Page 31 of Interception

“A water would be great, thanks.” I head over to the couch to where I know the tests are just out of sight. I can’t sit down as nervous energy is coursing through my body, my pulse racing. When Coop hands me a bottle of water, I continue to pace the floor. “You should sit down.”

“Here we go.” He unscrews the cap, taking a long swig of his drink.

“What?”

“We need to talk. You should sit down. The classic lines of a textbook breakup. That’s where you’re headed, right? You fight me every step of the way. Calling you my girlfriend is a hangable offense. I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop. May as well get it over with. I’m tired, and I have training in the morning. Do you want the breakup anger bang? Is that why you had me come over?”

“I’m pregnant,” I blurt it out, nothing like the speech I had planned. I was going to ease into it and tell him I don’t expect anything from him. I’m showered with a spray of Coop’s beer as he spits it out in surprise.

“Jesus Christ!” He wipes his mouth before staring at me with eyes as big as saucers. “Shit. Let me get a towel or something. I didn’t mean to spit in your face.” He looks completely dazed as he stumbles over to the counter and grabs some paper towels. As he hands them to me, I can see the rapid rise and fall of his chest. He looks the way I felt this morning when I confirmed my suspicions.

“I told you to sit down.”

“Is this a joke? Are you punking me right now? If you are, it’s not fucking funny.”

“I’m not kidding around.”

“Have you taken a test, or are you freaking out ‘cause your period is a few days late?”

“I took three tests, and all three came back positive.”

“Fuck me. I’m going to be a dad?” He looks to me, his eyes drifting to my stomach. “My swimmers put a baby in there?”

“Again with the eloquence.”

“You just shouted at me that you’re pregnant. Let’s not get into a conversation about being eloquent.”

“Sorry. Not quite what I had planned.” I grab the tests and shove them at him. “Here. Three tests, three positives.” He accepts them, stares at them for a moment, then drops them on the floor.

“Gross!”

“You just realized I had to pee on those, didn’t you?” He makes me laugh even in the most serious of moments.

“Yeah.”

“So you’re grossed out being handed a pee stick, but you’ll happily chow down in my lady town for hours at a time?”

“That’s totally different. And yes, I’ll enthusiastically ‘chow down’ as you so politely put it. Is that an offer?”

“Be serious for a moment. The sticks you just dropped on the floor have some serious implications. Joking aside, they’re important.”

“Being handed a urine stick isn’t exactly how I imagined finding out I’m going to be a dad. I always thought it would be a cute onesie with ‘Daddy” on it or something equally as cute. You’ve thought about this before? Do you have ovaries I don’t know about? Funny. Clearly, I’m super manly because my seed is in there making a baby right now.”

“Why would you get a onesie? I had to find out squatting over the toilet. Not an easy thing to do, I might add.”

“When did you find out? How far along are you? Do you want to keep it?” He reaches out, pressing his huge hand across my stomach in a gentle caress. “Are you okay?” He’s gone from playful to deadly serious in the blink of an eye.

“That’s a lot of questions. Give me a minute. I found out this morning, so it’s really early. Should I not have told you? I thought it was the right thing to do… telling you. And I’m okay. Feeling a little nauseous, which I had written off as some bad takeout.”

“You missed one question.” I know what he’s asking.

“I know. I’m shellshocked right now, and I think it’s a decision we need to make together.”

“We can talk about it, and I’ll support whatever decision you make, but it’s your decision at the end of the day. It’s your body. I won’t force you into anything.”

“I want to know where your head is at. This wasn’t exactly in our plans.”

“We don’t have any plans. We don’t live together. We haven’t said ‘I love you.’ You barely want to be seen with me in public.”

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