Chapter 10

I lost all sense of time. It wasn’t until it started to get warm again that I realized how long it had been since this had all started. I hadn’t seen my friends in months now. And if I did see them, they never seemed to recognize me. I never let it bother me, or tried to dig deeper into it, as I always had a beauty on my arm to distract me. If it wasn’t Candice and her slowly swelling belly, it was the perky Bethany who herself was forming a baby bump or it was the ever-giddy Allie hanging on me. Every day was a blur of working and being balls-deep in one of them, if not two or three.

I sipped my coffee, the bitter flavor playing over my tongue as I ran my pencil over the sketchpad. Bethany had gifted it to me for Christmas, and I thought I was getting pretty good. My landscapes certainly left something to be desired, but I was getting better with portraits. Bethany’s button nose and smiling face was easily recognizable. Allie’s portrait really shone, her crystal-blue eyes standing out from my other color sketches. She beamed at me over her shoulder, her blonde hair swept behind her ear.

The sketch I was most proud of, though, was of the family. Amy’s face seemed so full of life, caught in mid laugh as Allie joined in glee. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with my own, but I couldn’t put a finger on why. Maybe it was the color I had chosen. It was slightly washed out. Like I wasn’t fully there.

“Sweety,” Amy called out from the door to my office, “We’ll be heading to the church to set up for the Spring Festival soon. Can you grab the banners from the garage?”

“Sure.”

I headed down the hallway, laughter coming from the living room where Bethany and Candice were working on one of the last signs. They smiled and waved. I waved back, making my way out into the garage. I pulled out the big box that they had stored last month containing the massive banner that would hang across the church entrance.

I dropped the box just as I stepped back into the house. I wasn’t really sure why, but my hands shook a bit. I clenched them, guessing that I’d been sketching too much recently.

“Daddy?”

Allie rushed around the corner, excitedly flew into my arms. “Daddy, it finally happened.”

She was so excited, but I was a bit lost. “What did?”

“I’m pregnant!” She cried happy tears as she squeezed me tight.

I stood, frozen in place, as she clung to me. Something tugged at me, at some long-forgotten thread in my mind. My head spun as it unraveled. I glanced down the hall, the bathroom mirror reflecting back a distorted image. It was me, but it wasn’t. Allie said something, but I could only stare at the mirror. The old man stared back in shock.

Allie let go as I stumbled back.

“Daddy? What’s wrong?” She sounded scared, her brows knit in worry, her blue eyes trying to meet mine. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head, blinking furiously as pressure built in my temples. I rubbed my fingers against them, groaning and stepping past her.

“Daddy? Daddy!”

Allie chased after me as I sped up. Blue eyes flashed in the living room as I passed.

“Dan? Daddy?”