"Candace, are you busy today?" Stephanie sat on the corner of her bed, freshly showered but wearing sweats, "I need to talk to you, it's really important." That was the message she left on Candace's voicemail.
An hour later, there was a knock on her front door. When she opened it, Candace stood with her purse in one hand and a box of chocolate in the other, "what happened? You sounded upset so I brought you these. Don't tell me that guy dumped you."
"No, he didn't dump me. But I'm sure he'll want to after I tell you what I did." Steph closed the door and threw herself on the couch, "there's an abundance of food in the kitchen of you're hungry. He went shopping for me last Thursday. I came home that day we got fired and he was in here, eating. He bought me like two kitchens full of food."
"Oh really, well that was nice of him." Candace sat on the chair beside her, "so what's going on? Why's he gonna want to dump you?"
"Well, I had sex with him, like four times that night." She paused to think, "yeah, and he said he didn't have a condom, and I lied."
"Lied about what?" Candace leaned forward, "damn girl, four times? You guys must've been going at it like rabbits." She laughed, "how was he?"
"That's not the point, he was great. He asked if I was on the pill and I said I was. I turned it into a little plan, but I feel bad about it." She turned to her best friend and sighed, "if I got pregnant, what would happen?"
"What do you mean what would happen? You'd be pregnant. Then you'd be a mom, and he…he would be a dad. Stephanie, that's it, and you would be the mother of his child. What re you crying about?"
"It's wrong." Stephanie got up, "that was over a week ago. If I was pregnant, I could go take a test now right? Is that enough time?" She went to the kitchen, looking in her cupboards for something to eat.
"Let's go buy one." Candace stood up and grabbed her purse, "it's totally easy, you can by a regular one where you pee on the stick, or, you pee in a bowl put a stick in there." She seemed excited, "I know it's kinda like extortion, but think about this, if you get pregnant, he wouldn't just leave you. He'd stay with you if he's the right guy, and, if he's not the right guy, he'd leave, but you would get child support. It's a win-win for you either way."
"How can you think like that? I feel like such a horrible person." She sighed, "let's go buy the test. You drive so I can think about how I'm gonna deal with this. I need to consider how he's gonna feel."
"He's a guy, he'll be fine. You're the one who's gonna go through hormonal torture." Candace opened her car door and got in, "what are you so worried about? You'd never have to work again Steph, don't even have to think about finding another job."
The only thing she could think about was how exciting it could be for her. Candace was right, she wouldn't have to work anymore. She was gonna be just like her sister, that is, if she was pregnant. Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud ringer on her cell phone, "hi Paul." She couldn't help but smile.
"What are you doing later?" He asked. No hello, no how are you today, just angry sounding, "Stephanie?"
"Um, I'm not doing anything later. Why? What's up?" She bit her lip and looked up at Candace, "is everything okay?"
"Sure. We'll say that." He sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just been a really bad day. And you, you can make it better." He laughed, "I just saw you last night and I already miss you."
"Aww, well I miss you too." She played a little cute voice, "when can you come see me? I'm free almost all the time you know."
"Maybe I can get a lunch break. Are you home right now?" He sounded really irritated, "you sound like you're in a car. You shouldn't be driving on the phone you know?"
"I'm not driving. I'm in the car with my friend. Which answers your question, no, I'm not home right now, but I will be in a little while." She cleared her throat, "you sound really mad."
"Well, yeah, I kinda am, but don't worry about it. I'm being chased by the FCC for another small incident. It's not my fault. It's Earl Ardon's fault." He stopped, "I'll talk to you later about it. Comcast made a mistake, that's all."
"We can talk about it later, that's okay." She was grinning, "Candace and I are about to go into, a store," she stuttered, "I'll call you when I'm home, how about that?"
"That's fine, yeah. I'll talk to you then." He hung up without even saying bye. Stephanie put the phone in her lap and swallowed as the color drained from her face, "something happened today. I can't do this today. He's all pissed off at something."
"Just take the test today and then decided when you want to tell him. It's not like you have to tell him today or anything." They got out of the car and slowly went in the drugstore, "we're women, we can keep secrets."
Every word that came out of Candace's mouth made Stephanie feel worse and worse, "what if he's mad at me? I don't want him to be all mad at me Candace."
"He won't be. It was a double mistake, you said he stopped to ask about condoms and asked if you were on the pill right?" Candace seemed to know exactly where the pregnancy tests were, "well, what'd you say back? Did you answer understandably?"
"Um, I think so," she thought, "yeah, he asked if I was on the pill and if I trusted him. I said I was on the pill, completely understandably and audibly, and I told him I trusted him." She stared at the wide selection of tests on the shelf in front of her, "which one should I buy?"
"I don't know, the ones with the plus and negative signs are easy." Candace pointed out, "I've had to use one once." She waited impatiently as Stephanie made her choice, "this is exciting Steph, it would be really cool if you were pregnant."
"I'm not so sure about that." They went up to the front of the store with a two-pack, "I don't know how I'd tell him. It would all go back to that night."
"Yeah, well, everybody makes mistakes. Obviously, you two were so wrapped around the idea of fucking each other, nobody thought of what the consequences might be." It was the first normal thing Candace said all day, "I can't wait to actually meet this guy. I mean, you guys have only been dating for what? Like two weeks?"
"No, like five. We dated for two weeks before he left and went to Montana and didn't call me. He was gone for two more weeks, and it's been a week since he's been back. Five weeks. A month and seven days."
"Hmm. Five weeks and you might be knocked up. Actually, I'll be right back, let me buy you a gift, I need something for you." She walked away, leaving Stephanie with the cashier giving her a bewildered stare.
"Candace." Stephanie pleaded, "that's not necessary, if Paul and I need condoms, we will come buy some ourselves."
"Oh, okay, cause that worked last time so well. If you had had some, we wouldn't be here in the first place. Put these in your purse from now on." She walked away from paying the cashier and shoved the condoms in Stephanie's purse, "this way, whatever happens later on in yours and Paul's life, you'll be prepared."
"I though you said this was a good idea of I was pregnant." They went back to the car, "you are kinda right. I mean, he or his money would always be there for me. Like I want. I don't have to worry about bills. And I would be a mom, like I've always wanted." She continued to think in happiness as they sped home to take the test.