Page 100 of Taming the Rockstar

“Um, we can go to my place I guess,” I say.

“Okay. Do you want me to drive you back to your car first?”

“Yeah, I’m feeling better now,” I say. It helps to at least have the pregnancy test in my possession, I always feel better when I establish the next steps.

“Okay, I’ll follow you back to your place.”

Allison tails me as I drive home and waits for me to punch the code into the gate. I roll up the driveway as the gate swings open.

When we walk through the door, Violet makes a beeline for me and nudges my hand with her nose. I scratch her ears and get her some fresh water.

Vince takes her to daycare during the day so she can socialize with other dogs when he’s recording and I’m working, she’s always exhausted by the end of the day. She harrumphs as I refill her water bowl and slurps up water contentedly.

It doesn’t look like Vince is home. His car’s not in the driveway, his combat boots aren’t strewn across the foyer, and there’s no half-crushed pack of Nicorette on the kitchen counter. I check my phone and sure enough, there’s a text from him.

Vince:Hey, Love. The recording’s going late tonight, but I’ll be home around 8ish hopefully. I hope you had a great day. x

Allison pokes her head into the kitchen, “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” I mumble. I grab one of the pregnancy tests out of the bag and lock myself in the bathroom.

Allison and Violet guard the door in tandem and I try my best to quiet my nerves so I can successfully comprehend the instructions and pee on the stick.

I set it on a wad of toilet paper on the bathroom counter and stare at it like it’s a bomb readying to explode. I gulp as I wash my hands. When I unlock the door, I nearly ram into Allison and Violet.

“Do you want me to set a timer on my phone?” Allison asks.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” I say.

“Hey, it’s a win-win either way, right? If it’s positive you and Vince get to be the coolest parents and then you can like, be retiring on a beach somewhere by the time you’re fifty and everyone else from high school is wrangling their kids. If it’s negative, then, like, it gives you and Vince the space to discuss when you want kids.”

“Ugh, you’re right,” I say. I lean back against the wall and slink down onto the floor.

Allison hugs me and Violet rests her head on my lap. I let the two of them comfort me until the timer goes off.

“Moment of truth,” Allison says, pulling me onto my feet.

I grimace and pull her into the bathroom with me, where we are met with two positive pregnancy tests sitting on the bathroom counter.

The pink lines might as well be neon signs.

Vince got home a bit after Allison left, she had to be up early the next day because she was styling a photoshoot.

When I heard Vince’s key turn in the door, I jumped as Violet galloped toward the noise.

I was feeling cagey. I sat on the couch in the living room and tried to relax, but I couldn’t get comfortable. I tucked my feet under my legs and clutched a pillow to my stomach for some reason.

I knew it was irrational, but part of me feared that people could tell I was pregnant though I’d only known for roughly three hours.

I wondered if I looked different; I certainly felt different and the exhaustion and inability to keep down my breakfast made a lot more sense. It occurred to me that eventually, I would look pregnant.

My hand grazed my stomach, I didn’t know what I expected to feel, but it was flat as ever. I tried to picture mine and Vince’s child.

What would they look like? What would their personality be like? I was lost in thought, almost in a daze.

“Lyndsey?” Vince calls.

“In here!” I reply.

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