Lollipops are for Kids

Ch 4

The tour was taken to Phoenix after three concerts in California and the trio spent the time on the road hanging out. After Phoenix there were two shows scheduled in Colorado, one in Denver and one in Fort Collins. All the while both Miley and Oliver noticed Lilly becoming less interested in things that they were doing and less interested in conversations. When questioned about this behavior, however, Lilly simply stated that she just had a lot on her mind. Her best friend and her boyfriend were left to enjoy the tour by themselves or not at all, which seemed to sadden Lilly even more.

"Seriously," Oliver said one evening when they were alone in a hotel room in Houston, Texas, "What's going on? Is there anything I can do?"

"You've probably done enough, Oliver," she replied, a bit too harshly. Oliver was taken aback. Lilly could see the hurt in his eyes and tried to apologize, but he stood and made to leave the room anyway.

"Oliver…I missed my period last week," she told him quietly before he could go. He turned around to face his girlfriend very slowly. Lilly took a deep breath and met his eyes worriedly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. It was the only thing that would form in his vocal cords.

Lilly sighed. "Oliver…I might be pregnant," she stated, but then quickly added, "But I'm probably not…I'm probably just under a lot of stress and stuff and it's pushed me back a week or so."

"Are you…" he swallowed hard, the realization that he could very well be a father at this moment in time sinking in fully. "Are you going to take a test?"

"Yeah," Lilly sighed. "The next time we're near a store I'm going to get one of those 'ept' tests or whatever."

"I'm…um, sorry for earlier. I didn't mean to get all wierded out," he told her. "Does Miley know?"

"No. I haven't told anyone…well except for you."

"Ok…" His breathing picked up again. "I'm gonna go to the store for you, one of the guitarists has a car…his aunt lives somewhere around here. I'll borrow it and be back in an hour with the test."

"You're not going to tell people, are you?" she asked, slightly panicked.

"No. Lilly, you're my girlfriend and my best friend. I'm not going to let anything happen to you…and I'm certainly not going to go around bragging about possibly knocking you up." He paused to look her over. "Do you want anything else while I'm out?"

"Get me a bag of Oreos if you don't mind," she said, a little more relaxed that Oliver wasn't totally incapacitated by the news."

"Ok. I'll be back soon." He crossed the room to kiss her chastely, then left her alone to think about the seriousness of what was possibly happening to her future by being pregnant. She had no doubts that Oliver would go to school. Even if she couldn't go to college one of them would have to have a degree so they could make some money. She would simply wait a few years until the child was old enough to go to school to finish her own education.

Lilly mentally shook herself. 'I shouldn't even think like this,' she told herself. 'I'm probably not even pregnant.' But she couldn't help but worry what her mom and her friends would think. She was definitely not ready to be a mother.

Oliver broke into Lilly's panicked thoughts about telling her teachers that she would have to take maternity leave in her senior year after what seemed like only a few minutes triumphantly holding up a grocery bag. She smiled at him and patted the space on the bed beside her. "How did it go?" she asked.

"Well it was just as awkward as I thought it would be…several old ladies eyed me suspiciously and the checkout guy asked if I was sure I needed a pregnancy test, but I survived. I got the Oreos too."

Lilly laughed in spite of the pale color Oliver had become and picked up the box. "Apparently this test is effective from 5 days before the missed period…it had damned well better be effective 5 days after the missed period."

"Can we stop talking about periods?" Oliver asked. "It creeps me out a little."

Lilly smacked him on the arm and took the box into the adjoining bathroom. She opened it cautiously as though something smelly or dangerous might pop out at any second. The little stick that she was supposed to pee on looked neither smelly nor dangerous, however, and she unwrapped it from the cellophane sheet that it came in. Taking a deep breath, Lilly positioned herself on the toilet and tried to pee.

Five minutes later Oliver yelled through the door, asking whether or not she knew anything. "I'm still trying to pee on the stupid thing!" she yelled back.

"Want me to get you some water?" he asked.

"Oliver! I can't pee if I know you're listening!"

"Fine!" he returned and she heard him retreat to the other side of the room. After another five minutes he was finally able to empty the contents of her bladder over the stick, getting some of the yellow liquid on her fingers in the process. 'Well that's gross,' she said to herself, laying the stick on the sink so that it could marinade for a few minutes.

"Are you done yet?" Oliver asked through the door once again.

"Will you just let me do this?" she asked, impatient to find out the answer herself. She cleaned off her hand and waited impatiently for the machine to beep, indicating an answer. Finally the sound graced her ears and she felt her heart pick up. She took a huge breath and picked up the stick…