Page 74 of Catnip, Claws, and Chaos

“Emily!” Kate's voice explodes from the speaker at her usual volume-eleven, her personality taking over the room even through the phone.

“Hi, Kate.” I drop onto Logan's bed.

“How are you? Did you take the test? What did it say? Oh my God, you're pregnant, aren't you? Holy shit, Em! What are you going to?—”

“She doesn't know yet,” Sarah cuts in, shielding me from Kate's verbal diarrhea. “Stop the interrogation. You're making it worse.”

“Shit, sorry! It's just... if I were you, I'd be losing my damn mind. Twenty-two's way too young for kids! I've got shit I wanna do, places to go! And babies, they're weird little poop factories that scream all night. They—” Her nervous babbling picks up speed, and her brain-to-mouth filter is completely offline.

“Kate, enough!”

Kate's not totally wrong, though. What do I know about raising a kid? I eat Lucky Charms for dinner half the week. I'm living rent-free with my sorta-boyfriend/boss because I'm broke as hell. And yet...something small and quiet whispers beneath the panic. A kid with Logan's green eyes. Tiny fingers curled around mine. Something real and permanent in my chaos-storm of a life.

“Just know there are options, Em.” Kate's meaning hangs heavy, unsaid but clear.

“She doesn't even know if she's pregnant yet!” Sarah's shout makes me jump.

“Guess it's time to find out.” Defeat washes over me. Fighting the current is pointless. I'm getting dragged under either way.

“About time!” Kate's relief crackles through the speaker.

Sarah starts to smile reassuringly. “Everything will be—” A loud splash cuts through from the bathroom. We trade confused looks. “What was that?”

“No clue.” Curiosity momentarily shoves aside dread as I peek around the door. Nothing looks weird until I notice the sink is empty except for water droplets. The test is gone. My eyes scan the room and land on the fuzzy black menace perched on the counter, yellow eyes gleaming with pure evil.

“What hellish scheme are you plotting now?” I step toward the cat, but Demon's laser-focused on the toilet, tail twitching like she's scored a victory. Horror hits me as I watch my future floating face down in toilet water.

Sarah appears behind me. “What happened?”

“The fucking cat.” I gesture helplessly at the toilet. “She knocked the test in.”

The sight's beyond belief. It's not just the pregnancy test bobbing in the bowl like some rubber duck. It's the smug satisfaction radiating from Demon, her mission to destroy my life reaching new heights. In my moment of greatest need, she's made sure answers stay out of reach.

“Shit!” Sarah rarely swears, which tells me just how bad this is.

“Package said to keep it dry.” I stare at the soggy test, defeat crushing me. “Even if we fished it out, it's useless now.”

“We're buying another one. Right now.” Sarah grabs her purse, determination hardening her usually soft features. Her take-charge attitude would be impressive if it wasn't so fucking exhausting.

“No!” The word explodes out of me. “I can't do this again. The waiting, the panic—I'm not peeing on another stick today.”

“Then what's your genius plan?” Sarah crosses her arms.

“Nothing?” My hands fly up in surrender. “We wait. If a kid pops out in nine months, the mystery is solved.”

“You can't be serious.” Sarah gapes at me, eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. “Emily, pregnancy isn't something you just ignore and hope goes away. If you're knocked up, you need prenatal care ASAP. And if you're not, we need to figure out what's actually making you sick.”

“Dead serious. Not curious enough for round two of this torture.”

“Girls? Hello? What's happening?” Kate's voice reminds us she's still there, confusion evident through the tinny speaker.

“Minor disaster.” Sarah grabs her phone from the counter. “I'll call you back with updates.”

“Wait, is she preg—” Kate's question vanishes mid-word as Sarah hangs up, stuffing the phone in her pocket.

“Kinda rude to hang up on her.”

Sarah rolls her eyes. “Bigger fish to fry.” She punches numbers into her phone with scary precision, lifting it to her ear.

---