“You have someone special in your life, honey. I know you ain’t saving anything for a white dress. No use in pretending otherwise. And it’s only a test. Something that, till we know differently, is nothingbuta test that means nothing.”
“Or it could mean everything.”
She nods. “Yes.” No false truths with Nana. She lets go of my hand and stands. “Now, you going to pussyfoot around this all day, or are you going to go in there and pee on a stick to rule this out?”
Nana might not lie, but she also doesn’t sugarcoat anything either. I debate for half a second before the choice,as usual, is taken out of my hands. Nana rips open the box, reads over the instructions, then hands me the stick. “Pee on this end and set it on the counter. We look after three minutes.”
Three minutes. Seems silly that it only takes that long for your plans to change.
I stand and head to the bathroom, stick clenched in my hand. My legs tremble, but I have no clue if it’s from being sick, fear, or the possibility of something more.
Guess I’ll know in three minutes.
“What are you going to do?”
I shrug at Nana’s question. I’ve got no clue.
She glares at me. “Diana Jane, I did not raise you half your life to sit and watch you screw up the rest of it. I taught you better than that.”
I sigh. She’s right, but I still don’t know what to do.
I’m pregnant. I already know that I’m keeping it. That’s not the question. The debate is what I do about Karter. Do I tell him? Would he care? Would he even want this?
We’ve been dating for a few months now, but he has baggage, as do I. Hell, last time I was around his family, he got in a fight, and half of it was simply because I was there. The tension with me in his life isn’t good.
Do I love the man? With every part of my body and soul. When I said it the other day on the phone, I freaked out not because of the slip, but because that wasn’t how I wanted to tell him the first time. I wanted it to be as magical of a moment as my feelings for him are. Not something that we would forget about years down the line when someone asks who said it first and we can’t even recall. Or worse, we do, and it becomes a big joke that I didn’t mean it when I said it. Might not have been half as bad if he’d said it back, but all I got was a “Night, Babygirl” from him. Which is better than just a hang-up, I guess, but not by much.
The doorbell chimes, and I look at Nana with panic in my eyes. With a shake of her head, she goes to the door. Karter already said he was coming over with dinner for the three of us. It’s been an entire day, and while morning sickness isn’t restricted to the morning, I haven’t gotten sick again since earlier today. We’re still aiming for mild food, though, nothing too spicy—and nothing that could hurt the baby.
Being a nurse has benefits I never thought of before. Like knowing instantly what not to eat when pregnant and what to take to ease the nausea. Still, while I might have read all the books, done all the training, and watched so many other people have babies, having one growing inside me freaks me out a bit.
But in a good way.
I’d never really thought about being a mom, and now I’m going to be. I just have to decide whether I’m raising them like my mom did, single-handed, or if I’ll have a partner to help.
“Hey, ladies, how we feeling?” Karter comes into the kitchen, setting the sealed bags on the table before leaning down and kissing my forehead. Then he checks my temperature with the back of his hand. “You don’t feel hot.You doing okay? Should you be back in bed? I can carry you up and bring you some food.”
I grab his hand off my forehead and hold it close to my heart with a smile. “I’m okay. Feeling better, actually.”
“Good. I didn’t like not being able to see my girl.”
I beam at his words as he turns to grab the plates. He’s been here long enough to know where most everything is, and soon, with Nana’s help, the three of us are sitting at the kitchen table and dishing up food.
“So, Karter, how’s that kid of yours?”
I’m not sure who spits out more food, me or him. I kick her under the table, but Karter yelps in pain.
“Ow.”
“Sorry,” I mutter. “Foot slipped.” I lower my head, but not before catching Nana’s eyes and glaring. She plays innocent as she sips her water between bites.
“Good, actually. We had a bit of a breakthrough last night.”
I perk up at the news. “You did?”
He smirks and rubs a hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah. First time we’ve spoken to each other, just her and me, since I woke up. We both said shit that needed to be said without the pressure of others around. Think it was good for us. We agreed to start over, sort of.”
I reach out and grab his hand on the table, squeezing it tight before letting it go and picking up my fork again. “That’s great to hear. I’m happy for you. Both of you.”
