Free Fix You by Mari Carr

created a strain. Finally, only a week after they’d done the deed, they’d decided to call it quits.
    One mistake. She’d made one mistake and it looked as if she was about to spend a lifetime paying for it.
    “You need to get a pregnancy test.”
    She nodded. “I know, but, God, Harrisburg’s not exactly a big town. If I buy one of those at the drugstore, my mother will know about it before I get out of the parking lot.”
    “Yeah. I guess so. I’ll drive you to Drexler tomorrow after school. You can tell your mom you have to stay late to work on a project or something.”
    She smiled at him. “Thanks.”
    “I haven’t done anything.”
    “I think that’s what I’m thankful for. You haven’t freaked out or yelled at me or called me an idiot.”
    Robbie picked up a pinecone, twisting it in his hands. “I considered it,” he teased. They laughed quietly, then he sobered up. “What are you going to do if you are pregnant?”
    “Keep it. We graduate in a few months. I guess I’ll skip the community college classes, get a job and try to find a way to make it work.”
    “You think your folks wouldn’t help you?”
    She shrugged. “I hope they would, but…” She was terrified of finding out how they’d respond. Zoey suspected her mother would cry, her father would look at her with disappointment in his eyes. She wasn’t sure she was strong enough to face either of those reactions.
    “They’d help, Zoey. I’m sure of it. And I will too.”
    Her heart warmed with his offer. “Does this mean you’ll change all the poopie diapers?”
    He feigned a shudder. “Don’t get carried away. I just meant I’ll marry you. Make an honest woman of you.”
    She burst out laughing. “Oh my God. Can you imagine the two of us married? We’d kill each other within a year.”
    Robbie’s grin grew. “What? No way. Once you get down that obey part, we’ll be fine.”
    She punched him in the arm. “Hell would freeze over before I obeyed you or any man.”
    Robbie shook his head and pretended to be saddened by her answer. “Now, now. That’s no way for my little woman to talk.”
    “Ugh. You are insane.”
    “Maybe, but I mean it, Zoey. I’ll help you anyway you need. Money, babysitting, writing lullabies. You name it. It’s yours. And for what it’s worth, I think you’d make an awesome mother.”
    She was touched by his sweet gesture. Somehow the world didn’t seem as bleak as it had a few minutes earlier. “Thanks.”
    “So we have a date at the drugstore tomorrow?”
    She nodded. She’d been terrified by the prospect of buying the pregnancy test. Knowing Robbie would be with her made that trip easier to face.
    “Ready to go home?”
    Rather than respond, she stood, then reached down to help him up. “Yeah. I guess so.”
    He held her hand as they left the park, making her laugh the whole way back to her house with his cheesy, over-the-top Paul Anka impersonation, singing “Having My Baby”.
     
    She opened her eyes and looked at Robbie’s profile. He wore his headphones and his lips moved silently in time with the music only he could hear. Every now and then, he’d type something. She smiled softly. He was in what he called “the zone”. She loved watching when he got lost in his music. While she knew he loved performing, she never saw him happier than at moments like this, when it was just him and a new tune begging for words. He’d claimed to be a better guitar player than singer, but she felt like his true talent lay in writing the songs. He was a poet and composer rolled into one beautiful package.
    She sighed as the rest of her memory returned. They’d never made the trip to the drugstore. Her period had come during the night. Secretly Zoey credited Robbie for that miracle. She’d been so stressed out, wound up so tightly, she’d obviously fucked up her own system. Robbie had relieved the anxiety and made her laugh.
    Maybe lightning would strike twice. Maybe he’d save her again.