“Expiration date. Expiration date,” I mumble as I study the box.

“Fuck a rockstar,” I mutter as I fall to the floor. The condoms expired a year ago.

I guess I need those pregnancy tests after all. I shove to my feet and go in search of the bag I dropped somewhere when I arrived home.

I dump the contents on the vanity in my bathroom. I grab a candy bar and rip it open. I sniff but the smell doesn’t make me gag. Good.

I devour the bar as I line the pregnancy tests up. Once they are all properly prepared, I begin.

By the time I’ve taken all of the tests and am waiting for the results, I’ve finished two chocolate bars. I open the third and final one as I watch the clock tick down.

When the alarm sounds, I wipe my hands on my pants and inhale a deep breath. But when I go to check the results, my eyes snap closed.

Come on, Aurora. You’re not a chicken. You’ve faced down crowds pulsing with anger when a concert was cancelled. You can handle a little test.

“I am not afraid. I am not afraid,” I chant as I slowly open my eyes to peek at the tests.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

Elation fills me. I’m pregnant. I’m having a baby. I cradle my stomach. My dreams of having a family are finally coming true.

But then I remember.

I’ll be doing this alone. Jett doesn’t want children. He hates children.

Maybe I shouldn’t tell him. If he’s going to abandon the baby, anyway, maybe it’s better he doesn’t know.

I glance down at my stomach.

“Welp. It’s me and you against the world now, Little Bean.”

Chapter 8

Thanksgiving – an excuse for your friends to invade your house and stick their noses in your business

Jett

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Indigo greets as she nudges her way past me into my house.

Indigo is Cash’s fiancée. They were high school sweethearts who lost their way but they recently reconnected when Cash rented Indigo’s grandmother’s house.

I try to shut the door behind her but Virginia and Leia follow her inside.

“What’s going on?” I ask as I grab the dish from Virginia’s hands. Virginia is Dylan’s pregnant fiancée. He’d kill me if I let her carry anything. Not even a casserole dish.

“You have the best oven …” Indigo shrugs.

“And? Who cares about my oven?”

“She means we’ve decided we’re having Thanksgiving at your house because no one thought you’d show up at Thanksgiving dinner at anyone else’s house,” Leia explains.