“Aha!” Sasha held up a ‘Baby on Board’ t-shirt triumphantly. “I knew my old maternity clothes had to be around here somewhere.”
Lindsay grinned. “And to think, you weren’t even pregnant in the eighties.”
“I think a friend gave it to me.” She tossed the shirt over to Lindsay. “Looks like it’s going to make its rounds through another decade.”
“Looks like.” Lindsay folded the shirt carefully and placed it on top of a box as Sasha commenced digging through boxes in the dusty attic. “Thank you so much for this, Sasha. I really appreciate it.”
Sasha shrugged her shoulders slightly. “It’s no problem. Better for the clothes to be in use than just up here collecting dust.”
“But what if you decide to have another baby?”
“Not likely.” Sasha smiled. “At least not now. Jimmy’s too busy worrying about how we’re going to deal with Lily as a teenager. So, unless you’re planning on being pregnant for more than nine months, all these things will be back up here with the spiders before I have another kid.”
Lindsay patted her stomach. “I’m just glad you still have all these, because it’s really depressing to not even be able to fit into Jess’ jeans anymore.”
“Please.” Sasha rolled her eyes. “The boy’s a toothpick. I’m surprised you ever fit into them in the first place.”
“True.” Lindsay giggled.
“He’s the poster boy for male anorexia,” Sasha quipped.
Absently, Lindsay traced the pink scars on her lower arm.
“How’s the therapy going?” Sasha asked casually.
“Good.” Lindsay settled herself down on the floor to fish through a box for clothes. “See? They’re all almost healed.”
“I see.”
Lindsay sighed. “He made me feel so much better about it. He says since I got help right away, I might never do it again.”
“You have Jess to thank for that.” Sasha observed the way Lindsay’s eyes darkened at his name. “He was really worried about you, still is in fact.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Lindsay pulled out a pair of black stretch pants. “Ooh! These look really comfortable.”
Sasha grinned. “I barely took them off long enough to do the laundry when I was pregnant with Lily. It like wearing butter for pants.”
“Wouldn’t that be messy?”
They both laughed.
***
“Hello?”
“Lindsay?”
She almost dropped the phone. “M-mom?”
“Hi, baby.”
Lindsay’s mouth dropped open as her mother continued.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” Lindsay gulped.
“H-how did you get this number?”
“Don’t be mad. I talked the man who owns the diner into giving it to me. I know, I know that for some reason you don’t want us to know where you are, but I had to talk to you.”
“Are you okay?” Lindsay hadn’t missed the slight quiver to her mother’s voice.
“You’re father had a heart attack.”
Lindsay gasped.
***
It was past two when Jess got back from working late at the restaurant. He was grouchy, tired, and all he wanted in the world was a glass of water.
“Oh!” He started when he realized he wasn’t alone. “I didn’t know you were in here.”
Lindsay curled her fingers around the mug of lukewarm tea she held in front of her. “It’s okay.”
Jess shuffled uncomfortably.
“It’s not contagious.”
“What?”
“Being pregnant.” She took a deep breath. “You can’t catch it.”
He was silent.
Lindsay stared at the mug. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
Jess shook his head. “No I haven’t.”
“You have. Ever since I started showing.” Since she had a slender build, the roundness of her tummy was getting more and more noticeable, especially since until that day she had been trying to squeeze into her old clothes.
He shook his head again.
“My mom called today.”
His head shot up. “You told her you were staying here?”
“Luke gave the number to her.”
Jess swore.
“It’s okay, she…she just wanted to tell me that my dad had a heart attack.” Her voice wavered.
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, it was a mild one…he just…he’s been asking for me.”
“Oh.”
“I have to go to back,” she whispered. “To Stars Hollow.”
Jess nodded.
She started to cry. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to my parents.”
“Explain what?”
“This!” Lindsay exclaimed, gesturing to the curve of her belly.
“Oh.” Jess frowned. “You don’t want to tell them…”
“That their only child was sexually assaulted and is now pregnant as a result? No thanks, I think I’ll pass.” Lindsay let out a slight laugh. “I think it’s safe to say they have enough things to worry about right now.”
“You could tell them it’s mine.”
“Huh?”
Jess shrugged. “I could come with you. You could tell them that it was mine.”
“Besides the fact that it’s a crazy idea, which it is, my father would leap out of his sickbed and kill you for getting his newly divorced daughter pregnant.”
“Not if we were engaged.”
Lindsay blinked. “Okay, I’m confused. You don’t want us to be together because I’m pregnant, but you’re willing to pose as my fiancé and the baby’s father when we go back to Stars Hollow?”
“Basically.” Jess nodded, shoving both hands into his jeans pockets.
Lindsay rolled her eyes. “Okay, I may be hormonal, but you have definitely flipped your lid.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Jess insisted.
“It makes no sense! You won’t be with me, but you’re offering to be my father’s punching bag? Explain how that makes sense, Jess.”
“Your family wouldn’t be as upset, you wouldn’t have to tell them the truth, and I…” Jess paused as he listed off the options. “It would just make me feel better, okay?”
She shook her head. “It’s…it’s crazy, Jess. I mean, my parents live in Stars Hollow. That means you’d not only be tricking my family, you’d be tricking the entire town. You might as wrap yourself in bacon and serve yourself to Miss Patty for breakfast.”
Jess cracked a smile.
“You’re crazy.”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe, definitely.”
“It’s either this or you tell them.”
Lindsay’s face became serious. “It’ll kill my dad…”
Jess held his breath. She had to let him do this. She had to. After all that he’d done to her, this was one thing he could do for her.
One way to try and make up for everything that had happened to her.
After all, he might not have slept with her, but it was still his fault she was pregnant.
“I guess so.” Her voice was soft. “I still don’t think you should but…I can’t tell them.”
So she wouldn’t.