Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise

His mouth opened and his lips formed an O. “I didn’t know. That is a bit unique.”

“No. It’s horrible. Do you have any idea what the kids did to me in school?”

“I’m guessing you wanted to change your name.”

She nodded. “My name. My school. My life.”

“So why didn’t you when you got older?”

She shrugged. “What was the point? The worst of it was over and by then I’d lost my mother.” Not wanting to go further down this path, she said, “Anyway, I’ve been working on replacing my mother’s collection of VHS tapes with DVDs. I’m guessing not too far in the future I’ll be replacing the DVDs with newer technology.”

“Are they all older movies?”

She nodded. “This Cary Grant movie...” she gestured to An Affair to Remember, which was in Simon’s hand “...is one of my all-time favorites.”

“Isn’t it a bit depressing?”

She shrugged. “I guess it depends on how you look at it.”

“And how do you look at it?”

“That true love can conquer anything—sometimes it just takes a little bit of effort. But never give up.”

Simon looked at her strangely.

“What?” She felt a bit self-conscious under his direct stare. “Simon, stop looking at me like that.”

“It’s just in all the time I’ve known you, I never knew that you were a romantic.”

“I’m not a romantic.” Was she? She’d never really thought about it. “I just like romantic movies.”

“Then put it on and let’s watch it.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course.”

He didn’t have to tell her twice. She started the DVD, turned off the lights and settled on the couch, leaving a respectable distance between her and Simon. Daisy decided the empty space was just perfect for her and her teddy. And so by the glow of the fireplace, they watched the movie. Even when Simon finished his dinner, he remained.

And then without warning, the power went out midway through the movie.

They both waited quietly for the power to flicker back on, but as the seconds ticked away, the darkness persisted.

Simon moved toward the window and looked out. “Seems we’re not alone in the dark. Hopefully, it won’t be off for long, but at least the fireplace still works.” He turned to her. “Maybe we’ll be camping in the living room tonight.”

Pepper wrapped her arms about her. She didn’t say anything as she was drawn back in time to another place—another time.

“I’ll get us some blankets.” Using the flashlight app on his phone, he headed toward the bedrooms.

In the short amount of time he was gone, Pepper told herself to quit acting like this power outage was such a big deal. The fireplace would keep them warm and the power company would surely have the lights on in no time. This wasn’t the past.

“Pepper?”

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t trust her voice. And she didn’t want to make a fool of herself. After all, it was a power outage. No big deal. But during a winter storm, the chances of the power returning soon weren’t very good.

He moved to her side, opposite the dog. “Pepper, talk to me.”

“I don’t like power outages.”