See part one for the disclaimer and other important information.
AN: The second scene is written in first person—I’m not sure why, but it is.
“Abbey?”
“Have a seat.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Amy has put together a plan—I’m not sure what it is—but I’m sure it will help,” Abbey smiles, “She’ll coordinate with Carol to make sure the linguistics work out.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” C.J. responds hesitantly, she had expected a little more detail.
“C.J. do you want to talk about this—Leo made grumbling noises when I asked who the father is.”
C.J. sits back in the chair and laughs, “Josh, Will, or Toby—hats off to all of us for not thinking about birth control or for that matter what we were doing in the first place.
Abbey raises an eyebrow and C.J. bursts into hysterical giggles, “I don’t know why this is funny all of a sudden—my life is screwed—the press is going to have a field day—the three stooges are going to be overprotective—and I’m going to get even less sleep. I keep thinking that I’m okay with this, but it turns out that I’m not.”
“C.J., you do have options,” Abbey offers in a serious tone.
“I want the baby,” C.J. smiles, “I do want this baby—I just don’t know what it says about me that I can screw three men, get pregnant, and then just continue with my life.”
“But you’re not,” Abbey states firmly, “You could have walked away from this from the get go, but instead you’re sitting in my office having a crisis of conscience.”
C.J.’s face evens out to a smile again.
“Claudia Jean Cregg!” the President can be heard booming from the outer office.
Abbey sighs and gets up to stop the tornado before he can cause any damage.
***
I return to my office hoping for a few moments of peace. Abby had stopped whatever Jed’s lecture was going to be about, but the next few days are probably going to be awkward with him.
“Carol make sure I’m not …never mind.”
It would be hard for me to miss the three men in my office.
“Please tell me there’s been a thing and you guys aren’t in here to…”
“Ask about the baby.”
I look to Toby as I sit down—separated solemnly from the group—he shrugs, indicating he’s just been drug along for the ride.
“Josh, what do you want? I have a whole stack of briefing memos to read—our jobs haven’t just suddenly stopped.”
For a moment, I think he’s going to have an attack—right there in front of us, but finally he poses the question, “What does this mean?”
“It means I’m having a baby—my life is going to be complete chaos—you guys get to play dopey uncles’ and spoil the child.”
“I’m not dopey,” Toby objects.
Will and Josh shoot him an evil look—I laugh—Toby gets it—the fact that nothing is going to change between the four of us—that being my friend is what’s going to help as the baby grows.
“C.J. we want to be involved.”
Does he think that I’m going to hide the baby? That I’ve become a different person in the last few hours? “And you will—I promise, but I don’t want declarations of love, marriage, or of anything—I’m doing this on my own.”
Toby stands up and I want to sing praises to him, “Are we done harassing C.J. so I can get back to work?”
Josh and Will nod, getting up to make an exit.
“Guys, we are still friends,” I try to reassure them—I need normal right now.
They smile weakly back at me.
“Give us time—C.J.—give us time.”
Time is what we always need.
TBC
Thank you to all my loyal readers!!!