Apparently he couldn’t figure it out. When I got out of the bath, I had a million texts from him, Chandler, andEllion.
I put on my robe and went to the living room. “Do you really not know why I’mmad?”
He shook his head, clearly at a loss. “I really don’tknow.”
“You assume I'd take money from you. We’ve barely begun a relationship, we haven’t even had sex. Yes, I know we had sex in Alaska, but that was an impulsive, loneliness-fueled mess. We shouldn’t have done it. We haven’t had sex since we started our relationship.Yesterday. Yes, we’ve known each other for about seven weeks now, but that doesn’t mean weknoweachother.”
“I think there are extenuating circumstances that’ll push us close together faster than you might be comfortable with.” He stared at me as if I should know what he was talkingabout.
I threw up my hands. “What extenuatingcircumstances?”
“I got you something today while you were at work. When was the last time you had a period?” heasked.
“What the hell? Why would you ask me something like that? What, am I being too emotional so you assume I’m PMSing?” He was hell-bent on pushing me away. I was all for a passionate relationship with no boredom, but he was trying to offendme.
“I’m serious, Linda, when was your lastperiod?”
My calendar was in my bedroom. I grabbed it and took it to the living room to show him, but I ended up staring at it myself. I should’ve had a period two weeks before. “Oh myGod.”
“What’s your sense of smell been like?” heasked.
I pondered his strange question. “There have been a couple of times that patients had strong body odor the past week or so that bothered me, but that happens sometimes.” No way was heright.
“How many mornings have you skipped breakfast lately?” he asked. He was starting to sound reallysmug.
I didn’t answer him. He had to bewrong.
“And you’ve beenemotional.”
“You bought me something today?” Iasked.
He walked into the spare bedroom and came back with a two pack of pregnancy tests. “I’ve been through this twice. Amanda always had to take more than one test before she believed it.” He handed me thebox.
I stared at it, unwilling tomove.
Finally, Griffin took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Go take the tests. Both ofthem.”
“I’m on the birth control shot,” I argued. “And we used acondom.”
“Maybe it’s not mine. Did you use a condom every time with Chandler andEllion?”
I blushed. “Yes.” I shuffled my way to the bathroom while he waited in the living room. Once I peed on the sticks, I laid them on the counter and yelled for him. “Get in here, I’m notlooking.”
He chuckled as he entered the bathroom. I stood in the corner, facing the wall. Of course I wanted children one day. I wanted children exactly one year after getting married. I wanted to get married exactly one year after getting engaged. And I wouldn’t get engaged until I’d dated my husband or husbands for at least a year. That meant I couldn’t have Griffin’s baby, or Chandler’s, or Ellion’s, for at least threeyears.
“Linda,” he whispered. “Look.”
I put my hands over my face and turned toward him. I split my fingers apart to peek with one eye, and he held both sticks up. They both had a bright pink plussign.
“I’m not sure about this, but I think the darker the plus sign is, the more of the pregnancy hormone you have in yourbody.”
As a nurse, I knew that. I nodded. More than likely I wasn’t pregnant with Ellion’s or Chandler’sbaby.
“I’ll get an ultrasound at work tomorrow,” I said. “Oh my God, it’s Friday. I’ll have to wait till Monday. What’ll I tell my brothers? What will I tell my mother? For her to be in such an unconventional relationship, she is going to flip that I’m pregnant and notmarried.”
Griffin pulled me into his arms when he noticed my panic. “This is a good thing, Linda. I’mthrilled.”
“It’s easy for you to be thrilled, you don’t have my mother. Oh my God, what about your parents? I don’t even know if it’s your baby!” I began to ramble. “I don’t even have anywhere of my own to live. You don’t have anywhere to live, we have to buy acrib.”
