6. Meadow
Chapter 6
Meadow
P ast me was an idiot.
For many reasons. Mainly for staying up late with Clover, crying about potentially being pregnant, but also for sleeping with the stupidly hot rock star who caused my predicament in the first place.
When my alarm went off at seven in the morning for my classes, I just barely resisted the urge to throw my alarm clock out the window.
I hit snooze and was starting to drift off again when the smell of something delicious hit my nose. The entire apartment smelled like a breakfast buffet. Even in my sleep-addled state, I could tell there was bacon.
I fucking loved bacon.
I rolled out of bed and rubbed my eyes as I padded to the kitchen.
Clover stood, stirring something in a frying pan. Despite the early hour, she was already dressed in her favorite jeans and sweater, her hair in a tidy low bun, and her makeup impeccably done as always.
“What are you doing up so early?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep. “I thought you didn’t have classes until the afternoon today.”
“Morning!” she said, turning to me with a smile. “I don’t, and I know for a fact that you can afford to miss this morning’s class because you’re way ahead with the reading material. So I decided that today is the perfect time to finally go get you your blood test.”
“Clover!” I groaned.
She glared at me. “Don’t groan at me. You took that pregnancy test three days ago, and you haven’t booked a single doctor’s appointment yet. You need to get a blood test to confirm it. You also need prenatal care.”
“It was probably a false positive,” I rationalized. Please, god, let it be a false positive.
Clover raised her eyebrows. “We both know that’s not true. Here, drink this,” she instructed, handing me a bottle of water.
“Thanks,” I muttered, taking it. Omegas were caring individuals in general—what most people might dub maternal—so, ever since Clover had found the test, she had gone into a frenzy of care for me. I had never been so well-hydrated in my life.
“Are you going to tell me who the father is?” she asked, returning to the frying pan and dishing up two plates of bacon and eggs.
I had spent the last few days hiding in my nest, trying to avoid the topic.
Deep down, I knew I was most likely pregnant. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. Admitting it meant I would have to face the reality of who got me pregnant, and that was something I was in no way ready to face.
What were my options? Adoption? Not for me. Abortion? Also not for me, but I loved people being able to make that choice for themselves. Being a single mother? Definitely not the most ideal, but I could do it. Or…the most awkward option: Go to a concert once Hard Knot Life returned stateside, sneak backstage, and say Hey, remember that one-night stand we had? Well, surprise! You’re going to be a daddy!
Fuck me. All these options kind of sucked. I wasn’t even supposed to be fertile outside of a heat. What sort of cosmic fuckery had gone on for this to happen?
I indulged in a quiet scream into my hands.
A rock star was a terrible choice for a baby daddy. What sort of influence would Hendrix be on a child’s life? Based on the articles I’d read about him, I could only assume he’d be a shit parent, and that was if he was even interested in being one at all. What rock star would want a baby cramping their style? Probably the best I could hope for was a few years of raising a child alone until his career tempered a bit, and maybe he’d have more interest in being a dad to someone out of diapers.
Then there was the issue of his pack…I guess technically they would be my pack if we’re bonded?
“You’ve got your overthinky face on again,” Clover pointed out. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but that bite mark on your neck still hasn’t faded from the night of the concert. Maybe it’s time to get in touch with that roadie.”
A roadie would’ve been bad enough.
“I don’t even know how I’d do that.” I shrugged. “They’re traveling the world. They don’t have time for me.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. If he had been a roadie, then he could still be local; there was no guarantee he’d have followed the band on the Asia leg of the tour. Clover was going to figure it out if I wasn’t careful.
“He should still know,” Clover insisted. “Maybe we could reach out to management? They’d probably be able to find out if we give them some info. What did he look like?”
“I really don’t want to deal with this right now. Can we please pretend everything’s normal for a bit longer? There’s no sense trying to do anything until the test confirms everything, anyway.”
Pain shot through my boob, and I clapped a hand over it with a yelp. “Motherfucker!”
Clover stared at me with wide eyes. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I sucked in a sharp breath. “Sorry. I must have moved wrong.”
She gave me a knowing look. “Titties hurting?”
“Maybe,” I grumbled.
“All the more reason to book an appointment. It’s not like you have a missed period to give you a heads-up like betas do.”
I hated when she was right.
I let Clover lovingly bully me into going to the campus health clinic. I was eyeballs-deep in my English reading assignment when they called me in. Clover gave me a thumbs-up and a grin as I went back to one of the rooms. They had an omega-specific area back there, and I sank into the easy-clean beanbag, wrapping the offered blanket over my shoulders until the doctor came in.
“Hello there, Ms. Reed.” The doctor smiled and sat down on a stool in front of me. “What brings you in today?”
My lips stayed sealed shut. Why was saying it out loud so hard?
The doctor offered a sympathetic smile. “Oh dear, a face like that usually means it’s about sex. Related to heats, pregnancy, or STIs?”
“The second,” I squeaked out.
“All right. Are you looking for confirmation, or have you already had a test elsewhere?”
“I peed on a stick already.”
“Okay, we can run a blood panel and confirm that, as well as check all your levels. If you’d like to do that today, I can call in one of the nurses to take a sample.”
As much as I wanted to live in blissful ignorance, I couldn’t keep doing that. Better to know for certain if it was a false positive or not, so I could plan one way or the other. I nodded, unable to vocalize.
The doctor took a few notes, checked my blood pressure, and assured me that a nurse would be in soon to take my blood sample before rushing off to his next appointment.
Thankfully, I didn’t have too much time to stew in panic over my future possibly being altered beyond belief before the nurse bustled in with a tray in hand.
“Hello, my dear! I need to get a blood sample from you. Is that okay?”
I nodded. My stomach was churning, and I was concerned if I opened my mouth, I was going to vomit on the very nice nurse.
She chatted away as she prepared the syringe, talking casually about her son finishing high school as she tied a tourniquet around my upper arm and found a vein. Her incessant chatter was actually distracting enough that I hardly noticed when she pricked my skin.
“All done!” she declared happily.
“Is that it?” I asked, bewildered.
“Yep, that’s all I need. You’re free to go now, my dear, and we’ll call you in a few days with the results.”
I thanked her profusely as I gathered my bag and darted out from the clinic, thankful to be done with it. Clover took me out for some greasy fried food as a reward. Now, all I could do was wait.
Why did getting results from blood tests take so long?
Four days. I waited, spending every minute of those four days driving myself, and by extension, Clover, up the wall.
“The results will come when the results come,” Clover kept insisting.
Patience was not my strong suit. While the possibility of being pregnant was a pretty strong one, I still wanted that last final confirmation before I truly spiraled into panic.
“Why can’t I get the results now?” I whined as I lay down on the couch, throwing a pillow over my face as I grumbled.
“Because they don’t do the tests on campus and have to wait for the external lab to do everything. Gotta be patient.” Clover tucked her books into her bag. She had class soon, whereas I had an afternoon off.
Which meant I had more time to stare at the ceiling and contemplate my fate.
“Medical bureaucracy sucks,” I mumbled.
“I know it does.” Clover laughed, patting my leg. “Now, I’ve got to be at class in ten minutes, so you’re on your own. Try and eat something semi-healthy for dinner. I bought you some snap peas and dip. If you eat chips again, you are going to start looking like a potato.”
“But they’re so delicious.”
“They are, but you know what’s also delicious? Vegetables!”
Clover cackled as she ran out the doorway, narrowly avoiding the throw pillow I tossed in her direction. Vegetables? I liked vegetables as much as the next girl, but all I wanted was potato chips and strawberry milkshakes and Funyuns.
I sat up, grumbling to myself. I needed to study, but my focus was shot. Grabbing the TV remote, I flipped through the channels until I found a ridiculous reality show to watch. It was the type of TV that would rot your brain, but it was so entertaining you couldn’t look away: an omega being courted by several eligible alphas, and they were all vying for attention, doing weird and wacky things. One alpha was about to take her in a hot-air balloon, despite the fact that she had admitted she was afraid of heights. It was guaranteed to be a shitshow that would be hilarious to watch.
My phone buzzed.
I stilled, looking at the screen lighting up.
An unknown number was calling me.
Diving forward, I grabbed the phone, quickly pressing accept and holding it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hi there, is this Meadow Reed?” a pleasant feminine voice asked from the other end.
“It is,” I confirmed.
“This is Nurse Donahue from the student clinic. I need to double-check your identity before I give you your test results.”
I gave her my birthday and student ID number, my knee bouncing with impatient nerves as I relayed the information.
“Excellent, thank you. Miss Reed, I wanted to give you a call regarding your blood test results. We can confirm that you are, indeed, pregnant. Congratulations! Or perhaps, commiserations? How are you feeling about the news? Is your pack excited?”
“Um…” It wasn’t really a congratulations kind of situation, at least not in the middle of my degree, but omegas were supposed to be jazzed about babies. That’s what was expected. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to them yet.”
She didn’t need to know I didn’t have a pack. No sense in checking if she was going to be a judgy bitch about a single omega mom.
“I’m sure they’ll be elated. Babies are such a blessing. Now, while I have you on the phone, we should book your prenatal appointments, unless you’d prefer to go to another clinic? We’re equipped on campus to accommodate all your needs. You’re certainly not the first omega pursuing a degree and a family at the same time. You should contact your primary care physician as well, so we can coordinate care as needed. Do you have any questions? ”
“No…” My voice was weak. “I’m…good?”
“Okay, then! If you think of anything, you’re welcome to give us a call and ask. Be sure to book your appointments. Have a good day,” she chirped before hanging up.
I stared at my phone screen for a moment, trying to process what she had said.
It was confirmed.
I was pregnant.
Fuck.