The Test

I went to bed early that evening, but sleep escaped me. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, on the verge of either screaming or crying but too afraid to do either. If I was pregnant, what was I going to do? I counted back the days in my mind over and over again, constantly checking to see if I hadn't made a miscalculation. But the results came back the same every time. If I was pregnant, then that meant our stay on Chrono merited more than just amazing sex. Was it possible that whatever ingredient I'd put into that dinner had counteracted the effects of my contraception? But on the other hand, I didn't feel pregnant… did I? Oh hell, what did pregnant even feel like anyway? I was too young to be pregnant! I was barely in my twenties! It was all getting to be too much. In the end I decided to find my parent's car keys and go for a drive.

The old truck grinded nosily every time I changed the gears and was probably as old as me. One of the windows didn't close but that didn't bother me as I enjoyed the rush of air that blew my hair about my face. The rolling, green hills of the area outside of Fuchsia City were as endless as they were dark. I drove along the dirt road for an hour until I came across a truck stop which looked ancient and leaned slightly on an angle. Making my way through a sliding door that churned as it opened, I stood there and stared at the small rest stop that also passed as a grocery store.

"Hi there, can I help you, sweetie?" A lady perhaps in her sixties and lacking in the teeth department smiled at me from behind the counter.

I blinked and returned the smile. "Oh, just… browsing…"

The woman didn't say anything after that, she just gave me a look of concern and then went about cleaning her counter. I allowed myself to wander along the isles of the tiny store, my eyes taking in its limited and overpriced stock consisting of cookies, candy, bread and a fridge stocked with milk. I stopped at the pregnancy tests and for a moment watched them as though they held a weapon at me. Then, taking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and grabbed the nearest box.

I couldn't make eye contact with the woman at the counter who nodded knowingly when she saw what I placed on the counter. She quietly put the sale through and discretely handed me my purchase in a plastic bag.

"Have a lovely evening."

Throwing the shopping bag onto the floor of the truck, I chose not to look at it for the drive back to the farm. Then once I'd locked myself safely in the bathroom, I just sat there on the edge of the bathtub... staring at it.

"It's ok... you can do this, Delia." Several minutes passed and I took in a shaky breath, forcing myself to my feet.

I took the test... waiting for seemed like forever for the little blue strip to creep its way across the window. The instructions on the box told me a cross meant positive and a minus meant negative, unfortunately for me... neither showed. The results were inconclusive.

"Oh please don't tell me this." I found myself having to stop short of banging my head against the cabinet above the sink.

The box came with two tests, but I was going to have to wait another several hours before I could take another one. That was several hours of my lying awake and watching the clock.

I took myself back to bed, again fighting the urge to scream or cry. Wrapping my head up in the pillow, I curled my body into a ball and forced my eyes shut. I guess I didn't realise how tired I actually was... because it wasn't long before sleep caught up.

"Delia? Delia, are you in there?" I woke with a start to the sound of my sister banging a hand on my door. "Delia! Breakfast is ready! Everyone's waiting for you down stairs! It's almost time for you to catch your flight!"

I jolted upright, glimpsing the clock on my bedside table. I'd slept in by an hour!

"Ohhh! Ohhh!" Scrambling from the sheets, I tore about my tiny room, grabbing clothes and other items and throwing them into my suitcase. The place was a mess! "This isn't good!"

"Delia!" The door came open and my sister stood there with her daughter on her hip and a scowl upon her face.

"May, I'm late! I'm late! I'm going to miss my flight!"

"Delia! You still have time for breakfast!" With her free hand she grabbed me by the arm and hurled me downstairs.

My parents were at the table, greeting me with smiles that hid their sadness.

"Oh Delia," said my mother as May found me a seat and promptly shoved me into it. "Why do you have to leave so soon?"

I poured myself a glass of fresh milk and drank it almost religiously. Mum set a plate down in front of me piled high with her famous buttermilk pancakes, bacon and eggs.

"Don't worry, it won't be long before I'll be back for my next visit." I forced a smile.

"So I guess it just business as usual then, Delia," May copied my forced smile.

I knew what she was implying and I resented her for bringing back the thoughts from the night before.

"Business as usual." I simply nodded.

May's husband entered and took a seat at the table with a phone to his ear, "May and I will be stopping in Fuchsia for a few days before we head over to see you in Pallet... thanks Dad. I'll let you know when we get there."

He put the phone down and faced the remainder of the table, before acknowledging his wife sitting just next to him and lent over for a kiss.

"How is the Professor?" May was busy with juggling her breakfast and a child who seemed more interested in pulling at her hair. "Oww! Daisy, don't do that, it hurts."

"He's doing well. You'll be happy to know our offer for the house was accepted."

"Ohh! Great!" Giving up on her daughter, May handed her into the expectant arms of her grandmother before addressing the rest of the table. "We're moving to Pallet Town."

For the second time during my visit, the table erupted into excited cheering for the happy family. Already I could imagine their perfect little house in the country side where their two little children could grow up and live their lives knowing they had everything they ever wanted. And for the first time I could remember, I had to shake my head and remind myself that that sort of life wasn't something I necessarily wanted for myself.

After breakfast, I hurried back up stairs to finish my packing only to find myself in another face off with the dreaded pregnancy test. It was the last one in the box... and I desperately needed to pee. Grabbing the test, I forced down the nerves that rattled through my body and snuck into the bathroom. Closing and locking the door behind me, I set my mind solely on the task ahead and took the test...

With agonising slowness, the blue strip made its way across the window, bringing along with it a quick 'minus' sign. I took in a breath – a sigh of relief. It was negative... a false alarm... I was just late... that's all...

The thought had barely crossed my mind before I noticed the faint traces of another line that formed across the middle of the result; barely discernable but definitely there.

A tiny, faint positive.

I felt my heart race to a screaming halt and I had to double take. It was so faint. Surely that didn't mean anything, right? I quickly checked the instructions on the box in attempt to verify, only to find that a faint positive still meant it was positive. I was pregnant...

The world around me was suddenly spinning. Falling back into the door, I slid down it to the floor, unable to take my eyes off the stupid test – as if to will it to take it all back and tell me it was lying.

What was I going to do? I couldn't tell anyone. Telling my family would only break their hearts. But worst of all, what was I going to tell Giovanni? This had to be some sort of mistake! I couldn't be pregnant! Not now!

I could see it all already... the single mother living with a child in my tiny, one bedroom apartment. The extravagant gifts and devoted attentions of my lover now replaced with mere child support payments.

Unless I did something about it and fast, my life as I knew it was as good as over...

I arrived back to a dark and dusky apartment later that afternoon, dumping my bags on the floor the moment I got through the door. Exhausted from a mix of the travels and the emotional strain this news put on my mind, I took a moment to lean back on the door and catch my breath. Needless to say, the last thing I expected right then was to have a visitor. I'd barely had the time to adjust to the darkness that was my living room when I caught the figure sitting on a lounge chair, one leg crossed over the other.

"Oh Legendaries!" I let out a yelp and practically jumped six feet in the air.

There was no 'welcome back Delia, I've missed you', there was just silent deliberation. He signalled me to the couch across from him and I took no time in taking a seat.

"Is this your idea of some sort of a joke?" his hiss was low and dangerous.

I genuinely had nothing to say.

"Your way to ensure that you would always have your hand in my pocket?" He threw an open folder down on the coffee table, the results of my pee test plain and clear for everyone to see.

I immediately swallowed down the lump in my throat. He'd found out before I even knew!

"Giovanni," I said quietly... slowly. "This was never my intention, I swear."

"I provided you with the contraception necessary to counteract this sort of thing happening. And you very well knew what was required of you in this relationship."

"I know," I replied. "I... I honestly don't know what happened. I haven't missed a pill, I promise. You have to believe me. This sort of thing was never supposed to happen."

I watched the figurative toggles that ticked over in his mind. This was it... it would all be over. Things were now complicated.

"How long have you known, Delia?" he said more gently this time.

"This morning."

I couldn't look at him... hell I couldn't look anywhere. Suddenly all those feelings I'd forced myself to suppress at home came welling up and there was nothing I could do to stop them now. Dropping my head into my hands, I burst into tears.

I was vaguely aware of the defeated sigh that came from his corner of the room, and the fact that he took a moment to rub his temples before pulling himself from his chair and making his way over to me. He took a seat on the couch beside me and gently pulled me into a hug where there I grabbed him by the jacket and buried my shameful face into his chest.

"I don't know what to do, Giovanni. I'm so scared."

He murmured something under his breath as he wrapped his arms around me and rubbed my back.

"Either way, this is your decision to make, Delia. Whatever you chose to do, I'll..." he hesitated. "I'll make the appropriate arrangements. You've got a week to decide."

1 week later…

The yellow noodle hung from my fork, gently swaying in the light breeze of the air conditioning. Soft and somewhat slimy, it wasn't particularly flattering. In fact, it somehow reminded me of a grub… a grub essentially made of wheat flour, salt and water…

"Are you going to eat that or just stare at it all day?"

I snapped from my daze only to find Giovanni standing there in front of my desk. He had one hand in his pocket as he watched me with a careful eye.

"Oh," I blinked and put the fork down.

"I came to invite you out to lunch but I see you've already started." He glimpsed the time on his watch. "It's not even midday yet."

I gave him a half smile. "I know. I just really felt like noodles."

He raised an eyebrow. "Noddles with no form of flavouring?"

"It's the only thing I can keep down at the moment."

"Ah, I see." he nodded. "The morning sickness has started has it?"

Giovanni took in a weighty breath, the tension in the air so think one could have sliced it with a knife. Neither of us could really look at each other and yet we couldn't seem to look away either. Pushing away my plate, I attempted to get on with some sort of menial office activity as a distraction but Giovanni stopped me when he lent over and placed a hand on my paperwork that I pretended to read through.

"Delia, would you come into my office for a moment, please?" The tone of his voice eluded to the fact that he'd settled on a conclusion. A conclusion regarding us.

"Sure." Biting my lip, I kept my head low and my eyes trained on his ring laden fingers before pulling myself from my chair and following his lead through the double doors.

Giovanni's office at Headquarters was so much bigger than the one at the gym. Vast and empty, the walk to his desk seemed to take forever. Two walls were nothing but giant, glass windows looking out over beautiful, hilly woodland that eventually became the Viridian Forest. The carpet was royal red, the sort that made me want to take off my shoes and wriggle my toes in it. And then there was his desk which he now sat at… watching me. The frown on his face told me he saw right through me and my attempts to concentrate on everything but where it needed to be.

Persian made an attempt at jumping up onto his lap but he stuck out a hand and stopped him in his tracks.

Giovanni signalled me to a chair in front of his desk. "Take a seat."

I meekly obeyed and slipped into the soft leather of the seat.

Giovanni cut right to the chase. "It's been a week, Delia. Have you settled on a decision?"

"No." I said honestly.

Leaning his elbows on the arms of his chair, he pressed the fingertips of each hand up against each other in a gesture of contemplation. "I have the ability to make these things disappear," he said quietly. "Or if you prefer, you can keep it and I'll still make sure you're looked after."

For the first time I allowed myself to look him in the eye in an attempt to read him, but his walls were up and showed me no sign of what he was thinking.

"I don't know what to do, Giovanni," I finally admitted. "What do you think I should do?"

I hoped he would tell me he would fix this, and that we could go back to the way things were before. I wouldn't be so careless this time. I would live up to my side of the agreement and not broach the terms of our relationship, and never have to rely on him to clean up my messes ever again.

But he offered me nothing but choices. "The decision is entirely up to you, Delia."

"I don't think I can do this."

Giovanni leaned back in his seat. "Why?"

I swallowed the lump that sat in my throat, forcing back tears that seemed so bent on consuming me. I was so… confused. "I'm not ready. It's all happening so… fast. The responsibility of bringing up a child… alone."

Giovanni's face took on a look of distaste. "What makes you think you'll be alone?"

I couldn't stop the chortle that escaped the back of my throat. "I'm sorry Giovanni, but you're… a business man. I can't expect you to take on the responsibility of a family man when you have so much going on with work… with Team Rocket."

"Are you accusing me of not being capable of taking up the role of a father?"

"N… no that's not what I meant." I heaved a heavy sigh, my lip quivering and before I knew it I'd burst into tears. Digging my face into my hands, I attempted to find solace there but only found more confusion "This was not supposed to happen. You have to believe me Giovanni."

I don't know if it was seeing me like this or a part of him had come to empathise, but the high walls he always put up around him seemed to fall. A pained frown formed across this face. "I can see that now."

Giovanni pulled himself from his seat and rounded his desk. Approaching me, knelt by my side and gently pulled my hands away from my face so that all I could see were his big, brown eyes.

"Delia." There was genuineness in his voice now… warmth. "You are capable of many things. I've seen this in you and the way you carry yourself. I saw it when you stepped in for your father and took his place to come and work for me, I can see it now."

"You really think so?" I hiccuped and he smiled, reaching up a hand to cup my chin between his forefinger and thumb.

"These are qualities that I find exceedingly admirable in a woman. I've thought much on this over the past week and I've come to realise that they're also qualities that I would like to see reflected in our child one day."

The air seemed to leave the room and in that moment I found myself utterly dumfounded. I watched him pull the box from his pocket, unable to breathe… unable to move. I knew what was in it before he even opened it.

"Delia Ketchum," he whispered. "Will you marry me?"