Page 41 of Accidental Wedding Crasher
MIA
Mia woke up feeling awful. Just awful.
Part of it was because of the kiss last night. What had she been thinking, kissing Evan? She knew they couldn’t have a relationship, but she’d let herself imagine, for a moment, that they could. Now, it would be even harder to say goodbye to him at the end of the week. And offering to be his fake date for more weddings? What kind of idiocy had that been? Seeing him again after this week would mean prolonging the ache she felt when he was nearby but not really with her.
The other part of it was physical. Maybe all the olive oil yesterday hadn’t agreed with her. Mia raced to the bathroom within moments of waking up and knelt on the cold tiles, throwing up. Afterward, she felt dizzy and terrible and barely managed to crawl back into bed. She was alone in the room. Evan must have gone somewhere else, to work. That, at least, was good. She didn’t want to face him right now while she was tired, and her stomach ached, and she was confused.
She sipped a little water and ate one of the crackers she’d brought, hoping it would quell her nausea. There was no wayshe could have the stomach flu on the big wedding day. Apart from Evan, she cared about his family now, too, especially Luka and Sarah. She didn’t want to let them down by missing the ceremony.
Feeling a little better after the water and crackers, Mia managed to crawl back out of bed in time to hear a knock on the door. Her heart skipped a beat. Was it Evan?
Don’t be ridiculous.
She went to the door and opened it to find Sarah on the other side. She wore a purple tracksuit and had her hair in a bun. For now, she wore no makeup, but her blue eyes were sunny, and she looked fresh, happy, radiant — very bridal.
“Mia!” Sarah beamed, then her smile fell as she swept a gaze over Mia in her pajamas. “Are you okay? You look…”
“Terrible?” Mia filled in with a smile.
“No… well, maybe. Are you hungover?”
“No. I didn’t even drink last night.” Mia shrugged. “Bad luck, I guess. I must have eaten something.”
“Weird, no one else seems sick. Well, I wanted to invite you to a spa session with my bridesmaids and me,” Sarah said. “What do you think? We’ll get our hair done, do our nails, and hang out. I’m sure that’ll help you feel better.”
“I—” Mia cut herself off as cold realization struck her. She hadn’t been drinking, which meant this wasn’t a hangover, and she’d eaten the same thing as everyone else, but no one else was sick, which meant this probably wasn’t food poisoning. There was only one other possible explanation for her sudden nausea. “Um,you know what? I have to meet Evan this morning. Sorry. But have fun!”
“Oh, okay. Feel free to come by later if you have time! We’ll be in the spa area.”
“Thanks.” Mia managed to keep smiling until Sarah left. Once she was alone, she closed the door and sank onto the bed, her mind racing. It had been a while since she’d had her period. More than a month. Almost six weeks, in fact, before the wedding in Napa Valley. And now she was nauseated.
Could I be pregnant?Mia could barely even consider the possibility. It felt too unreal.
She’d always wanted to be a mother. There was a warmth in her heart, even now, at the thought of having a baby. Yet having a baby with Evan would be a disaster. He didn’t even want a girlfriend, so there was no chance he’d want a child. Worry lodged in Mia’s stomach, twisting her insides.
Calm down. You don’t know anything yet.Mia took a deep, slow breath and got to her feet. She was in rural Italy, and she needed a pregnancy test. Right now. There was no way she could wait until she was back in San Jose to find out if she was pregnant or not.
Mia pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, tied her hair back into a ponytail, and took the steps down two at a time. She managed to avoid Evan’s family, apart from passing and nodding to one of his uncles. That was good. She didn’t want anyone else commenting on her pale face and tired eyes. She slipped out the front door and surveyed the road that stretched across fields for miles in both directions. There was a small towna few miles away that they’d passed on the cycling trip, and if she needed to, Mia would walk there.
The cycling trip! Hope surged as Mia looked around the grounds. After a few minutes, she found the bikes they’d ridden neatly parked in a shed. A sign on the door said that rentals under an hour were free to guests, so she grabbed a bike and a helmet and wheeled the bike onto the road. Swinging her leg over the side, she cast one glance back at the villa, hoping that no one looked for her and found her missing.
All the way into town, her thoughts swirled and recombined until she felt almost dizzy from anticipation. She barely took in the scenery on either side and was deeply relieved when she pulled into the small town. After a few minutes, she found aFarmaciaon the ground floor of a white stucco building and went inside. Luckily, pregnancy tests seemed to look the same everywhere, so she easily found a pink box with an image of a pregnant woman on the side and took it to the checkout. Her hands shook as she set it on the counter; this all felt very real.
“Grazie,” Mia murmured to the shopkeeper, handing over a few euros.
“Buona fortuna,” the shopkeeper replied, giving her a kind smile. Mia didn’t speak much Italian, but she understood that the shopkeeper was wishing her good luck. All the way back up the hill to the villa, she wondered what good luck would be in this situation, and she wasn’t sure. She pushed herself hard back up the hill until she was breathing fast. Luckily, her nausea didn’t stage a return, and she slipped the bike back into the shed unnoticed.
“Mia!” Luka waved to her from across the lobby, where he was playing pool with a few friends. Evan was nowhere to be seen, thank goodness. “Did you go for a bike ride?”
“Uh-huh, staying in shape and everything!” Mia said, which barely sounded like words. “Gotta go!” She waved and hurried off, wincing at her abrupt exit.
Back in her room, Mia went into the bathroom and took the test. She laid the plastic stick on the counter to wait for the two minutes the box directed, and pressed a hand to her heart, which was racing. Her knees felt weak, her hands were shaky, and her breathing was too shallow. Trying to take deep breaths, she rocked from side to side, her thoughts still spinning.
Then she flipped the test. A tiny plus sign stared up at her, clear as day.
She was pregnant.
To her surprise, all the nerves that had been swirling through her washed away in an instant. In their place was a quiet certainty and joy. This wasn’t how she’d planned to become pregnant. This wasn’t how she’d dreamed of being a mother. But she already loved the life growing inside her, and she would do anything to keep her child safe. She rested a hand on her stomach, her heart overflowing with love and happiness.I’m going to be a mother,she thought, tears forming in her eyes.I’m going to have a baby.
