After Laura pees on the stick, she sitsit on top of the toilet paper dispenser, and then moves to the other corner.
“Has it been three minutes yet?”
“No, it’s only been one. And when you askme again in thirty seconds, it will only be one and a half minutes.”
“This is the longest three minutes of mylife.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll know in a minute. Well,in a minute and a half.” I can’t help the smile, and it makes Laura smile.
“This is not the time for jokes.”
“I know. I didn’t mean to, just an ole’slip of the tongue.” But Laura isn’t wrong, it seems to take forever. Finally,the timer on my phone beeps and Laura jumps. Even though I’m looking at myphone when time goes off, I jump, too.
“Okay.” Laura pushes me. “Go look.”
“Me? It’s your test.”
“I can’t, Kate. I just can’t. You have tolook.”
“Okay, okay.” I bend over, looking at thetest on the toilet paper holder. I’m not picking that thing up; it has Laura’spee all over it. My heart sinks when I see what it reads.
“What does it say?”
I stand and turn around, tears already inmy eyes.
“No, oh please no.” She rushes over,picking up the stick. “Two lines.” She whispers. “Give me another test.”
“What really? You don’t think one testdid the trick?”
“No. Kate, please.”
I pull another stick from the box. “Hereyou go.” Three minutes later we’re staring at both pregnancy tests; one thathas two lines and one that has one line. “I’ll be damned.”
“What does this mean?” Laura looks at me,her eyes wide with a mixture of worry and fear.
“How should I know? You’re the nurse, youtell me. Try the third stick.”
“I don’t think I can pee again.” Shehands me the last pregnancy test. “Here, you pee on it.”
“Wait. What? No. Me, taking this testisn’t going to tell you that you’re not pregnant.”
“No shit, Sherlock. But you’re notpregnant, so we can see if the tests actually work.”
This has got to be the most idiotic ideaLaura has ever come up with. But she’s freaking out and not really thinkingrationally. I guess if she thinks it will help her if I pee on the stick, Iwill. After all, what are friendsfor?“Okay, fine, give me the damn stick.”
Three minutes later, Laura reads my test.“Congratulations Kate, you’re going to have a baby.”
“Stop, you’re so funny.”
“I know, but I’m serious. Here look.” Shepicks up the test, waving it around.
“Um—you know, I peed on that, right?”
“Oh, gross.” She tosses it at me.
“Hey.” I duck out of the way and itclatters to the floor. I look at the test where it landed on the floor. “That’snot even funny, I am not pregnant.”
“What the hell is wrong with thesetests?” Laura asks, picking up her tests and examining them.
