Author's note: Thanks to everyone who is reading. I can't believe that there is over thirty thousands views. Please keep commenting and voting please. I am in a creative writing class for school now, so I post those short stories too? I hope you all enjoy!

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I pulled out one of the chairs at the table. Emme sat down in it. She was sobbing into her hands and I sat down in the chair next to her. She wiped the tears away quickly with the back of her hand, revealing her pink flesh. She ripped her glasses off of her face and set them down on the table.

“He did it, Julie,” she sobbed. “He did it.”

I knew what she was talking about, but I didn’t want to say it. I cradled my belly and prayed that it was a boy. I didn’t want to turn into Emme in a couple of months.

“I failed Taylor,” she continued to sob. “How could I? I thought it was a boy. I felt like it was a boy. When Taylor told me it was a girl I begged and pleaded for him to let us keep him. I begged so hard, Julie.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to say. I was never good with crying people. I didn’t know how to console people. I am so glad that Jimmy takes care of me.

“It was a horrible noise,” she said as she began to cry even harder.

“What was?” I asked.

Emme raised her head and looked at me. Her dark brown eyes were bloodshot and I felt a shiver run up my spine. I shouldn’t have asked.

“The crack,” she said. “Taylor snapped her neck and this awful cracking sound was all I could hear. It’s like every time it’s quiet that’s all I can hear. It rings in my ears.”

“I’m so sorry,” I told her again.

Emme reached out and put her hands on my stomach. I gasped and felt my heart jump in my chest. She rubbed my belly lightly and I could feel the baby start to kick. Emme must have felt it too. A faint smile grew across her lips, but it was easy to sense the sadness behind it. The tears were still trickling down her cheeks.

“Get out,” she told me. “Get out of this house before you give birth. Don’t lose your baby because of these traditions of theirs.”

“I love Jimmy though,” I said.

Emme leaned back in her chair and shook her head. She wiped her cheeks again and raked her hand through her hair while letting out a deep breath. My arms were still cradled tightly around my stomach.

“Julie, we were kidnapped,” she told me.

“What?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“We’re not here because we want to be.”

“I love it in this house. Jimmy, Charles, even Tommy, are protecting me. I’ve never been happier than this before. They’re my family. They -.”

“Julie!” she cut me off. “That’s complete bullshit.”

My stomach was tying itself into a knot. If Taylor knew what she was saying he would have to punish her for sure. I don’t care what she says, I know I love Jimmy.

“No,” I told her sternly. “I love him.”

Emme continued to shake her head and it was making me angry. I got up out of the chair and went over to the fridge. I pulled out the vegetables and grabbed one of the knives and began chopping. I didn’t want to hear Emme talk about our family like this.

“If Jimmy loves you then why aren’t you allowed to go outside?” she questioned me.

“It’s not safe outside,” I said, not bothering to look over my shoulder at her.

“Why not? They’re outside right now,” she said.

“Because they’re men and we’re women,” I told her. “They have certain jobs and responsibilities and so do we.”

“Julie-.”

“They’re taking care of us.”

“Julie, they do not love us!”

“No!” I shouted. I spun around so that I could see her. The knife was still in my hand, and I tightened my grip on the handle.

Emme’s dark eyes grew large. I don’t know when, but she put her glasses back on her face. My hands were trembling and that was obvious, but I didn’t care right now. I didn’t want to listen to Emme.

“You’re upset,” I told her. I tried to speak slowly so that I could calm myself down and stop my voice from shaking. “You lost your baby and that’s horrible. But rules are rules and no girls are allowed to be born in this family. Taylor made it easier on you by killing her right away and you should be thanking him. Not talking about the family this way.”

“You’ll understand when you have a girl,” she said.

“Good thing I’m having a baby boy,” I said turning around and continued to chop up the vegetables.

--

Emme and I spent an hour in awkward silence. I prepared dinner as she stayed at the table twisting her fingers together. I tried to ignore and forget everything she had said. I knew I love Jimmy and that’s all that matters.

When the kitchen door opened up, my lips lifted up into a smile. Jimmy was smiling and it made me happy to see. He came over to the counter and wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. His scent of sweat, dirt and grass filled my nose.

“How was your day girls?” Jimmy asked us.

“Good,” Emme replied.

Taylor pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. Emme gave him a smile and I knew that it was fake. She was upset with the family, but that would change as soon as she gets pregnant again and has a son. She gave birth before I got pregnant, so she should be pregnant again soon.

“Yeah,” I agreed quietly.

Jimmy looked down at me and gave me a puzzling look. I just looked up at him and kissed him. When I pulled away his eyebrows were still scrunched together.

“I need to talk to you later,” he whispered to me.

My stomach flipped in my stomach. I just nodded my head and he ran his hand down over my stomach.

“I’ll be right back,” Jimmy told everyone. “I’m just going to take a shower before dinner.”

“Good. You stink,” Tommy said. He was in one of the dining room chairs, leaning back and his legs were up on another chair. He had a smirk on his lips and his pocketknife was out and he was cleaning his nails.

“You’re one to talk,” Charles said. Tommy’s smirk dropped and he flipped the blade in on his knife. “I think we should all clean-up for dinner. This is a special time, your cousins are down.”

“Fine,” Tommy grunted as he got up out of his chair and stormed up the stairs.

I could hear Jimmy laugh under his breath. He started to walk over to the staircase, but I grabbed his hand and followed him. Jimmy gave me a bizarre look, but he didn’t say anything until we got to our room.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and Jimmy stared at me. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Julie,” he started. “I can read you like a book. What’s wrong?”

I didn’t know if I should have, but I told him everything Emme told me