A routine endocrinology appointment ends with me holding a positive pregnancy test.
Check.
A conversation with my baby’s daddy turns into an unexpected marriage proposal—and he refuses to take no for an answer.
Check.
One minute, Heath was taunting me for showing up on his doorstep, and the next, he was down on one knee, asking me to be his wife as casually as if he were ordering a cheeseburger with a Coke and a side of fries.
I want to be mad about it, I really do, but I can’t stop thinking about how he claimed the baby without question. It’s more than my own dad ever did for me, and watching Heath ready to step up in the most permanent way possible is stupidly attractive.
A small, irrational part of me is also jealous of the speck growing inside me for being the reason he made such a grand declaration and proposed. It was strictly about doing the right thing, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it.
As a little girl, I never dreamed about white dresses or a big fairy-tale wedding. I’ve been in survival mode for so long that I’ve never had the luxury to picture anything beyond a short-term fling or to imagine what it might be like to be someone’s first choice. Even so, thinking about accepting a marriage proposal built on obligation rather than love is harder than I expected, even with someone as intolerable as Heath.
I’ve just gotten back to the shop, and while I should be labeling new products and prepping the storefront for tomorrow, I decide to text the girls for some moral support instead.
Backroads & Bad Decisions Group Chat
Charlie: SOS
Birdie: Where’s the animal in need of rescue?
Charlie: Huh?
Birdie: You just used my code for emergency rescue missions.
Charlie: It’s time to find a new code. SOS should be reserved for life-altering emergencies like the one I’m currently dealing with.
Briar: What’s wrong?
Wren: Can it be fixed with a couple of shots of tequila, or do you need a full therapy session followed by a hot bubble bath?
Charlie: Alcohol is off the table and are hot baths safe for babies?
Wren: Safe for WHAT?!
Oh shit.
Briar: Charlie Rae Bennett, what the hell is going on?
Charlie: I’m pregnant.
I wince as I hit send. That’s certainly one way to break the biggest news of my life to my best friends.
Birdie: Is pregnant code for stress eating your body weight in Taco Bell again?
Charlie: Nope. I literally have a raspberry-sized baby squatting inside me rent-free.
Birdie: Oh. My. Lanta.
Charlie: If any situation warrants the use of profanity, it’s this one.
Birdie: Oh, shit on a stick. How’s that?
Charlie: Not going to lie, that was surprisingly therapeutic.
Briar: Where are you?
