Page 50 of Andy

She stretched out on the couch and turned on a movie. Sleep overcame her, and she woke to Andy picking her up.

“What time is it?”

“Close to ten. I’m taking you up to bed.”

“I don’t want to get you sick. I should sleep in another room.”

“We don’t have another mattress. How does your stomach feel?”

She rubbed her eyes and tried to do a mental checklist, but she felt totally foggy. "Okay. I don't feel bad."

“Maybe it was just a one-time thing. Let’s get your teeth brushed and then you need to get some sleep.”

Mel fumbled through her bedtime routine and then fell into bed. She didn't even notice Andy turning off the lights.

It was still dark when she stumbled downstairs and grabbed a box of cereal and settled on the floor beside the pantry. After multiple handfuls of the cereal, she needed something to drink. She stood and grabbed a cup of water, alternating between stuffing her face with cereal and drinking water.

The light in the den flicked on, and she spun to see Andy staring at her. "Hey, are you feeling better?"

“I’m starving. I need eggs.” Her eyes narrowed and she nodded. “Yes, eggs with cheese.”

“Sure.” Andy moved to the refrigerator and opened it, pulling out the carton.

Mel didn’t know where she got the idea, but she grabbed cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, and a loaf of bread, along with the jar of peanut butter. She slathered on the mayo, ketchup, and put peanut butter on the other slice of bread while Andy fried her two eggs. He melted the cheese on top of the eggs and turned to her, staring at the bread.

“Is that peanut butter?”

She nodded. “Yes. It sounds so good.”

Andy grabbed her plate and put the eggs on her bread. He watched as she devoured the sandwich. When she looked up, he was staring at her with his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms crossed over his chest.

“How often do you eat peanut butter with eggs?”

She shrugged. “Never. It just sounded like I needed it.”

He nodded and started cleaning up. Soap dripped from the pan as he held it over the sink while he kept glancing at her.

“You’re on birth control, right?”

She huffed out a breath. “I have an IUD in place. The doctor checked it right before I started dating you. I’m covered.”

Andy nodded, but his question agitated her. Did he think she was lying?

“You believe me, right?”

He set the pan down and dried his hands. “Yes, babe. I believe you all the way. But I think maybe something happened to the device.”

His words sent a chill straight through her, and she started shaking her head. "No, no. I can't be pregnant."

His lips thinned. “Would it really be so bad?”

She reached out and gripped onto his forearm. “I have trouble keeping weight on. If I’m pregnant, I need to see the doctor now and get on medicine to keep me from throwing up and losing too much weight. It could be dangerous for me and the baby.”

“Let’s go to the pharmacy down the road and buy a test,” Andy said, his voice so even she wondered if this was really real.

She was in the middle of a massive freak-out, and he was acting like everything was okay. They hadn't known each other long enough to have a baby, or had they? She knew having a child would be difficult. There had been years in her early adult life that she hadn't even gotten a period and wasn't ovulating. She worried something terrible would happen, and Andy was acting like this was just a normal occurrence.

Andy cupped her cheeks and pressed a gentle kiss on her lips. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”

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