Chapter 12: Confusion
"…negative," Manny said softly. The tears were coming faster now. "Oh Emma," she said as she hugged her best friend. "I'm just so relieved." She sighed and sat down onto her bed.
"Are you gonna say anything to Chris?" Emma asked.
"No…there's no point to. I don't want to upset him or scare him away."
"Manny, he loves you. I don't think anything could make him leave you," Emma reassured her.
"But still, he doesn't need to know. You better not tell him either," Manny said. "If I feel like I should tell him at any time then I will."
"Well, this doesn't explain why you were throwing up so much," Emma said.
"Maybe I have a stomach bug or something. Jayden was sick that day I stayed home with him."
"But you weren't," Emma stated. "Were you?"
"Why do you say that?" Manny asked, getting nervous.
"Because Manny…you didn't go to school for the rest of the week. I talked to JT and he told me that you were with Mr. Oleander and that's why you didn't show up to meet me here. What happened in there?"
"Nothing happened! Emma, look, I'm so sick of people asking me about all this crap that's none of their business. If you really have to know, all I did was help Mr. O put away stupid books on the shelves."
"Look, I'm only trying to be a good friend. Don't get so mad at me, I was only worried about you. I still am," Emma said.
"Well, I'm not the one having unprotected sex every night. Em, that's not like you at all. You aren't even bothered by the consequences," Manny said.
"You don't have to worry about me anymore Manny. This whole pregnancy thing really scared me. I've realized that I shouldn't be acting this way and I'm not going to have sex with Craig anymore. At least not until we get married, if we even do," Emma told her.
"I'm proud of you Emma Nelson. I'm glad that you finally realized that you don't have to have sex with someone to prove your love. I found that out the hard way with a lecture from Jason and Heather. You're so lucky that Joey never walked in on you guys cause he would have really flipped out."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Craig told me that he loves me so I'm sure that he won't care if we have sex or not. But I know my mom is gonna be really mad if I don't get home soon. I'm supposed to help her make dinner," Emma said.
"I'll try to call you later tonight. If not, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Bye Manny."
"Bye Emma," Manny said as she watched Emma walk upstairs. She heard her say goodbye to Heather and heard the door close. Manny flopped down onto her bed and picked up the phone, dialing Chris' number. She looked over and saw all the pregnancy test boxes and sticks on her desk. She walked over and picked them up, and threw them into the trash can next to the bed. She knew that she would bring her own trash out after she talked to Chris.
The phone rang seven times before Manny hung up. He must not be home, she thought. Great, now I have nothing to do all night. She finally decided to go upstairs and find something to do.
"Manny, dinner's in an hour," Jason called to her as she walked by the kitchen. "I'm making pot roast and mashed potatoes."
"Sounds good. I'm just trying to find something to do until then," she told him as she walked back to the kitchen's doorway.
"Why don't you call Chris and have him come over. He can stay for dinner," he suggested.
"I already called him and no one answered. But thanks anyways," she replied and went into the living room. "What are you doing until dinner?" she asked Heather.
"I have to clean up around here. This place is a mess," she replied.
"I can help you if you need me to," Manny offered.
"No, that's okay. But I'm sure the kids would love for you to play with them."
"I'll go upstairs and see," she said as she took Quinn from Heather.
"Thanks, that'll be a big help."
"No problem," Manny told her as she made her way up the stairs. She found Jayden and Caleb in their playroom playing with cars on a rug made to look like a town, complete with streets and buildings. "Where's Anthony?" she asked them.
"We don't know," Caleb told her. "He's hiding."
"Where is he hiding?" she asked.
Jayden shrugged his shoulders. "We were playing hide and seek but we got bored," he told Manny.
"So you just left him?" she questioned.
"Uh huh. We know that he's not in any bathrooms. He's a good hider," Jayden explained.
"Jay, you can't leave your brother like that. He's too young to understand that you're not looking for him anymore."
"He's two. Mommy said he's a big boy because he can go on the potty," Jayden said innocently. Manny shook her head at him and put Quinn down in her playpen in the room. There was a toy in it that when she kicked it, it played music. She loved it, so Manny knew she wouldn't get upset if she left her there.
The first place she looked forAnthony was Heather and Jason's bedroom. He wasn't under the bed or in their closet. The next place Manny went to was Caleb and Anthony's bedroom. She slid open their closet door and saw a pair of legs sticking out from underneath the clothes. Manny pushed the shirts and pants apart to see Anthony standing there crying. "What's wrong honey?" she asked him.
"I hide. I go potty," he said, pointing to the wet spot on his pants.
"Oh, it's okay. Your brothers didn't come get you and you couldn't hold it. It's not your fault. Come on, let's go get you changed." She said to him, extending her hand. He took hold of it and Manny got new pants and underwear from his dresser and led him to the bathroom.
"Hey Jason, can you grab me the trash can under the sink? I'm trying to clean up a little before dinner," Heather told her husband.
"Sure, here ya go," he said, handing it to her. Heather took the bag out of it and handed it back to him. She dumped the one in Manny's bathroom, and then went downstairs to her bedroom to collect that garbage. She picked up the trash can and almost dumped it, but something caught her eye. She saw two boxes for pregnancy tests, and each box had a used test in it. She threw one of them away and kept the other one.
Heather went upstairs and threw the trash into the barrel outside. Then she went into the kitchen and put the box in front of Jason's face. "We're gonna have to have a talk with Manny after dinner," she said to him, not very happy.
"Oh no," Jason groaned.
After dinner, Heather told the boys to go play upstairs for a little while before they went to bed. Jason dressed Quinn in her pajamas and put her in the playpen in the living room. Heather went to the top of the basement stairs and yelled down. "Hey Manny, we need to talk to you in the living room!" she called.
"Chris, I gotta go. Heather and Jason want to talk to me," she said into the phone. "I love you too, see you tomorrow." Manny hung up the phone and went upstairs. "What can I do for you?" she asked them.
"Sit down please," Heather said, pointing to the couch across from them.
"Can you explain this?" Jason asked, holding out the box with the pregnancy test inside. Manny's eyes widened when she realized what it was. Before Manny could say anything, Heather began to talk.
"Is this what you and Emma were doing after school today? I saw two boxes in your trash can, but I didn't look at what either test said. Now you can explain," Heather said, stopping and staring at Manny until she spoke.
"Emma and I both thought we were pregnant," Manny said softly, her eyes fixed to the ground. "But they were both negative. Chris and I used a condom, you know that. But Emma and Craig haven't at all. We were both late and we bought them but we're not pregnant."
"Why didn't you just come to us?" Jason asked. "You know that we're your guardians but we're here to help you out."
"I don't know…I was just afraid. I didn't even want to tell Emma but I had to tell someone," Manny answered.
"Is this why you threw up this morning?" Heather asked.
"I don't know now. The test was negative so I guess not, but I don't know what's wrong with me."
"Well, sometimes those tests aren't right. You're gonna have to go to the doctor as soon as possible to find out," Jason told her.
"I'm going to call Dr. Murray and make an appointment for tomorrow," Heather said, getting up to get the phone. "And Manny, remember that you can talk to us about anything…don't be afraid to just talk," she said before leaving the room.
"Why don't you go get some sleep? I know it's not very late, but you'll probably have a big day tomorrow," Jason suggested.
"Okay. Thanks for not blowing up and screaming," she said and hugged him. "Goodnight." Manny walked into the kitchen and Heather was just getting off the phone with the doctor. "What did she say?"
"Your appointment is at 12:30 tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to sign you out of school early. Manny, I'm going to have to call Emma's parents and tell them about this," Heather told her.
"No! You can't call them. Spike and Snake would kill her. I'll make her tell them herself. I think they'd rather hear it from her," Manny promised.
"Fine, but if I find out that she never told, I'm going to call them," Heather warned.
"That sounds fair. I'm going to bed now; I'm really tired," Manny said as she yawned.
"Goodnight Manny," Heather said and gave her a hug.
"Night," she replied and went down to her room. She fell asleep right away even though she was worried about the appointment.
