Page 87 of What if It's Us

My stomach isn’t loving the grilled chicken salad I ate for lunch, everything in my office today is either too bright or too loud, and my boobs…good God, my boobs. If someone were to tell me that itchy nipples are a thing, I would’ve laughed in their face even two days ago, but today? Today it feels like some little creature is inside my boobs grasping whatever invisible strings are attached to my nipples and the little shit is tugging on them relentlessly.

Yeah.

Nipple gnomes.

That’s a visual nobody needs.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve shoved my hand down my shirt to pinch my nipples in hopes of easing the itchy-tingly sensation only to then wince in pain because well, my nipples are fucking sensitive right now.

Also, I’m exhausted. Like, shopping-online-for-an-office-couch-so-I-can-curl-up-and-nap-at-work level exhausted. Because God forbid I go home.

If I go home, I don’t get to watch Ledger practice.

If I go home, I might miss something important and besides, if by chance I end up pregnant this cycle, it’s not like I canjust take the next nine months off. I signed up for this. I want to be a mom. So, I have to learn to work through the uncomfortableness.

No pain, no gain, right?

But the world won’t end if I just put my head down for a quick five-minute rest.

And clearly my five-minute rest turns into something a little longer, because when I finally lift my head I find Ella, Layken, Scarlett, and Blakely standing in my office whispering among themselves.

“Wh-what are you guys doing here?”

“Oh,” Scarlett cocks her head and smiles. “Sleeping Beauty is awake!”

Oh. Shit. Was I out that long?

“How long have you guys been here?”

Ella twists her mouth. “Ten? Fifteen minutes maybe?”

Oops.

“Sorry about that,” I tell them, wiping the sleepiness from my eyes. “I haven’t been feeling great today and thought maybe I could get away with a five-minute power nap.” Cringing I tell them, “I guess I didn’t really get away with anything, huh?”

“Well, you would have,” Scarlett explains, “except Layken texted us and told us you looked like shit today and so we’re here on official business.”

I glare at Layken. “Okay first of all, thanks a lot Lake.”

She shrugs. “I only speak the truth, girlfriend.”

“And secondly, what’s the official business?”

Blakely holds up a brown grocery bag. “Operation we’re-not-leaving-here-until-you-pee-on-a-stick.”

My head is shaking. “You guys, it hasn’t been quite two weeks yet. In fact, it’s only been about ten?—”

“First of all, you’ve been munching on Goldfish crackers nonstop. You have three boxes in your desk. Don’t ask me howI know. Then you told Layken earlier your stomach was upset and that your boobs feel like dead weights.” Scarlett ticks off my symptoms on her fingers. “The lights are turned down in here, you didn’t go to this morning’s practice. We know because we were there. Lake says you’ve filled up your water bottle no less than four times already today, and…” She gestures around the room. “We were standing in your office for at least ten minutes and you didn’t even realize it because you were asleep at your desk.”

“Smells like pregnancy to me,” Ella says.

“What would you know about it?” I giggle, glancing at Ella who pins her hand to her hip.

“Duh, Dr. Marlee, you’ve been googling your symptoms for…what did you say? Ten days?”

Busted.

“And you panic-texted Ledger a few days ago about whether or not cheese was safe to eat if you’re trying to conceive,” Layken adds with a smirk. “I’m sure you can guess where Ledger was when he got that text.”

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