She's standing at her kitchen island nursing a cup of chamomile when knuckles wrap against her door. Ignoring the alert on her phone indicating her motion activated door cam has been activated she glides towards the portal of entry in her fluorescent pink unicorn slippers, and robe. Unlocking the deadbolt, she pulls the door towards her, and Luke enters her apartment. He holds out a white paper bag which is folded at the top. He smirks at her and waves the bag in her direction.
"I brought soup," he offers her a toothy grin.
"You can put it on the counter," she responds in an uncharacteristically dull tone.
He furrows his brow, "You don't look sick."
"Looks can be deceiving," She tilts her head.
"Perhaps you're just not chicken noodle soup sick?" He posits with a furrowed brow.
Penelope motions towards the barstool. "I think you should have a seat."
"Why do I suddenly get the sense that I'm being called into the principal's office, Penelope?"
She taps her unpolished fingernails against the surface of the countertop. "I've made a decision."
"Why are you being so serious? It's kind of freaking me out, if I'm being honest."
"The pattern between the two of us really has to come to a conclusion."
He smirks, "Because," he gesticulates to himself, "all of this has you feeling some kind of way?"
"What started out as some harmless flirting, and led to what I would like to think was a coping strategy, just isn't going to work anymore."
"Because you're worried that someone will find out about the whole friends with benefits dynamic that we have going on here?"
"At some point we have to be truthful about it."
He furrows his brow, "I'm confused. First, you start off by saying we can't do this anymore, and then you follow it up with we have to be truthful? I thought half of the fun of all of this was the risk."
"It's not fun for me anymore," she replies in a somber tone. The room falls silent.
He swallows hard sensing the steadfastness of her tone. He scrutinizes her facial expressions, and body language in an attempt to read her. Aside from the unicorn slippers on her feet she's far too serious. Tucked into the slippers is a pair of navy blue ankle socks. He combs the recesses of his mind to recall if he's ever seen her in lounge wear. Her grey athletic pants have wide legs, and lack even the hint of a bedazzle, or sparkle.
A navy-blue loose fitting t-shirt ties the ensemble together without a single pattern, or hint of flare. His eyes wander to her face which doesn't have a trace of make-up on, even her signature lip gloss. As he listens to her inhale, and exhale it hits him that her cheeks are red from crying. Her hair is pulled into a simple ponytail, with a simple elastic band, and no bows, clips, or accessories. Her beautiful brown eyes refuse to meet his glance. She wears her contacts, instead of glasses that add flair to any look.
"Two sick days in recent history? What is really going on here? You look like you've been crying. Is this really about us, or is there something else going on?"
"Luke we never should have gotten ourselves into this."
"I can respect that you feel that way. We don't have to continue. We can both just go back to holding the line at merciless teasing."
Her arms fold across her chest, "And if the bell could be un-rung, I certainly would agree to that arrangement."
"Are you upset with me?" His brow furrows.
"I think that is a fair assessment," she nods as she stands before him with her arms folded across her chest.
"Can you help me understand why? I seem to recall that I did not initiate this."
She pulls open the junk drawer. Her fingers grapple inside to retrieve something. She slides the item across the table to him. Her hand obscures the object.
"You didn't. Unfortunately, I am now in territory that I never intended to be in."
"What are you talking about, Penelope?"
She retracts her hand. Luke's glance shifts downward. His eyes widen. "What's this?! Why are you showing me this?"
"It is exactly what it looks like, Luke. I am trying to be a responsible adult, here. It was information that seemed pertinent to share with you."
"Where did you get this from?"
She shakes her head, and scowls, "I had a doctor's appointment."
He rubs his flushed cheeks, "I'm feeling a little hot. Is it hot in here?"
"It's not."
He swallows hard, "I am having a hard time processing what you are trying to tell me."
"It is very simple A plus B apparently equals another partially gestated human being."
"Huh?"
"I am pregnant."
"Nah," he shakes his head.
"Yes," she nods.
"Is this some kind of joke? You're just messing with me, right? I mean it would take you ten seconds to use AI to throw this picture together."
She rolls her eyes, and pulls the drawer open again. She pulls out a white bottle, and rolls it across the counter to him. He catches it just before it rolls off onto the ground. He reads her name on the label of the prescription vitamins.
"This isn't a joke. I am not trying to be funny. This is very much real."
"Are you panicking, because I feel like I'm panicking a little bit."
"Of course I am panicking. I am intentionally childless. The world is a horrifying place," she answers as her palms begin to sweat.
"How did this happen?"
She shrugs, "All I can figure is that the universe has a very twisted sense of humor."
"Are you happy about this?" Luke queries.
"To be honest, I am not thrilled. This really is not something that I have ever wanted."
"I wish I had the right thing to say."
"There is no right thing to say, Luke. This shouldn't be happening for so many reasons."
"We may not be able to manage those reasons, or our current feelings. Let's just discuss the current facts," he suggests.
She nods, "Sure. A few weeks ago, I thought that I had food poisoning."
"When everyone got sick from that late night take out?"
"After a day or two everyone else was feeling better, but I was not. I was still quite queasy. Then, one night I was going over my bank statements, and I saw the autopay for my gym membership, that I never use. I was thinking to myself that I should really cancel it. I was kind of laughing to myself that I didn't because I always joked it was how I would know if I was late, because my period always came around then. Then I started spiraling a little bit, because I couldn't actually remember any menstruation happening. Of course I am of a certain age, so it wouldn't be unheard of for things to be shifting gears. Of course, you know I am a woman of action. I simply marched myself to the car, and drove down the block to the twenty four hour pharmacy."
"Uh huh."
"A few minutes later I came home with some twizzlers, a bottle of wine, just in case, some apple juice, for some unknown reason, and half a dozen home pregnancy tests."
"Did you take the wine into the bathroom?"
"I did," she nods in confirmation, "because, I decided if all those suckers were negative, then I was going to drink the wine in the bathroom from the bottle, and go to bed."
"How did that work out for you?"
"It did not work out for me even slightly. After peeing all over myself those little plastic tests started lighting up all over the place. You know in modern times there is no room for question. A digital readout very clearly tells you what you want to know."
"And did you want to know?"
She shakes her head, "I did not want to know. I cried, and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up in the morning I thought it had all just been a dream."
"At what point did you realize it wasn't?"
"When I headed into the bathroom for a shower."
"I see."
"I called all over the place trying to get in to a doctor, but everyone was backlogged. It took a few weeks to be able to get in."
"Your appointment was today?"
"Yes, and they did in fact confirm that you, Luke Alvez, have succeeded in knocking me up."
"When?"
"You're going to love this. Based on their calculations this had to happen about the time we solved the circus spree murders."
He scratches his head, "That was a while ago."
"Yep, nearly three months ago."