugh he added, “Pretty stupid, huh?”

Eve placed a hand on his arm, looking into his eyes. “No. Not really. I was doing the same thing.”

Sighing she took a step back. “I… I haven’t had the best history with guys either. And all the ones I’ve allowed myself to be with… Well… they eventually left me for someone else…” Holding the book close to her chest, Eve whispered with a threatening sob, “And even though I wanted this to work I was sure that… it had happened again…”

She was shocked as he placed his arms around her, leaning her head on his chest. Though part of her wanted to leave from shame, another was just so glad to feel Ash’s warmth again.

“I’m sorry,” Eve said.

“No, I’m sorry,” Ash said. “Rochelle is a lot of things, but I guess what made me angry was that she was sort of right… I’ve never been good at being ‘official’ at things. That’s why when she cheated on me I just assumed she didn’t want me anymore.”

“And part of you just hoped that things would go back to normal if you waited long enough…” Eve shook her head. It was the typical Evelyn Springs playbook.

“I’m starting to think that we might be the same person,” Ash said teasingly.

Eve scoffed. “I hope not. One of me is bad enough…” As she finished her sentence, Eve then clutched her stomach as another vomit fest prepared itself. Why did I have that breakfast burrito? Damn cravings…

“Whoa… you okay, Eve?” Ash asked, holding her hand and back.

“Yeah… just… fine…” but even as she sputtered the words, Eve was already feeling faint.

“No you’re not,” he said stubbornly. “We should get you to the clinic…”

Shaking her head, she breathed slowly until the nausea eventually passed. “See, I’m fine,” Eve said clearly.

Ash crossed his arms. He did not buy it for one second. “Look, Eve, I may have stupidly left you alone for way too long, but that doesn’t mean I never stopped caring about you. So if something’s wrong, please tell me. You might not consider me your boyfriend anymore, but you can at least think of me as a friend.”

Eve looked down at the carpet, wishing that the earth would swallow her up. And though her mind was prepared to lie, her soul blurted out the truth, “I’m pregnant, Ash.”

***

Eve had tried her best to break Ash out of his semi-catatonic state once they had arrived to his dorm room. But once he did snap out of it, Eve immediately regretted it.

For around twenty minutes she was hit with a chaotic barrage of: “How could you not tell me this sooner Eve?! How on earth could this happen Eve?!”

There were several reiterations of these questions – none of which she was given the time to actually answer. Eventually, however, she did manage to calm him down.

“It’s going to be alright, Ash,” Eve said, giving him a glass of water. “You really need to relax. Your face is turning purple.”

“I’m sorry that I’m not exactly tranquil about the fact that I’m going to be a… a…” Ash turned pallid again as he failed to finish. “Are you sure that you’re pregnant?”

Sighing, Eve nodded. “I’ve taken two tests and I went to the doctor - all positive. They told me I should go for an ultrasound soon.”

“An ultrasound…” Ash repeated in a whisper. “This is really happening…”

“I know.” Eve then sat beside him on the bed, holding his hand. “Look, I don’t expect you to support me or anything. Or even see it…”

“Not see my own child?” he asked incredulously. “Not support you? What do you take me for some sort of deadbeat?”

Eve rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to be offended… I just thought that…”

“I wouldn’t be up to the responsibility?” Ash asked indignantly.

“No!” she cried in exasperation. “That you would be ashamed… I know your parents are very different from mine… and they expect a lot more from you…”

It was Ash’s turn to roll his eyes. “All they expect from me is to starve and die from consumption ever since they found out I wanted to be in the liberal arts. I could care less what they think.”

“So… you’re fine with this?” she asked cautiously.

Ash lay back onto the bed to stare at the ceiling. “I’ve accepted it. You have to admit this is a pretty big deal, Eve.”

Eve then laid down with him. “I know. But I have to admit… a part of me – aside from the part that was freaking the hell out – was happy.”

“Really?” he asked.

“Ever since I found out I was pretty infertile five years ago… I was always a little sad that I could never have kids… I knew I could always adopt if I wanted to, but…”

“You’d never get to be pregnant for yourself.”

“Pretty selfish, huh?” Eve asked, turning towards him.

Ash placed a gentle hand to her face. “No. Not at all.”

Getting up, his eyes landed on the giant book Eve had checked out on the table. “What’s with that, by the way?”

Her cheeks began to blush as she stuttered, “Oh it-it’s nothing! I-I was just a little bored and I thought it might be interesting to read!”

“The Global Chronology of Spiritual Rumors?” Ash asked with a raised brow. “Well I guess it does sound strange.” Flipping through the book, his fingers landed on the dog-eared page.

Eve bit her lip as she saw him read through the large paragraph.

“Uh… Eve? Why would you be reading about ghost impregnation?” he questioned slowly, looking at her with puzzled eyes.

“I… Uh…” Her mouth struggled for words, but it was too late. Eve’s brain had officially been shut down from all of today’s drama. Well I guess this day was just not awkward enough.

Ash’s eyes widened as he said, “Colton. It was that spirit wasn’t it?! And that damn Ouija board!”

She wanted to protest, but it seemed as if her throat was out of commission now as well.

“Chelsea had said you were getting too attached to that thing, but I never…”

The mention of her roommate’s name finally snapped her back to reality. “Chelsea talked to you? When?”

“About a week after we started dating, when I was waiting to pick you up,” he said, pacing around the small room. “She thought I was dragging you into some sort of cult since you spent so much damn time with it. I thought you were just enthusiastic, but I never dreamed that you…” Stopping in his tracks, he then looked to her, “Just how did far did you go?”

Eve’s face turned beet red, but she was determined to explain herself. To the best of her ability, she began from the night of their first séance, leading into her first solo interaction with Colton. And as horrifyingly painful as it was, she was able to recount the increased need for intimacy after their ‘break up’.  In addition, Eve then told him of her initial hypothesis of the child being a result of her and Colton since the chances of it being a natural conception were slim to none.

After the entire story, Ash appeared to be lost in a comatose state once again.

“I’m sorry, Ash. But that is what happened. And you have to believe me. I never dreamed in a million years that anything like this could ever happen to me! Before August I didn’t even think that ghosts could exist!” she exclaimed.

As she headed towards the door, Eve said, “For what it’s worth, I don’t think its Colton’s. And if you never want to forgive me, I can understand that, too.”

Ash shook his head as he placed his hand on the door. “No, Eve. No more running. We already dealt with the fact that you’re pregnant. We’re going to have to deal with this, too.”

Eve’s eyes watered as she pulled him into her embrace. Never in her life had she met someone so persistent in seeing the truth and sticking by her. Once again, she felt unworthy of the grace.

“I love you, Ash,” she whispered.

He gave a small chuckle as he stroked her hair. “That’s the first time you’ve said that to me.”

“I mean it.”

“I know.” Ash then held her tighter as he said, “I love you, too.”

***

For what seemed like hours they continued on in silence. However, the touching moment was interrupted by the incessant ringing from Eve’s cell phone.

“Sorry,” she told Ash. “Hello? Chelsea? What’s wrong?... Who’s trying to break in?” Eve gasped as she then heard a loud crash and the screaming of her roommate. “Chelsea?! Chelsea what happened?”

There was an ominous silence, then a familiar voice came to the phone. “Evelyn Springs. You must come to the Winsor Church in exchange for your friend or she will be killed. You have until midnight. No police or she dies.”

“Madam Ibori?” she asked in confusion.

“Midnight, Evelyn,” the voice repeated stiffly. “The Risen Ones will not be denied.”

As the call ended, Eve nearly fainted to the floor. The Risen Ones. The danger Colton tried to warn me about. And now someone’s going to be killed because of me. No! I’m not going to let that happen! I started this, and now I’m going to finish it.