Page 9 of Baby for the Professor
Emily handed me a glass of water. "Don't worry, girlfriend," she said. "It could be, like you said, a stomach bug. It wouldn't be a big deal even if you were..." Her voice trailed off because she couldn't even convince herself.
"No, it will only be life-changing," I said, joking. "I probably won't be going to grad school anymore, and I'll certainly find a real job."
Emily chuckled. "Well, I guess we'll find out in just a minute!"
We lingered in the living room for more than ten minutes before I finally mustered my courage and returned to the bathroom with Emily on my heels.
My hand trembled when I picked up the stick, but I couldn't face it. I pushed it to Emily. "Why don't you check it for me."
"Okay," she said and took a look.
"Well?" I asked. "What does it say?"
"It says pregnant,” she whispered.
"What?" I cried out and stared at the screen of the digital test. PREGNANT. No mistake about it. Clearly written. No guesswork. No misinterpretation. Fuck.
I sighed and put the stick back into its box before throwing it into the trash.
Emily hugged me after we left the bathroom, and then we sat silently on her couch.
"Do you know who the father is?" she finally spoke.
"Does it even matter?" I asked.
"Of course, you've got to let him know."
"It's Jackson's. Kevin and I hadn't had sex for a while."
"It was my guess as well. Good then. Because I can't imagine you raising a baby with that asshole."
"Right," I said, even though having a baby with a stranger wasn't that much better either.
"You're going to tell Jackson about it, right?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. It's weird. There’s nothing between us except that one night. Well, we have the baby now, which is everything. Shit." I rubbed my temples with frustration. How did this happen? It was supposed to be the best night of my life, and now I wasn’t sure anymore.
"You should tell him," Emily said. "Maybe you will get to know him and even have a future with him."
"Cut it out, please." I squeezed my eyes shut. "Let me think."
Ten minutes later, I hadn't reached any conclusion at all, so I stood up to leave.
"Let me know whatever you decide to do, but there isn't any wrong decision, you know?" she said, doing her best to make me feel better.
I held her. "Thank you. I'll be fine. I promise."
I was driving home but exited the freeway and headed to Westwood instead. Emily was right. I should tell Jackson about it.
Although it was a one-night stand, he was still the baby's daddy and had the right to know. Oh God. I parked my car at the apartment's visitor's parking lot and entered the building when someone came out. I went up to the second floor and rang the doorbell.
While waiting, I came up with different ways to break the news to him.
Hi, Jackson, surprise! I'm pregnant. Hi Jackson, congrats, you're a daddy! Hi Jackson, you've got strong swimmers and knocked me up!
I cringed. What if he had forgotten about me? It was a one-night-stand, after all. I wanted to turn away, but then the door opened, and a girl about my age stood in front of me, looking puzzled. "Hi, may I help you?"
Shit.Who's that?His girlfriend?
