Chapter 36 Ivy
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Ivy
I didn’t sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Trina’s face leaning in. That too-pink mouth brushing Freddie’s cheek like it belonged there. That quiet smirk. She knew what she was doing.
And Freddie didn’t pull away fast enough.
Didn’t look mad.
Didn’t even look surprised.
I tell myself to breathe, but every part of me is a wire pulled too tight. And now… now I need to tell someone.
Only one person’s texted back so far.
Just Timothy.
Timothy: Of course we can talk! Meet me by the lake. Sunrise?
So I go.
It’s still early, the sky barely lit, fog draped over the water. Gulls cry somewhere in the distance, and the air is cool enough to bite my skin through the sleeves of my sweatshirt.
I walk along the shore, shoes in one hand, leash in the other. Pickle pads beside me, quiet for once, he knows I don’t have it in me to wrangle him this morning.
Timothy’s already there, standing near a driftwood log, hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie. His silhouette is soft in the mist, but his smile is clear when he sees me.
“Hey, Ivy,” he says gently.
“Hey,” I manage, voice already too tight.
He doesn’t ask questions right away. Just nods to a spot beside him on the log. I sit. Pickle curls at my feet. He’s finally decided to be a good dog.
For a second, we don’t talk. The water laps at the shore, steady and slow, like the universe is trying to give me room to breathe.
Then I say it.
I just let it spill out.
“I’m pregnant.”
His body stills.
Just for a second.
He blinks, processing, as if I just changed the language on the conversation without warning. “You’re what?”
“Pregnant,” I repeat, quieter this time. “I found out a few weeks ago.”
He’s quiet, but I can feel the gears turning in his head.
“I thought I was just tired,” I keep going. “Then I took a test. Then… a bunch more. And then the ultrasound happened.”
I reach into my sweatshirt pocket and pull out the folded photo I’ve been carrying around as a secret. It’s a weight. I unfold it and hand it to him with shaking fingers.
He takes it, careful, like it’s breakable. His eyes scan it once. Then again.
His head jerks slightly. “Wait. Are those…?”
“Triplets,” I say.
He looks at me, stunned.
“Holy shit, Ivy.”
I almost laugh. Almost cry. Instead, I just shrug as if it’s not still hitting me in waves, too.
“Yeah. That was my exact reaction. Except more… on the floor.”
He stares at the ultrasound again, waiting for it to change if he squints hard enough. “Three,” he says. “Three babies?”
I nod.
“Damn.” He drags a hand through his hair. “I mean… wow. Are you okay?”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “I don’t know. No? Yes? I’m somewhere between total breakdown and… running into the ocean and starting over.”
He lets out a low whistle, then looks at me again. “And… do you know who the…?”
I cut him off with a small shake of my head.
“Well, it’s you, Mitchell, or Freddie.”
Timothy blinks.
Once. Twice.
His mouth opens, then closes. He’s doing the mental math and trying not to flinch.
I wait for the shock, the recoil. The part where he pulls back and says something, even how the hell did this happen? or what were you thinking?
But he just says, “Okay,” like it’s a full sentence.
I brace for it. The judgment. The disappointment. The look.
But it doesn’t come.
Timothy just exhales and leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Okay. That’s a lot.”
“I know.”
“And you’ve been holding all of this in?”
I nod again, feeling the tears burn at the back of my throat. “I was waiting for the right moment. And then Trina showed up. And I saw her with Freddie and…” My voice cracks. “I don’t know. I just couldn’t keep it in anymore. I needed to say it out loud.”
He turns toward me then, full on, his face open and worried.
“Ivy, this is… huge. Massive. But I’m glad you told me. I’m really glad you’re not carrying this alone.”
And then he wraps his arms around me and pulls me into a hug so firm and warm that I finally let the tears come.
Not the full on sobs. Not yet.
But enough.
Enough to feel the crack in me shift, widen, and start to heal.
“I’ve got you,” he says into my hair. “I’m here. Whatever happens. You’re not doing this by yourself.”
He pulls back just enough to look at me, eyes still soft with worry and wonder. “Hey… do you want to come with me to the shop?”
I blink. “Now?”
He shrugs, gives a half smile. “Mitchell’s probably there. Maybe Freddie too. I heard Penny’s hanging out at the fire station today. You said you didn’t know how to tell them. I figure… maybe I could help you.”
I hesitate.
The idea of walking in there, of seeing both of them, of seeing Freddie, makes my stomach twist. What if he still smells of her perfume? What if he acts like nothing happened? What if he does?
But then again… he deserves to know.
They both do.
I stare out at the water for a moment longer, fog curling, breath across the surface. Pickle noses my leg, nudging me forward.
I nod. “Okay. Yeah. Let’s go.”
Timothy squeezes my hand once, then stands and offers his other to me. I take it, and we walk back to the lot together, Pickle trotting behind us, the fog slowly thinning as the sun starts to rise.
The world doesn’t stop. The birds keep crying overhead. But something in me shifts.
I’m not ready. Not really.
But it’s time.