A Queer Turn of Events   by Lisa Lees	Episode map Characters Extras Blog
1:8 – "Carys? I Have a Problem." Part 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Part 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

As August turned to September and classes for those in school started up again, the household settled into something of a routine. Early evenings, after dinner they were all usually in the living room; studying, reading or in Jami's case, using a laptop.

This evening Carys was quietly walking around the room, reading a script and thinking about blocking, when the phone rang. They all had cell phones, but Carys had pointed out that it would be useful to have a number to call to reach anyone who was in the house, rather than having to perhaps make several cell calls before finding someone who was at home.

Carys absently picked up the phone, still concentrating on the script she was reading. "Hello?" Immediately she shifted her focus to the phone. "Hello? Hello? Who is this?" The caller was crying and having trouble talking. "Carys?" "Yes, I'm here. Who is this? What's wrong?" "Carys, it's Kay." "Kay! Honey, what's going on?" "Oh, Carys. I'm pregnant." "You're... holy shit." Carys let the script fall on the floor and sat down beside it. "Where are you?" "I'm at Mrs. C's, Mary's, house. I went there looking for you. I didn't know you'd moved out of the apartment."

"Oh, Carys. I'm pregnant."

Kay paused to blow her nose. "My Mom told me to go live with my Dad, and my Dad's new wife said no way was I staying with them. I don't know what to do Carys!" She broke down into sobs and wails.

There were some muffled words, then someone else took the phone and spoke. "Carys? It's Mary."

"Mary? Tell Kay I'll be right there. I've been so busy getting everything settled here and trying to get back into my own stuff that I haven't given a thought to starting up the support group again. I'll be right there."

As Carys hung up the phone, she realized that everyone was staring at her. She quickly filled them in and asked Crystal to run her over to Mary's house.

"You want us to go with?" asked Tam.

Carys thought a moment. "No, not right now, Hon. Let me talk with Kay and see what's what." She looked around. "Is it okay if I bring her back here? It sounds like she has nowhere else to go."

"Heck, yeh!" said Jami, and everyone else nodded agreement.

* * *

Kay was in the living room of Mrs. Carmichael's house, a box of tissues in her lap. Carys exchanged a worried look with Mrs. C, who headed toward the kitchen to fix some tea.

"It was an accident."

"Kay. How did you, who...?" Kay looked at Carys, eyes red and puffy from crying. "James. We've been kind of dating this summer, to see what it was like. It was kind of exciting. But we kind of got carried away, once." I figured it'd be James, thought Carys, They'd been getting pretty chummy toward the end of last school year. "You had sex, Kay? Whose idea was that?" Kay looked at the floor, wringing her hands. "It just kind of happened, Carys. We were in his room, on campus. We kissed. Then we started touching each other. It was exciting, and we were lying on the bed and our clothes came off and..." "And what were you thinking while he was putting his penis in you? Did he ask if you were on the pill or anything?"

"We talked a lot about whether he was gay or bi and whether I was bi or what," said Kay, toying with the hem of her shirt.

"You do understand the so-called facts of life? If a genetic female has sex with a genetic male without using some form of protection, there's a real good chance that the female will get pregnant and that both people will share any sexually transmitted diseases they have? Your sexual orientation does not have anything to do with that!"

"I know! But it was my first and maybe only time. I didn't think it was so easy to get pregnant."

"One time is all it takes!"

"He said it was his first time, too. With a girl, anyway."

"Shit! Okay, so you're both idiots!"

"Please don't yell at me, Carys. Everyone else in the world is yelling at me." Kay put her hands to her face, sobbing softly.

Damn. I know how that feels, thought Carys. "I'm sorry, Kay." She scooted over on the sofa and put her arms around Kay, who leaned into her and continued crying. Carys stroked her hair until she calmed down.

Kay dabbed at her nose and eyes with the soaked wad of tissues in her hand. "What am I going to do, Carys?"

"Well, you've basically got two choices."

"Huh?" Kay looked puzzled.

"Keep the baby or not."

Kay's eyes went wide. "Oh, no. That's not what I meant. Of course I'm keeping the baby! I love babies. That's not a question."

"Then how are you going to support yourself and care for it? You're seventeen years old, Kay! This is the next twenty years of your life you're talking about. You'll be thirty-five by the time your child is as old as you are now. What'll you do then?"

Kay nodded. "Those are my questions."

"What about James? Are you two going to get married?"

"No! Neither of us want that. That'd be stupid. I don't love him, at least not romantically. In fact..."

"What?"

"I've pretty much figured out I'm not bi. When I was with him, I liked being touched, but I kept thinking, when I touched him, that it'd be so much nicer if he was like me, a girl. He says he was thinking the same thing. We didn't do it again. But we're still friends."

Carys shook her head, trying to clear it. "He knocked you up, as an experiment, and you're still friends, but all the problems are yours?"

"It was an accident, Carys. It wasn't his fault."

Carys took a deep breath, but Kay reached out and put a finger on her lips. "Don't you yell at me, Carys! And don't go saying it was his responsibility. We weren't doing the hetero boy gets girl in bed thing." She pulled her hand back from Carys. "We were stupid. We were playing with fire, and we were thinking like the gay people we really are. Getting pregnant isn't part of that scenario. We just didn't think about it."

"All right, Kay." Carys massaged her temples to try to stave off the headache she felt coming on. "There's no point crying over spilt milk, or whatever. It's not a mistake either of you is going to make again. And since you say you're still friends, I won't go wring his neck."

"Thank you, Carys." "So what is James's part in this?" "He promises to help support me and the child. And he's okay with being known as the father." Kay smiled. "I think he's actually kind of proud of getting me knocked up in one try, like some kind of macho guy thing." "Okay, so I will wring his neck!" "No, Carys! I think it's cute. Like he really did anything but squirt." Carys spread her hands. "Okay, okay. But I'm going to go talk to him. I want to know where he's going to fit into this picture. Do you want to come to the house? You can stay with us if you need to." Mrs. C came out of the kitchen at this point, bringing a tray with tea and cookies. "Mary says I can stay here as long as I want." "You mean until you have the baby?" Kay glanced at Mary, who nodded and smiled.

"Okay, so I will wring his neck!"

"I think she means as long as I want. I'll help her out. After I have the baby, Mary can watch it sometimes and I can take care of the house and shop and stuff."

"And a big help you can be, Kay," said Mary. "I'm getting on in years. I never had children of my own. Not sure why, it just didn't happen for us. My Patrick's been gone a long time now. I get lonesome, especially since Carys and Jami, and Tam, moved out."

"Okay," said Carys. "That sounds great. Are you going to finish high school, Kay?"

Kay nodded. "Oh, yes. I know there's a program for people in my situation. I'm not a bad student, either, so it'll be no problem, though I probably won't really graduate until the summer."

"And then what?"

"Then I don't know. I have a lot of figuring out to do."

"Yeh, you do. 'Cause you want to be a better parent to your kid than your parents are to you. You've got to be part of making the world a better place."

"Of course I want to be a good parent!"

"It's a big job for one person, Kay. I'm going to go talk to James."

"Be nice to him, Carys!"

"I'm not going to hurt him, Kay. But I may scare him a little bit."

* * *

"Don't hit me!"

"Carys!" "Hello, James. I've just come from talking with Kay. I am not happy with you," she growled. Amazing how many ways my theater experience is useful. James backed away from the door. "Don't hit me!" "I'm not going to hit you. I don't hit people. But I am really, fucking, pissed off with you! You're old enough to know better. Kay says you've had sex with guys. And you didn't even use a condom with her? What the fuck were you thinking?" "It was an accident!" "I've heard all that from Kay, James. It really doesn't matter now what stupid-assed, vacant-headed idiocy possessed you two. What I want to know is what you're going to be doing for the next twenty years, while Kay is raising your child." "Uh, I don't know. I'm a Junior this year, starting to think about graduate school, maybe back out west. I'm not overly fond of the climate in Michigan." "And now that you're going to be a father?"

"We're not getting married or anything!"

"You, dude, are going to be a father whether you're married to Kay or not. You think long and hard about this. You are not walking away from them."

James sat on the edge of one of the beds in his room. "I have been thinking about it, Carys. It's just a lot to think about."

Carys walked over and sat next to him.

"Yeh, it is. I'm starting the support group up again, soon. You'll be there,right?" "Sure. And Carys, I went to the health center yesterday, for an HIV test. Just to be certain." "Excellent! There's hope for you!" "I actually... This is going to sound strange, Carys." "Try me." "Okay. I've never known what I was going to do, you know, with my life. Having a child, being a father. That's major. I don't want to walk away. But how can Kay and I and the kid be any kind of family?" Carys nodded. "Okay, you are thinking. Keep it up, chum." She punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"I'm not much of a rebel, you know."

"I'm not much of a rebel, you know."

Carys laughed. "Come over to the house. We'll give you lessons!"

To be continued...