Page 144 of Crazy Thing

“Thanks for helping with the cleanup today,” she begins. “This waterfall means so much to the community and we almost lost it. So it feels important that we take care of it now that it officially belongs to us, y’know?”

I nod my head. “I can’t believe I just spent my Tuesday afternoon picking up trash on the riverbank. And I can’t believe that I actually hadfun.”

Ziggy laughs ruefully. Then she goes silent and I can tell that there’s something heavy on her chest.

“Baby, what is it?” I ask. This isn’t like her. She’s freaking me out.

She drops her eyes to the ground, her shoulders rigid when she inhales deeply. She opens her mouth to speak butnothing comes out. She shakes her head and tries to speak again but she still can’t find her words. Whatever it is she needs to tell me, she’s struggling.

I find myself panicking on the inside. Frantic to solve whatever the problem is. I gather her up and pull her into my lap.

“Hey, look at me.” I angle her face and force her eyes to connect with mine. “Whatever it is, I’m going to fix it for you. Whatever it is, know that you’ve got me in your corner and I’m not leaving you to deal with it on your own. You believe that?”

Her eyes fill with tears and she cups my jaw, bringing her lips to mine. She nods subtly. “Okay…” she sucks in a breath. “I believe that.”

With a shaky hand, she reaches into her cross-body satchel, pulls out a thin white tube.

And changes my whole life with two simple words.

“I’m pregnant.”

At that very moment, the heavy clouds overhead scatter and the sun pours down, illuminating Ziggy’s face with the most heavenly light.

My heart stops beating cold in my chest. “You’re…”

I see the way her shoulders quiver when she inhales. “I’m pregnant, Darius.”

I feel my chest start to rise and fall rapidly. My nose starts to tingle. My eyes start to burn. “You’re pregnant?” I say through my tight throat. “You’re having my baby?”

She watches me with uncertain eyes. Her forehead crinkles and her nostrils flare. “I know we didn’t plan this. I must have miscalculated my moon cycle. Or maybe you didn’t pull out like you were supposed to. All I know is, we did this. Together. We werebothcareless. And we made ababy. And I know you may not want this. But this is my body and I don’t believe in—”

Before she can finish that thought, I slam my mouth over hers. I kiss her like she’s more important than my next breath.

Because she is.

When we pull apart, my vision is foggy and teardrops cling heavily to Ziggy’s eyelashes.

“You’re happy about this…?” she whispers quietly.

“God, yes!” I say, not hesitating for a moment. “I’m so fucking happy. We’re going to be a family, Ziggy. I’m going to be a father. And you’re going to be the mother of my child.” I kiss her again. I kiss her until I’m breathless. “You…andme. Having a baby.”

A smile breaks out across her face and her shoulders start shaking with laughter. “Youandme.Oh, my god.Youandmeand ababy.”

We sit there on the hard ground, laughing and kissing and wiping tears from each others’ eyes. This is the best moment of my life. And I know it’s only about to get better from here on out.

Ziggy rises suddenly, tugging at my hand. I follow her to the water’s edge. “What are you doing?” I ask cautiously as she lowers herself into the water.

She just keeps smiling at me. “Don’t you think it’s sort of magical that this is happening right here? The place where it all started.”

Entering the water, I take a moment to look around at our surroundings. “Yeah. Itismagical. Almost like it was destined to happen.”

“So, to answer the age-old question—the waterfall does make people fall in love.” Her eyes shine with tears and she holds onto me. “It made me fall in love with you.”

Ziggy shivers in my arms and I kiss her again.

We hold each other and take a moment to absorb this significance of all this. I don’t let her stay in the water too long, though. She’s carrying my baby and I need to make sure she doesn’t catch a chill.

I hold tight to her hand as we trudge back up the hill to my parents’ yard where her bus is parked. Ziggy takes a quick shower and changes into dry clothes while I make her a snack. Then I climb behind the wheel as she buckles herself into the passenger seat and I start the engine.

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