It had been two weeks and Val's moodiness hadn't changed at all. She was still easily frustrated and would snap at people for no reason at all. She would realize that she was feeling like that for no reason and would try to control her outbursts, but it just got harder and harder to do so with each passing day. She couldn't figure out what was going on, but when Mia had made a simple joke about her being pregnant, they had laughed, but the more and more she realized that it was a possibility, the more her laugh disappeared.
She thought about the last time she had her menstrual cycle. Even on the birth control that she was on, her period was regular and started literally on the same day every month. She could set her watch by it. In light of everything that had been happening, she had forgotten about the dates and as it turned out she was about a week late.
Mia had dragged Val and Letty out of the house and drove them to the nearest store to pick up a couple pregnancy tests for Val to take. Val wasn't really all for the tests since all she needed to really do was draw some blood which was a lot more accurate than a little plastic stick, but she went along with it anyways. Val had thought back to the day whenever she and Mia were walking up and down the aisles of a grocery store looking for the pregnancy tests for Mia whenever she had found out she was pregnant with Jack.
When Mia, Letty, and Val located the pregnancy tests, she looked around for the right pregnancy test.
"Mia, you're paying for the label," Val reprimanded.
"Only cheapskates say that," Mia countered as she reached in a pulled three pregnancy tests off the shelves. She handed one to Letty and one to Val. Letty shrugged her shoulders looking down at the little box then looked to Val.
"What do you think?" Letty asked Val.
"I think I want to disown my sister," Val said handing the box in her hand back to Mia. Letty laughed. "But for right now this is going to have to do."
Now they were back at Luke's house since there was hardly anything left at Val's. She had began packing everything up so it would be out of the way whenever she and Luke found a new place together. They had looked at a couple houses that they were a little interested in, but there wasn't anything that really caught their attention. The only place that Val really liked was a two bedroom, and a two bedroom was simply out of the question.
Letty and Mia flanked Val as she stared down at the paper bag the pregnancy tests were in. She bit her lip in anticipation. She had a ringing in her ears. Her palms were sweaty. She felt as if her core temp was through the roof, but her skin felt like ice. Her heartbeat was quick and hard.
"Do I take them now or do I wait for Luke?" she asked to whoever had the right answer. Luke was gone for the day at work and Sam still had three days left in school.
"I took the tests without Brian there then surprised him later," Mia said crossing her arms. Val looked to Letty to get her advice. Letty held her hands up defensively.
"Hey, I don't have any say in this. I'm not a mother," she said. Mia and Val crossed their arms.
"Well, if you thought you were pregnant, would you tell Dom, then take the tests with him or would you take the tests then tell him?" Val asked.
"I think I would tell him then take the tests. It would be too nerve wracking for me to take the tests alone," Letty reasoned. Val sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.
"This isn't really all that helpful, guys. I've got one yes and one no. We need someone to be the tie breaker," Val said wanting to just blow her brains out and get it over with. Mia let out a dreamy sigh catching Val and Letty's attention. She had a small smile gracing her lips and a sparkle in her eye as her mind drifted elsewhere.
Letty and Val exchanged looks of curiosity, then focused on Mia. She blinked a couple times then seemed to come to. The smile remained on her lips as she gazed at the two women to her left.
"Sorry, all this baby talk is making me catch a fever," she said simply. Val shook her head.
"You're still not helping," Val observed.
"Well, what do you think you should do?" Letty inquired. Val sighed leaning her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands. She let out a long, loud groan. Mia leaned her back against the edge of the counter.
"Oh, quit being dramatic," she complained. "Listen, you're a nervous wreck. Why don't you tell him first, then take the tests? That may be better for the both of you." Val sighed letting her hands drop to the countertop. She reached for the bag and took a peek inside. Sure enough there were still three boxes inside.
"But what if it's negative?" Val asked in a small voice. Mia sighed then wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
"Then it'll be positive somewhere down the lines, but for now, there's only one way to be sure," she said putting her hand on the bag for emphasis. Val sighed one more time then ran her hands over her face a couple times.
"I don't see why you would want to be pregnant by Luke," Letty thought out loud. "That baby would be like fifteen pounds." The three laughed together.
Luke was home roughly around three hours later with Sam. Sam dropped her book bag in her room before running into the kitchen. She was vibrating with excitement. She had claimed that tryouts for soccer had been announced at school that day and when Luke had stopped by to pick her up, he signed her up. She ran out the back door claiming she was going to practice.
When Luke entered the room, Val felt her breath catch. Her heart stopped beating. She attempted a swallow on her suddenly dry throat, but nothing happened. She froze. She felt Luke's hand on her arm. Her eyes darted to his.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he studied her.
"Yeah," she squeaked. "Yeah, I'm fine." Luke narrowed his eyes as if he didn't believe her. Val broke eye contact with him and bit her lip.
"Val?" Luke said with a cautious tone. Val sighed and pushed away from the counter. She walked passed Luke tugging on his hand as a way of telling him to follow her. She was certain her voice would fail her if she tried to speak. She was worried of how he was going to react. They hadn't been trying for a baby though they weren't taking any extra precautions to prevent it other than Val's birth control and birth control was only so effective.
She closed the door once they were in the bedroom and took a deep breath before turning back to Luke. He stood next to the bed studying Val as she wrung her hands together. She bit her lip and looked away from him.
"What's going on?" Luke asked still cautious.
"I'm…" she started, but her voice caught in her throat. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried again. "I'm… late." As soon as the words left her mouth, her whole world froze. She waited for Luke's response, but it seemed as if hours had passed. Luke narrowed his eyes and tilted his head a little in confusion.
"For?" he inquired slowly. Val bit her lip and met his eyes. She walked passed him and made her way into the bathroom. She opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out the paper bag filled with her pregnancy tests. She took the back out into the bedroom and handed the bag to Luke. He watched her curiously for a moment before opening the bag. He reached in and pulled out one of the boxes. He stared at the box for a moment before he slowly sank onto the edge of the bed.
"How late are you?" Luke asked still staring at the box. Val leaned against the dresser and gripped the edges so tight her knuckles were white.
"Just by a week or so," she said in a quiet voice. A silence fell over the both of them. She held her breath waiting for Luke to react. Would he be mad? Would he be happy? She wasn't even sure how she felt about the situation. She wanted a baby sure, but if Luke was going to be mad at her for being pregnant, then she wasn't sure if she wanted to be. She couldn't think of any reason why he would be angry with her, but that didn't stop her from feeling like that. She didn't want him to be angry with her. He knew she wanted to have a baby and it wasn't like she was trying to get pregnant.
"Do you think it's time to take one of these?" he asked holding up the box for emphasis. She shrugged.
"It just depends on when this happened," she paused for a moment. "If this happened." She paused again for a moment wondering what she was going to say next. "I can take them now or we can wait." Luke sighed finally breaking his sight from the box in his hand. He discarded it on the bed next to him then ran his hands over his face with another sigh. He slouched forward placing his elbows on his knees and stared at the floor.
The only thing that Val could hear was her heart thudding in her chest. She felt as if she was ready to go into a panic attack if Luke didn't say something soon.
She grew tired of waiting so she stepped closer to him in hope of catching his attention. He raised his hand as she got within arm's reach and rested his hand on her waist. His eyes remained on the carpet in front of him as he guided her to stand between his knees. She rested her hands on the back of his neck and let her nails tickle his skin.
His grip was tight on her waist, but not to the point to where it hurt.
"We'll wait until after Sam goes to bed before you take the tests," Luke finally said after an eternity of silence.
"Okay," Val whispered. "What would you like for dinner?"
They had waited an hour after they had sent Sam off to bed before Val and Luke disappeared within their bedroom. Val had several bottles of water sitting in the bathroom just in case she needed extra help to use the bathroom.
She had chugged one of the bottles of water then plopped down on the bed next to Luke. He was staring at the television though it wasn't on. He was able to hide whatever emotions he was feeling, but Val was certain that she was visibly falling apart. Samantha had provided an efficient distraction for the most part of the day.
Now it was just them passing the time while they waited for Val's bladder. She sat in silence for a moment then her patience wore out.
"So, what happens if it's positive?" she asked quickly.
"Then I guess that means your pregnant," Luke said simply. Val huffed and crossed her arms.
"You know what I mean, Luke," she said in a flat tone. Luke sighed and finally decided to look at her. He sat up a little in the bed with a sigh.
"What do you want me to say, Val?" he asked. Val went to answer him, but she stopped herself. She looked down at her hands and wrung her fingers together.
"I don't know," she admitted. She watched as Luke's hand covered her own. He pulled her until she was straddling his hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his. Val let her eyes close and she took a deep breath. "Are you mad?" Luke placed his hands on her waist and buried his face in her chest.
"No," he said in a low voice.
Val wrapped her arms around him tightly. She felt so many different things that they all muddled together in a dull wave of nothing. She could feel the excitement of the knowledge that there was a possibility that she was pregnant. It was something that she had wanted for so long that she couldn't help but feel a little excited. She was also terrified from the ordeal. If she was pregnant, would she be a good mother? Would the baby like her? There was also the underlying fear of the test coming up negative. She was worried that Luke didn't want her to be pregnant and everything would fall apart because she was pregnant.
"I love you," she whispered. Luke wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. The urge to use the bathroom hit her in that moment. She slid from his lap slowly. She placed her hand on his cheek and let her fingers brush along his skin until he was out of reach. She grabbed one of the pregnancy tests and entered the bathroom.
Once she had done what she needed to, she placed the strip on the bathroom sink and flushed the toilet. Luke opened the door slowly and stepped in. Val watched the clock that she had brought in from the kitchen. She bit her lip once time was up and looked to Luke.
"Are you ready?" she asked. Luke swallowed hard and nodded his head. Val grabbed the test of the counter and looked at it. She frowned and let out a disappointed sigh. She threw the plastic strip in the garbage. "It's negative." Luke reached out for her, but she brushed past him. Luke watched her leave the bedroom.
Luke wasn't sure if he wanted the strip to come out positive or negative. When Val had mentioned she was late, he knew exactly what she was talking about, but he refused to believe it. He realized that there weren't really trying to keep Val from getting pregnant, but he supposed that's what he got for putting his faith in the birth control she was on.
It was no secret that Val had wanted to have a baby. When they were looking for a home together, Luke was saying that they could possibly move into a two bedroom since it was just the three of them, but Val crossed her arms and clicked her tongue at him then started fussing about how they weren't going to be able to have a room for a baby. They had never officially discussed having a baby together, but they both knew that it was on the table.
Luke had hoped that they would be able to sit down and plan a pregnancy and with the test coming up negative he supposed that they were going to be able to plan it after all. As the day progressed, Val was hiding her anxiety very well, though Luke knew that it was there. They had made their way out back with Sam and was helping her run some drills for soccer so she would be better prepared for her tryouts.
There were moments to where Luke's mind would wander off and he would start envisioning what Val would look like with her belly swollen with their child. He wondered if she would have that glow about her that everyone talked about when women were pregnant. He supposed he wouldn't have to worry about those thoughts invading his consciousness anymore since Val wasn't pregnant after all.
He let out a slow breath and rubbed the back of his neck. He left the bedroom quietly so he didn't disturb Samantha. He searched the house for Val, but didn't find her. He hadn't heard her car start up so he knew she was still there. He found her out back leaning on the back porch railing. She had a beer loosely between her fingers, but it was already empty. Luke figured that she had chugged it. She didn't acknowledge him as he stepped out.
He stepped behind her and rested his hands on her shoulders. He heard her sniff as if she was trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.
"Come here," Luke whispered as he tugged on her shoulders. She sat the bottle down on the rail before turning to him. He frowned. She had hot tears flowing freely down her cheeks. Her eyes sparkled in the dim light. She sniffed again as he pulled her against him. She let out a light sob as her fingers gripped at the fabric of his shirt.
"I was showing symptoms. I was moody and tired all the time," she said out loud, but Luke wondered if she was really meaning to. She acted like she wanted to say something more, but her voice caught in her throat. She sniffed once more before pulling away from Luke. She kept her hands against his chest. "I wanted it to be positive." Luke gave her a sad grin before kissing her lips gently.
"I know," he whispered and she buried her face in his chest once more. Luke really hated it when she cried. She was the type of crier to where once she started, she couldn't stop. Luke wasn't able to comfort her in that state just because the simplest thing would set her off again. He always tried to do something to get her mind off whatever it was that had upset her, but it rarely work because she was always thinking about whatever it was that had made her cry. Most of the time, it was ridiculous, but not this time. He wasn't going to be annoyed with her when she continued to cry like he would be before.
Eventually, he was able to lead her back inside and in bed so they could at least try to get some rest. Luke was sure she wasn't going to be sleeping any for the night, but he had to at least get a couple hours in. She had barely released him as they made their way into the bedroom and laid down. She had let him go long enough to turn down the blankets and crawl under then before she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.
It had taken her another three hours before she finally drifted off into a light sleep and Luke wasn't far behind her.