“What?” My eyes flicked around the room, then up as if I could see my hair. “Is it my hair? I blameyou.”
“You’re beautiful,” he responded, the smile on his face unwavering.
I bite the side of my lip. Any compliment or praise has me gushing. My insides become playdough instantly.
Opening the lid, my mouth fell open, and I fell silent. On the cheese pizza, spelled out in M&Ms, wasWill you marry me?
Cooper stole the idea from my favorite movie,The Princess Diaries, but I didn’t care. I loved every second of it and felt seen. The chocolate candies transporting me back to our fake date, which he finally told me that following Fall, he considered a real date.
My gaze kept moving from the pizza to Cooper. He moved quickly around the counter. Next to me, he spun my chair to facehim and helped me stand up. Holding my hands, he got down on one knee and proposed.
Cooper stood and pulled a ring box out of his pocket. He must have slipped it in there while I was in the bathroom. He opened it, and again my jaw was on the ground.
My dream ring was there, reflecting the light from the pendants above the island.
Three…Two…One…
My timer goes off, dragging me out of one of my most beloved memories.
I open my eyes.
Two pink lines.
I’m pregnant. We’re pregnant.
This is not how I expected to start my bachelorette party.
Debatable.
My period is two weeks late, and for the past week, I have thrown up every morning. I thought it was our takeout from over the weekend—I told Cooper the chicken tasted funky.
There’s a knock on the door.
“Sutton, you in here?” It’s Elliot. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” My voice cracks like a middle schooler hitting puberty.
Elliot tries the doorknob. “Wanna unlock the door?”
I unlock and open it for her before tugging her into the space and relocking the door. She stumbles. Balancing herself, Elliot spins to face me. If there’s anyone who’ll know what to do right now, it’s her. I found her in a bathroom crying over a pregnancy test spring of our senior year.
Her gaze falls to the plastic test in my hand, then up to my face. A hand covers her mouth. “Oh, Sutton. You’re pregnant.” Elliot drops her hand, throwing her arms around me in a hug. “These are happy tears, right?”
I don’t answer, too stunned to speak.
Are these happy tears?
I think so. Cooper and I are having a baby. I’m ecstatic to be a mom and see him become a dad. But that was years down the road…
Or are these sad tears?
Impossible.
My brain fights with itself.
“Both.” Elliot reads my mind.
I nod.
