Epilogue
WHITNEY —THREE YEARS LATER
My fingers drumagainst the countertop as I impatiently stare at the wall. I tried mindlessly scrolling through social media to keep my mind busy, but it was useless. I couldn’t focus on what I saw, so I gave up.
My eyes dart to my phone screen, where I watch the clock for the signal that enough time has passed.
It’s almost noon, which means Theo will be home for lunch any minute. Thankfully, Chase let me leave work after throwing up three times this morning. That was enough to finally spur me into action.
On the way home, I stopped at the drugstore and bought three packs of pregnancy tests. When I got home, I hurried into the bathroom and set to work.
This is only the first one, and the box said I had to wait a maximum of five minutes for results, but this has been the longest five minutes of my life.
Getting pregnant hasn’t been easy for me. Theo and I havebeen married for two years, and we’ve been trying for a baby just as long. After so many late periods with negative pregnancy tests, I started getting discouraged. This was going to be our last attempt to go about it naturally before we started looking into different options.
Having a family has been my dream for so long. I want it so badly that I don’t know how I will react if this test is negative, too. Theo has been more than supportive, but I know it’s weighing on him, too, not being able to help us achieve this dream.
I squeeze my eyes shut and pray that this time, I’ll finally be pregnant.
Finally, the timer on my phone goes off, and I jump up, grabbing the stick and looking down at it hopefully.
“Oh my god,” I whisper as I take in the results, staring right back at me from the pregnancy test. Excitement blooms through my chest right at the same time as another wave of nausea.
I quickly curl over the toilet and throw up for the fourth time today. When it’s finally passed, I sit back and lean against the cool ceramic of the bathtub. I reach for some toilet paper and wipe my mouth before dropping it in the toilet and flushing it away.
My hands feel clammy as I press them to my cheeks, taking deep breaths and trying to calm my racing heart.
Theo’s timing can’t have been better. I hear the familiarclickof the front door closing and the sound of Theo setting down his keys on the stand by the door.
“Whit?” He calls through the house. I can hear the concern lacing his tone. I was supposed to be in the city today to work with Chase at the main building, so I wouldn’t have been able to come home for lunch like I would’ve if we were at the satelliteoffice.
“I’m in the bathroom,” I call back.
His footsteps echo through the hallway into our bedroom, and then he opens the bathroom door. His movements are careful, and he slowly peeks his head in first, his eyes widening when he sees me hugging my knees to my chest.
Theo steps into the bathroom and crouches in front of me. His hand reaches out and cups my shoulder, then slides up to the side of my neck and my jaw. I look into his warm brown eyes and try not to immediately burst into tears.
His eyebrows are threaded together with that same concern I heard in his voice before I saw him. “Whitney, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I lose my battle against my emotions, and tears start to steadily stream down my cheeks. I wipe my face and shake my head. “I’m sorry.”
“Whitney,” Theo urges. He moves until he’s sitting next to me, pulling me into his lap and wrapping his arms around me tightly. “You’re worrying me. Please tell me what’s wrong.”
The soothing back and forth of Theo’s hand on my back just spurs me to cry harder. This is ridiculous. I know we should be celebrating right now, but the overwhelming emotions of how much we’ve been wanting this is too much for me to deal with.
Thankfully, Theo stops prodding, choosing to just hold me until my tears subside, and my breathing returns to normal. When I finally have a grasp on myself again, I pull myself out of his arms and stand up. I can feel his eyes on me as I walk over to the sink where the test is lying. I can’t believe he didn’t see it when he first walked in.
With the stick in hand, I sit down next to Theo again and hold it out for him, putting the results side down so he can’t see it.
Theo’s eyes widen when he sees the pregnancy test in myoutstretched hand. His gaze flashes to me warily before he takes it from me and flips it over.
There, he sees the second pink line, clear as day, right in front of him. He sucks in a sharp gasp and then drops the test on the floor before scooping me into his arms once again.
The gesture spurs more tears to fall, though this time, I know they’re out of joy rather than the overpowering emotion.
I wrap my arms around Theo’s back and hold onto him tightly. His shoulders shake, and it takes me a moment, but I realize that he’s crying now, too. We grasp onto each other, silently basking in the joyous moment.
When he pulls away from me, his warm brown eyes are tinged pink, and he wipes his nose while smiling widely.
