I wrote this in about five seconds, so it sucks. BUT WHOOO ONESHOT.
I am such a hypocrite.
Pregnancy tests are really lifesavers - you don't have to spend all that time and money on a doctor's appointment. But yet I hated them, because Seth and I had only been married for a year and I wasn't sure how he was going to take this.
"This" being the fact that a tiny thing - a baby - was peacefully residing in my stomach.
"Are you in there, Willow?" Seth asked, knocking on the door. Shit. I knew I shouldn't have taken this stupid thing at home. But then again, I hadn't expected him to come home this early - he, Quil, and Jared were going to the movies. I looked at my watch. Crap, crap, crap. He'd already been gone for two hours. So of course it was time for him to come back. How had I missed that?
"Yeah," I said. "One minute." I looked at the pregnancy test, that little pink plus sign staring me right in the eye. Mocking me. The longer I gazed, the queasier I felt. But these things could be wrong, couldn't they?
Couldn't they?
I didn't know what to do with the test. I had a paranoid feeling that if I threw it in the garbage or stuck it in the closet, Seth would find it. I panicked for a minute before sticking it down my bra - it was the only thing I could think of to do.
I opened the door and slid into the hallway, where Seth was. "Um, I'm gonna run down to the drugstore really quick to get some chips…do you want anything?" I asked. I couldn't look him in the eye.
"No thanks. Are you okay?" asked Seth, looking at me with such concern I wanted to cry. Stupid hormones. That is, if I really was pregnant.
"Yeah, fine." I hugged him but regretted it two seconds later, as my self-conscious self feared he could feel my nonexistent baby bump or something. Seth kissed my forehead. "I'll see you in a little bit, okay? I love you," I told him.
"I love you, too. So much." He kissed my wrist and held onto it, only letting me go after a long moment.
Once I got into the car, I put the seatbelt on and zoomed to the store. I got a bag of chips and ventured to the next aisle over. The pregnancy tests were all in a neat little line, one pink box after the other. I picked one up as my stomach did flip flops in on itself.
I brought my stuff to the counter.
"Hey, where's your bathroom?" I asked the cashier as soon as I was done paying for it.
He pointed to a spot behind me. "It's there, but out of order, 'm sorry to say."
Shit. "Thank you anyway," I replied, smiling sweetly, before walking out of the store. I grumbled to myself the entire way to Heather's house. The second I reached her front door, I flung myself through it. From where she was sitting on the floor and playing with a teething ring, Caroline reached up to me with her spitty fingers.
"Where's the fire?" asked a startled Heather from where she was making a root beer float in the kitchen.
"Gotta go!" I said back, and barged into the bathroom. It was true; I really, really had to pee. I slammed the door shut and yanked the pregnancy test out of the box, just making it to the toilet in time. Sweet relief.
The test still hadn't come up with a result, so I flushed the toilet and washed my hands while I waited for it. It was then that I remembered the test I'd stuck in my bra and I took it out. The plus sign was still there.
I threw it away.
Leaning against the bathroom counter, I stared at the new test and waited. A blur of pink started to fade into view, forming into a plus sign.
"Heather? Please come here," I called, my voice high-pitched and anxious.
She barged through the door. "What's wrong?" she asked. I waved the pregnancy test in front of her face. She remained indifferent for a second before saying, "Well, that is what happens after marriage."
"That's all you have to say?" I demanded.
"That's all I have to say." Heather put a hand on my stomach and grinned up at me, her expression slowly fading away. "Except for what about school? You're still a junior."
"I dunno. I guess I'll just go to school…like this. And when it's born, I…I dunno. Whatever."
"Well, congratulations! You're a mommy!" She smiled and gave my stomach a pat. "Hey there," she said to it. "This is your Aunt Heather. I love you so much, even though I found out about your existence about a minute ago. I can't wait to meet you!"
"Yeah," I said, and looked down at my stomach. I couldn't believe that there was a person, an actual person, inside of there. A happy tear rolled down my cheek at the thought, and it took all of my self-control to keep from squealing gleefully. "I can't wait, either."
--
How was I going to tell Seth?
I forced my shaking hands from the wheel and robotically moved out of the car. I wanted something unique, different from the usual "I'm pregnant" bomb, but I couldn't think of anything. I was spared any of that trouble, however, when a wave of nausea overcame me. I was about to dart into the bushes when it passed. False alarm. I cupped my hand under my mouth just in case, and after a minute, dropped it.
The first thing I saw when I came in was Seth talking on the phone. I kicked off my shoes as he put it down and turned to face me. "Hey," I said. "Who was that?"
"Oh, I was just ordering pizza."
"Aren't you full from junk food at the movies, though?"
"Nah. I purposely didn't eat anything because I know you hate it when I'm not hungry for dinner." He smiled lopsidedly. "What's up? You look worried about something."
"I'm okay."
"I don't know. You seemed to be upset earlier today and now…I mean, you know that if something's wrong, no matter what it is, you can tell me. Right?"
"Yeah, I know." Something you don't. I messed with my hands and noticed that my fingernails were impossibly short. I really needed to get out of this nail-biting habit. It was getting on my nerves. "I know, Seth. Thanks."
Trying to make sure there was no way for him to read my expression, I glanced over at a stack of DVDs piled onto the coffee table. Immediately a little cartoon light bulb flashed over my head. Of course. That was the perfect idea to tell Seth about…
I felt sick again and used all of my self-control to put a hand on my stomach from the discomfort.
"What time is it?" I asked in futile attempt to distract myself from it.
"6:57."
Damn, it was late. Where had the day gone? But then again, I'd woken up about six hours ago, so that was probably why it seemed so short. I'd been doing that a lot lately. Whenever Seth woke me up in the mornings for school, I'd beg for five more minutes, which would turn into twenty more minutes, which made me late. Of course, this was the story of my life, so I was pretty used to it.
The pizza arrived pretty soon, and I swear that I ate more than Seth did, for once. Afterwards, I suggested that we watch a DVD, and a clueless Seth obliged. While he was taking a quick shower, part one of my plan went into action: I got out a piece of paper and, with trembling fingers, wrote:
Seth.
Congratulations. We're going to be parents.
I signed my name, put a little smiley face, and slipped it into the DVD case, snapping it shut. By the time Seth had gotten out of the shower, the note was safely inside of the case and the actual DVD in the player - he had no clue.
Then I had to wait through the movie. I couldn't concentrate on it at all. I kept fidgeting; first I just sat with my hands in my lap, then I tucked my legs under myself, and I finally wound up with my sitting on Seth's lap, one arm around his shoulders and my head pressed against his own. This entire time I couldn't stop messing with my hair or biting my fingernails. All I could think about was that note.
It finally ended, thank God, and I unwound myself from him. "Hey, I'm gonna go get some water out of the kitchen…could you put the movie back in its case?" I asked. I was shaking like a ball of spaghetti running on a fully charged battery. Somehow, I stood up and forced myself into the kitchen, listening.
For a long moment, there was nothing but silence.
Then the disk fell to the floor and Seth ran into the room and his lips were on mine and his hands were in my hair and he was saying stuff so fast I could barely make it out, except for "baby" and endless gasps of surprise.
He eventually slowed down and grinned at me. "You're pregnant," he breathed, voice echoing with disbelief. "You're really pregnant!"
"Yeah, that would be true," I replied, and suddenly I was close to tears for the third time that day. I tried my best to keep them in, but I wound up bawling my eyes out. I was going to be a mom. There was a little baby in my stomach that was mine, that was my kid.
Our baby.