Page 18 of Depraved Favors

“What if it’s Jacob’s?” If I’m pregnant, I have no idea how far along I could be. Twisting to my side, I pull up my shirt and stare at my belly. It doesn’t look any different, and I’m not sure when morning sickness is supposed to start.

“Well, let’s get to the doctor to see. How far apart was the last time you had sex with him and…your other partners?”

Her calm questioning is actually making me freak out more, and I let out a sob.

“Oh my god. What if I have to become Brit’s step mommy?”

She lets out a snort and I glare at her, not finding anything funny. “Something tells me it would be worse if it’s Jacob, and not Brit’s father.”

I frown, realizing she’s right. Owen would be the better candidate, but I’m still not sure how it would work between us. He lives states away, and from what Brit told me, he never bothered to visit her much. My hand rubs at my flat belly and my mom comes to stand behind me.

“I’m going to make a call and see if we can get you in quickly.”

I manage to acknowledge her with a nod as I keep staring in the mirror. She leaves me alone and I grab my phone. My fingers hover over my text thread with Owen. We’ve flirted on and off, and I can tell the nights he works because sometimes I won’t get replies until nearly half a day later. With school and the distance between us, I’ve stopped responding as much. It was supposed to be a one time thing, a fling to patch up my shattered heart. And the longer I held onto him, the more I found myself wishing for more. I stare at his message from three days ago, and then set my phone down.

A part of me wants to tell him immediately, but the other part thinks I should wait to see how far along the baby is. Or if there’s a baby at all. The possibility is high since my doctor warned me I’m fertile as soon as the shot wears off. It had been weeks between the shot wearing off and fucking Owen. I know there’d been one time with Jacob before that, but he’d pulled out and asked to come in my mouth.

I groan, rubbing my hand down my face. It’d been stupid to not wear condoms with Owen, and the embarrassment of my blunder burns in my chest. Everything pointed at him being my baby daddy, and while I would prefer him over Jacob, I worry about how Owen would react. He didn’t sign up for another child when we decided to have fun that week. Hell, I don’t think he would even sign up for a relationship. The morning before I left we were high on emotions, but that comes with the intimacy of being together so many times in a short amount of time. I doubt we would feel that type of chemistry again in person. Straightening my shoulders, I decide to hold off on contacting him unless there’s actually news to report.

My mom can’t wipe the smile off her face as we wait in my gynecologist’s office. She’s made a whole day of it, getting breakfast and our nails done before we went to the doctor’s in the afternoon.

“You wouldn’t be disappointed if I’m pregnant?”

She sighs, twisting her wedding ring with her thumb dramatically. “It’s not…” She turns to me and grabs my hand. “Whatever you want to do, I’m here for you. Whatever option you choose, okay?”

I frown. “You just seem really happy.”

She swallows, her hold tightening. “I’ve promised to always be honest with you, but I don’t want it to sway your decision.”

My eyes well with tears because I have an idea of what she’s going to admit. Her lips curl in a soft smile. “Am I excited to potentially meet my grandchild before I eventually succumb to my disease? Yes. Do I wish I was older? That you were older? Of course. But life doesn’t go as planned, and time isn’t as infinite as we feel it is.” Her hoarse voice trails off and she clears her throat.

“I’m here for my daughter in any way that I can be and in any way you need me to be. Because one day, sweetheart, I won’t be, and I want you to imagine whatever I would say to comfort you in that moment.”

I shake my head, wiping at my tears and then dropping my face into her chest. The painful reminder that my mom won’t always be in my life is too much to bear when I might get life-altering news. “I don’t want to think about you leaving me.”

She kisses the top of my head. “Why do you think your father and I follow you where you go? We bought a house in the same town you went to college in, I don’t want to leave you either.”

We break apart laughing at their ridiculousness just as the nurse calls my name, but I keep hold her hand as we walk into a patient room. The nurse hands me a urine cup and directs me into the restroom.

I put the cup on the sink, staring into the mirror. In a few minutes, I’ll know if I’m pregnant. I’m suddenly overcome with the need to hear his voice. Grabbing my phone, I hover over his contact before pressing the call button.

“Hello?” a feminine voice answers a few seconds later. There’s a lot of noise in the background, but I know it isn’t Owen.

My mouth waters as bile rises my throat. I’m not jealous, but there is something devastating about another woman picking up his phone. When I don’t say anything immediately, the woman says hello again and then tuts her tongue.

“Look, Owen just went to grab some ice for the bar. If it’s not an emergency, just call him back, okay?”

She hangs up without a response and I roll my eyes, hating the despair I put myself through for a second. I know that was probably a co-worker and he must have left his phone behind on accident. Still, it is a reminder of how far away we are from each other. How different our day to day lives are; he’s managing a business and I’m in class. If I am pregnant, I’ll have to tell him eventually, but I’ll have to come up with a plan first.

Leaving the full pee cup in the bathroom, I head back into the room where my mom is waiting. She smiles, waving at the blanket the nurse left me to cover myself when I shuck off my pants. I lean back onto the chair, nerves making me sit there in silence.

“Nervous, sweetie?”

My eyes water with tears, but I hold back the sob. “I tried to call Owen. He didn’t pick up.”

Her hand reaches out and holds onto me. “It’s okay, Peyton. We’ll get through this.”

Chapter Ten

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