Page 58 of Our Final Encore

My whole life I’ve pictured myself becoming a mom.Afterstarting a career, getting married, and buying a house. I never once pictured it like this.

Stay positive, Opal.It’s just a pregnancy scare, it happens to almost every woman at some point in her life. It’s practically a rite of passage. Later I’ll be laughing about how much I overreacted.

Despite trying to tell myself that all morning, I don’t believe it. Something feels different. My body feels…off.Like it knows something I don’t.

I proceed to pee on the stick, then I leave it in the bathroom for the allotted amount of time that the box told me to. I’m scared. So fucking scared. I pace back and forth in my bedroom until the timer on my phone goes off. I take a deep, fortifying breath and force myself back into the bathroom, flipping the test over to reveal the result.

Two lines. One is dark and one is more light, but they’re both undeniably there. I’ve watched enough teen drama shows to know what the two lines mean without having to consult the instruction manual.

I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant with Alex Anderson’s child.

Shit.

THIRTY-EIGHT

Opal

Iwant to crawl back into bed and hide from the world, but I have too much nervous energy pent up inside me. Mamaw still isn’t awake, thank goodness, because I would feel very weird trying to hide my emotions from her. Plus, she’s so intuitive she would probably know that something is wrong immediately.

I grab my phone and walk outside. The birds are singing and the sun is shining. Despite the fact that my entire life has just monumentally changed, it looks like a totally normal day.

As I anxiously pace the length of my front yard, I tap on Maisie’s name in my contacts and hold the phone up to my ear, praying that she’s awake already. She’s notorious for sleeping in.

“Good morning, bestie!” Maisie greets me with a sing-songy tone after only one ring.

“Hey,” is all I can manage to get out in response.

“What’s wrong?”

I let out a deep breath. I’m afraid to say it out loud, like somehow that’ll make it too real.

“Opal? Are you okay?”

“I’m pregnant.” The words feel weird coming out of my mouth, but somehow I say them plain as day.

Stunned silence meets me on the other end of the line, and I can just imagine her with her pouty lips hanging open. “What?! How? When? I’m gonna have to pull over for this conversation.” Another pause. “Tell me everything, immediately.”

“Not much to tell,” I shrug.

“Are you crazy? When did you find out?”

“About ten minutes ago.”

“Holy shit. Opal!” I hear Sophia mumbling in the background and Maisie tells her to hang on. “What are you going to do? Were you trying?”

“Of course not,” I roll my eyes. She should know better than anyone that these things happen. “I don’t even know how it happened. We used a condom.”

“Do you…want to have the baby?”

I fold my lips together as if I’m considering the question, even though I really don’t have to think about it. “I do.”

“Ahh!” I hear her clapping her hands and I can’t help but grin. “I’m gonna be an auntie. I’ve been waiting for this day. Didn’t think it’d come this soon, but I’m not mad. Oh my god, Sophia will have a cousin!”

I chuckle. “Yeah. I’m scared, but…I’ve always dreamed of being a mom.”

“So, did you tell Ian yet?”

My breath catches in my throat. “Well, no.”

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