Chapter 42

Back home Poppi and Madden stayed away from one another. They didn’t glance at each other the way they used to.

Valyn noticed.

Poppi was cleaning Thunder’s hooves out one evening and Valyn joined her.

She pulled up a stool next to Poppi who was covered in dirt and hay.

“Pops, you’ve been so down lately babe. What can I do?” Valyn asked, hand her a tool she was trying to reach.

“Mom! Are you serious? You know why I’m sad. There is nothing you can do to change it so please just let it be until August 20th comes and he goes home,” Poppi said, letting Thunder rest her hoof.

Valyn almost spoke but withheld. She knew her daughter was right. She hated seeing her hurt this way.

“I love him, mom. You don’t care about that though do you?” Poppi asked.

Valyn was speechless. She tried to form words…the right words. But she had nothing that would heal her heart. She hugged Poppi and then walked back up to the house.

Poppi sat in the barn and cried. She couldn’t believe this was her life. Falling in love with her stepbrother was definitely not on her agenda.

Madden would be leaving in a week. She hadn’t seen him very much at all. He even stayed out all night on Saturday and didn’t come home. She knew he was probably with Anchor. Anchor hadn’t talked to Poppi in a long time. If she were with Madden she wouldn’t say so. But Poppi knew she saw them that night kissing on the balcony. She never mentioned it, but she has treated Poppi differently since that day.

Poppi felt shame when she thought about all of the times Madden cheated on Anchor with her. She wanted to apologize, but Anchor definitely didn’t know they had been intimate. Even though Madden had broken up with Anchor, he hadn’t done it for Poppi. He did that to clear his own conscience.

Everyone in the house had been so sick with the stomach bug the last week, but for some reason Poppi couldn’t shake it. She was only throwing up maybe once or twice a day and then she would be fine.

“Poppi are you okay?” Valyn asked.

“Yes. Whatever virus this is, it’s horrible,” Poppi responded, from the bathroom.

“Poppi, I don’t think you have the virus anymore. I’m leaving something by the door for you. Please just use it. No questions on my end,” Valyn said.

Poppi cleaned her face and then opened the door. She gasped when she saw what her mother had left by the door in a little brown bag.

It was a PREGNANCY TEST!

Did her mom think she was pregnant? Wait! Could she be pregnant?

She thought back to both times she was with Madden. Neither time he used protection and he also didn’t make sure to handle his business elsewhere the first time. She was so in love and in a trance that she never even bothered to tell him to use a condom. She was a complete idiot. Or so she thought.

She grabbed the brown bag from the floor and locked the door behind her.

The box was pink and purple as if it was a happy occasion to find out if you ruined your life for a few moments of pleasure. Could she really be carrying her stepbrother’s baby?