I ran to my phone to check my period tracking app and realized I was two weeks late. My chest tightened, and my breath came out in shallow rasps.
“You wouldn’t do this to me,” I whimpered as my hands went to my belly.
I’d wanted to have babies with James since the day Imarried him. I’d always wanted to be a mama, but not like this—neverlike this.
I raced down the stairs, and Honey ran after me, clucking nervously. After grabbing my purse and my coat, I slammed the front door and leaped into my car, taking off for town. I stopped at the first convenience store I could find and bought three pregnancy tests. Then I headed for Blessed Bakery. There was no way I could do this alone. I would absolutely break if I was pregnant with James’s child.
When I pulled into the parking spot, I growled when I saw the sign saying they were closed. It would have to be Maggie, then. I headed for home, and when I passed my little farmhouse, I prayed for the first time in weeks.
‘God, don’t do this to me. Please.’It was a silly, futile prayer, but it was all I had.
I pulled into Seth’s driveway and ran up the stairs to the garage with the bag of pregnancy tests clutched in my hand. I pounded frantically on Maggie’s door with tears in my eyes. But no one answered.
“Hey, Ella,” Seth’s voice called behind me, and I froze.
“Where is Maggie? I need help with something.” I spun around, clutching the plastic bag to my chest with unshed tears in my eyes.
He frowned at my appearance. I was still in pajamas, my hair was a mess, I wasn’t wearing make-up, and I was holding this plastic bag like my life depended on it.
“She’s at bridge club and won’t be home for several hours. Can I help?” He looked genuinely concerned for me.
I whimpered, slowly walking down the stairs as I handed him the bag. I couldn’t even say it out loud. I didn’t have the ability to even process this right now. I’d beenthrowing up for the past four days straight and hadn’t eaten much. I felt weak and emotionally in shock.
He took the bag from me with a confused expression and opened it, peering inside.
Then he looked up at me with so much compassion that I almost burst into tears. “Oh, Ella. Let’s go inside.”
My bottom lip quivered. “Don’t you have work?”
He was wearing gloves, boots, and a hat.
He took his gloves off and held out a hand for me. “Work can wait.”
I took it, my own hand shaking but finding strength in his as I blinked back tears. Then he led me to his house. We stepped inside as he took off his boots and his hat.
“Whatever this is, you are not alone. Okay?” he told me as he handed me back the bag. “I’ll be right out here on the couch, and Maggie will be home soon. I’ll text her right now.”
I nodded, tears leaking out of the corners of my eyes. I walked into the bathroom that was just off the hallway and unwrapped all three tests. Then I peed on all of them at once. I didn’t want there to be any false positives. After recapping the pee sticks, I brought them out to Seth, who was sitting on the couch in the living room. He took them from me, set them on the coffee table, and then patted the cushion next to him. I sat down, rubbing my hands nervously on my pajama pants.
“If this is weird for you…you can go, and I’ll wait for Maggie,” I told him, but I desperately didn’t want to be alone for this news.
He’d lost his wife and his child, and I wasn’t sure if this was bringing anything back for him.
He shook his head. “I’m fine. Worried about you, though.” He was a sweet guy.
“I’ve been throwing up in the mornings the past few days, but I could just be fighting a bug,” I told him.
He nodded as if that was perfectly reasonable, and I felt a little better about this.
“AndI read online you can be late when you’re extremely stressed, which I have been.”
Again, he nodded, listening.
I sighed and then laughed. “This is probably nothing, and I’m going to embarrass myself.” I put my head in my hands.
“Ella.” Seth’s voice called to me, and I looked up at him.
His face was void of any emotion as he flicked his eyes to the tests. I followed his gaze.
