The Door was #$%&ing Closed (and a collection of other shorts)

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A Lemon Zest Story

A Modest Sequel to Calendar Girls

Home, finally home. They had been tested, quarantined, and finally the three of them were found to not be carriers. Lemon Zest never thought that she would be so glad to see their home again. Granted doing some fun stuff in the changing rooms of a few clothing stores was fun, but there was something nice about an actual bed. She did notice that she was feeling a little off, but not really sick. Actually, she’d been feeling a little off for about a month and a half. She racked her brain as she tried to figure out what was going on.

A sudden feeling of dread ran down her spine as she realized that she hadn’t had her monthly visitor in nearly two months. She walked toward their bathroom, and in the bottom of the cabinet there were several tests. She took one out, read the directions, and proceeded to do exactly what it asked. The next ten minutes were agonizing as she waited to for the information on if she was or wasn’t.

When her phone beeped to let her know that the time was up she rushed over to the test. There, on the surface, were two plus symbols. She groaned. There it was. She was pregnant. She was pregnant and she was going to have a baby. In truth she was not upset. She could have been, and maybe she should have been, but the truth was simply that she felt okay with it. Although she did wonder how her parents would feel about being grandparents. It wasn’t like her Sunny and Neon were married either. Which, that made her wonder how this was going to work. Would Sunny want a kid right now? She sighed, looked at the test, and then considered what she knew about her friend. Sunny was without a doubt one of the sweetest people to ever live.

There was absolutely no doubt in her mind that their child would be given anything and everything they would ever need. But at the same time, it may raise questions. Why was Sunny helping raise a child that wasn’t hers. She felt the first pangs of anxiety. There was plan b. She could go to family planning… No, that wouldn’t work. It needed to be before it got this far along. Actually, it needed to be within three days. At this point she’d have to get an abortion.

She felt her stomach, did she want to do that? Her simple answer was no. Personally, she wanted to have a baby. She wanted to give it all that her parents had given her, even punishments like being grounded. Maybe she wouldn’t call her daughter dude as much as she called her mom that, but she wanted to raise her, or if it was a boy raise him. She sat there so long she didn’t notice the sight of both Sunny and Neon as they entered the room.

“Lemon, are you okay?”

She looked up, grinned, and showed the test. There was a blank expression on Sunny’s face for a moment before she grinned brightly. She hugged Lemon Zest for all she was worth and practically sang with excitement. Neon hugged them both, obviously happy, and as they stood there Lemon finally voiced the nagging worry that had entered her mind, “Sunny, ummm, how can we make this work? I mean people are going to notice that you’re helping to take care of a baby that’s… well you know.”

They slowly separated, and Sunny Flare looked at her.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said.

Lemon looked confused, “But the scandal.”

She shook her head, “No, it really doesn’t matter Lemon. This is our baby. All three of ours, and I don’t care. I made it through Anon and his terrible tape he made of… Well never mind. I made it through that. I can make it through this. Besides, I believe that everyone will accept this, and even if they don’t, I will simply refuse to consider any other alternatives.”

She smiled, “Good, I’d do the… alternative if I had to, but I really didn’t want to.”

Sunny looked at her, shocked, “Please, Lemon, never even suggest that again.”