Page 6 of Keeping Promises

She glances down at it, blinking rapidly before her eyes meet mine again. She purses her lips, trying to figure out what is going on because I can’t seem to find the words.

“You’re mad that you bought the wrong size?” she questions.

I swallow thickly and find the words from deep within that I haven’t wanted to admit all morning. “I think I might be pregnant.”

While waiting for Lexi, I had nothing but time to think about how I’ve been feeling lately, and thanks to my friend Mr. Google, I check off quite a few of the early pregnancy signs.

The room is so silent you can hear a pin drop three floors above us. Her jaw drops, and if this were any other situation, I would have jokingly closed her mouth.

“Oh, okay. That’s…” If she’s at a loss for words, what does she think I’m feeling? Hell, I’m not even sure what I’m feeling.

Lexi claps her hands together and stands before helping me rise. “Okay, first things first, let’s go get some pregnancy tests. That will clear it all up. If it’s negative, maybe you just happened to miss it from all the stress you’re under. It’s happened to me before.”

“And if it’s positive?” I look up at her, nibbling my bottom lip. While part of me prays that it is negative, another part of me, maybe call it my intuition, tells me I already know the outcome of this situation.

“Well, if it’s positive, we’ll take it from there. Come on, let me get you situated on the couch, and I’ll run down to the corner store and grab some tests, okay?”

I allow her to escort me to the couch and wrap the Willow Creek University blanket around my shoulders.

She cups my cheeks to bring my attention to hers. I hadn’t realized I was staring at the floor in shock.

“Did you hear me? I said I’d be right back, okay?”

I nod and stare back out into nothing, ignoring the TV that now has my favorite ’80s movie playing. Not even Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall dancing around a shopping mall after hours can knock me out of this haze. I’m pretty sure I look as shocked and as uncomfortable as he did when he first discovered a mannequin having come to life.

What the fuck am I going to do?

* * *

One word taunts me as I stare at the twelve rectangular sticks sitting on the bathroom counter in front of me. Pregnant.

Expecting.

With child.

A bun in the oven.

Lex wasn’t sure which one to buy, so she bought all the ones that the little convenience store down the street had.

My eyes travel over each of the sticks, but the one on the end catches my attention. “Not pregnant.”

“Okay, so there’s one negative. Maybe I’m not pregnant.”

“Oh shoot, sorry, that one was mine. Sorry, I just wanted to make sure they all weren’t broken, just saying pregnant, so I took one myself.” She picks up the stick she peed on. “Phew, good to know I dodged that bullet.”

I glare at her in the mirror.Really, Lex?

She looks up, feeling the holes I’m currently burning into the top of her head. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She tosses her stick into the trash can and joins me by my side. Lexi places her arm around my shoulder. “Welp, I think it’s safe to say you’re definitely pregnant.” She spins, resting her lower back onto the counter. “So, I don’t want to be an asshole, but do you know who the father is?”

“Wow, Lex, way to make me sound like a whore.” I begin gathering up the tests off the counter and toss them in the trash.

A gentle tug on my arm stops me from continuing to clean up.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that. I just mean that you like to live a—” She purses her lips. “—a frivolous lifestyle.”That’s her polite way of calling me a whore.“I mean, it’s not like you’re anywhere near as bad as Asher or anything.” She laughs, and I must either flinch or make a noise when she sayshisname that it silences her.

She scrunches her eyebrows together, and her green eyes are trying to read me like a children’s book.

I make a quick escape from the bathroom, but she doesn’t let me get far because she’s hot on my heels.

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