Page 7 of There Are No Words

And I was almost to the door.

But then Perla came flying out of Maria’s bathroom, her auburn hair swinging behind her, my pregnancy test in hand.

It was like the damn stick was still mocking me.You thought you could throw me in the trash, and that’d be it. No way.Stupid pregnancy test.

“Eeee!” Perla screamed. She rushed over to Maria who was still cleaning up from brunch at her insistence she do it herself. Maria hated taking help from others, it was one of her fatal flaws. In this case, I wasn’t arguing, though, because I wanted to get out of here as fast as possible.

Maria turned to her and furrowed her brows. “What?” she asked.

Perla was still going on, jumping and shouting like only the baby sister would—always excited. “Maria, you’re pregnant! I cannot believe you didn’t tell us you’re pregnant!”

Maria. She thinks Maria’s pregnant.My entire body went stiff, and I feared my feet might have actually been glued to the ground. I was completely frozen.

I should say something. I went to open my mouth, but nothing. Not even a croak. It was like I was rendered speechless.

All right, let’s try that again.I opened my mouth, but clamped it shut when the kitchen door opened and in walked Dom.

Then Bianca came in from the other room. I honestly feared what she’d say when she heard. But it was Dom’s reaction that had my stomach clenching. “You’re pregnant?” he asked Maria, his expression melancholy, his eyes on Perla’s hand and the aforementioned stick.

Perla snickered, looking downright giddy about the whole prospect.Easy for her, she isn’t the one who’s pregnant.“Is that why there were no drinks today?” she asked, her eyes still aglow.

“Is it Pedro’s?” Dom demanded, referring to Maria’s latest beau, owner of Pedro’s Pizzeria, and Dad’s biggest nightmare second to Knox—well, not anymore, because now he actually accepted (read: tolerated) Knox, but that was a whole other story.

Tossing the last of the trash in the garbage, Maria finally wiped her hands together and looked up. She eyed each of us sisters—Bianca, Perla, and then me. I swallowed hard, wondering if she knew since I’d been the most recent guest in her bathroom.

Now’s the time, mouth, do your thing and speak.Saying anything, anything at all right about now would have been good. But I still couldn’t. My lips were glued shut and all I could do was take everything in.

The word “pregnant” kept spinning through my head. It was being used far too many times already for my liking.

Maria shook her head as if trying to make sense of everything. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m not pregnant.” Then she looked at Dom who took the stick from Perla’s hand.

“Are you sure?” he asked, sounding only slightly less upset.

Narrowing her gaze, Maria stared at him. “Dom Deluca, did you just ask me that? I’m not pregnant, all right? What is it with you?”

Dom looked down at the stick again in his hand. The way he looked at it, you’d think it was a snake about to bite him. “I think it says you are.”

“It’s not mine.”

“Then whose is it?” Perla asked.

“Better question, why are you rummaging through my garbage?” Maria asked Perla, then plucked the stick from Dom’s hand before tossing it back in the can.

All right, too many hands on the thing I peed on.

“And what are you doing here?” she asked Dom next.

Dom stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m here to fix the side window. You said it was sticking.”

“I don’t understand,” Perla remarked, looking around the room.

I watched Bianca closely, wondering what she was thinking because she hadn’t said a single word—definitely not like her. It was as if Perla noticed it, too, and her silence gave Perla enough of a reason to ask, “Is it yours, Bibi?”

Biting her bottom lip, Bianca’s eyes grew wide and it looked like she nearly choked on her saliva. “That’s not mine. No, no, no. It’s far too soon for Knox and I to be having a baby.” As if needing to drive the point home, she assured us, “I’m not having a baby. Knox and I are very careful. Maybe it’s Allie’s.”

Damn it. So close. But, of course, they’d turn to me. I was the only one left. Not that it should’ve made sense to them. I was single. Hell, it barely made sense to me. I’d had sex one time in like eight months and got pregnant. It was ridiculous. Ludicrous, really, if you asked me. Close your legs, that should’ve been my new motto. Too bad I lived with a man who made me want to open them wide whenever he was around. You know, just so he knew he was invited. Geez, just listen to me, I should’ve just rolled out a welcome mat, or better yet, a neon flashing sign that read,I’m ready if you are.

Four sets of eyes were on me. Staring at me. Watching. Waiting. Maria nodded her head ever so slightly, but enough that I caught it. So she knew. It figured she would have guessed correctly.

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