Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
GEORGIA
The last couple days I kept feeling sick.
I hadn’t seen Caleb, because I didn’t want to give him whatever I had.
My shift at the diner was almost over. I was hiding out in the kitchen hoping the nausea would pass.
Was it food poisoning? I rubbed my stomach wondering which meal had gotten me sick. I wanted to go home and crawl into bed.
Mitzy came up behind me and rubbed my back. “Why don’t you sit, hon. I’ll make you some tea. Nausea is the worst.”
I nodded my assent and dropped onto the stool she’d pointed at.
“When I was pregnant with David. Jr. my nausea was horrible. Everything I smelled seemed to turn my stomach. This peppermint tea will fix you right up.”
Mitzy kept talking, but I ceased to hear anything she said. The minute she mentioned pregnancy, my stomach lurched.
“I’m gonna be sick.”
I rushed to the bathroom with Mitzy on my heels. The minute I had the lid on the seat up; my stomach heaved its contents into the toilet bowl.
Mitzy was once again there rubbing my back. “That’s it. Let it all out.”
It would have felt comforting if not for the reason that sent me rushing to the bathroom in the first place.
For a few seconds after I emptied my stomach I continued to dry heave. “I’m okay.” My throat was so raw from retching my voice came out as a croak.
“You sure, hon?” The motherly concern in Mitzy’s voice didn’t make me feel any better.
I just wanted to be left alone.
I still gripped the edges of the public toilet which I was sure I would regret if my mind wasn’t fixated on my potential problem.
I nodded.
I heard her steps retreat, and the door shut behind her. Once I knew I was alone, I flushed and pushed myself up from the floor. My steps dragged. Swiping my forearm across my mouth, I locked the door.
When I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw the fear sitting in my eyes with the tears I wouldn’t let fall. I never wanted to have food poisoning so bad in my whole life. Quickly, I washed my hands and hands, needing to get out of there.
Thankfully, when I left the bathroom, I didn’t encounter Mitzy. I was able to get my purse and slip out the back door.
Big Momma had let me use the car, so I drove to the next town over to buy a pregnancy test. If I’d gone to the pharmacy in town, by morning everyone would know.
Driving back home, with the tests sitting on the seat next to me in the brown bag to conceal them, I wondered who I was more afraid of confronting if this came back positive: Caleb or Big Momma.
Stop it. It’s not going to be positive. You’re just sick. It’s the flu or food poisoning.
Deep down all the reassurance in the world didn’t fully convince me I wasn’t carrying a baby.
I squeezed the steering wheel so tight, my knuckles ached.
By the time I got home I was in full panic mode.
I said a silent prayer of thanks when I realized Big Momma wasn’t home. I was sure she would take one look at me and know. The last thing I wanted to see on her face was disappointment or an I told you look. Especially since I told her I was grown and could make my own decisions.
I rushed to the bathroom and locked myself inside. I brushed my teeth and washed my mouth out first.
My hands shook as I tore at the first box that housed the answer to my future.
After I took the tests, I sat on the edge of the bathtub. I grew restless, unable to sit still, so I paced the floor.
It was the longest three minutes of my life. Waiting for those tests to reveal what I already know to be true.
On shaky legs, I approached the counter where the four sticks were laid out. I gripped the counter for support when the positive responses stared up at me from each test. I could no longer hold my tears back. I sank to the floor holding my knees tightly to my chest and sobbed.
What am I going to do?
For a few minutes, I wept in despair, rocking back and forth, my thoughts a tangled mess.
I gulped and took a stuttering breath, trying to steady myself. One thing was certain. I needed to get out of the house with the evidence before Big Momma came home.
I swiped all the tests off the counter back into the brown bag and left the house again. I drove to Rendezvous Drive and called Caleb.
“Pick up. Pick up.” I willed it not to go to voicemail.
“Hey beautiful,” he answered on the third ring.
“Hey,” I sniffled, failing at keeping my emotions in check.
“What’s wrong?” I could hear him move away from the commotion in the background. “You, okay?”
I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “Can you meet me. Now. At Rendezvous Drive.”
“I’m leaving right now.” Caleb said.
I hung up the phone and dropped it into my lap.
It wasn’t going to take him long to get here.
I thought about fixing my face and putting on some make-up to hide all the crying I’d done, but one look in the rearview mirror at my puffy eyes and swollen face told me make-up wouldn’t help.
So, I focused on how I was going to tell him about the mess we were in.
Why had I been so stupid? I bit my nail and thought about all the times neither of us had worried about a condom. I hadn’t even tried to get on the damn pill. We’d just been spending the summer in our little love bubble not thinking of the consequences of fucking like rabbits.
I brushed away a tear.
About ten minutes later, Caleb’s truck rumbled to a stop next to my car. I knew he must have broken every traffic violation to get here that fast. He jumped from his car and came to the driver’s side door and opened it.
“Are you okay?” He pulled me from the car and looked me over.
When I shook my head Caleb pulled me into his body, his hand cradling the back of my head. “What’s wrong? Tell me and I’ll fix it. Did someone hurt you?” His body went rigid with rage and his hold on me tightened.
“If anyone…”
I knew what Caleb was capable of. That man’s brutalized body flashed in my mind.
“No,” I whispered into his chest, my arms slipping around his waist in reassurance.
His body relaxed. For a while we just held each other.
My comfort was short-lived. I knew I had to tell him, but I was dreading the response.
I’d seen this scenario play out for a cousin and some girls I went to high school with.
The guy usually denied the baby was his, accused her of either sleeping around or trying to trap him, and ultimately abandoning her.
I bit my lip as I fought the sting of tears.
I’d waited long enough; I patted his arm and took a deep breath before I stepped away from him.
“Let’s get in my car,” I nudged my head towards my car and took his fingers in mine.
Caleb didn’t question me or stop. He went around to the passenger side, watching me the whole time over the top of the car. I opened the door and got in.
Once we were both inside, I got tongue tied. I could feel my courage failing. I reached into the backseat and grabbed the bag and sat it in Caleb’s lap.
He looked from me to the bag, unsure what to do. Confusion creased his brow.
I took hold of the bag again and pulled out one of the tests and held it up.
“I’m pregnant.” My lip quivered on the last word and tears I’d been fighting back for so long rolled down my face.
Caleb took the test from my hand and looked at it. He swallowed. His face was a blank mask. He opened the bag and peered into it. He upended the bag, dumping the rest of the tests on the seat between us.
I held my breath waiting for him to say something.
After a couple more minutes of staring at the pee sticks, he looked at me again, I saw a resolute calmness I hadn’t expected. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”
When he reached for me, it made me ugly cry. I wound my arms around his neck and wouldn’t let go. Caleb rubbed soothing circles into my back and just let me cry.
Several minutes passed, and I was all cried out. I sniffed and nestled into the wet patch I’d left on his shirt.
“Let’s keep the baby.”
I froze in his arms.
Was he serious?
I pulled away to look at him.
Caleb was serious. He wasn’t bullshitting me. In that moment, his green eyes were the sincerest I’d ever seen them.
“I love you, Georgia. I want a family with you. Yeah, it’s happening a lot sooner than I thought or planned…” He paused, running his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture.
He’d thought about us having a future together? Although we’d shared how we felt and professed our love for each other I was still shocked by his admission.
“I don’t have to go back to UKY,” he rushed on. “I could go ahead and start at the distillery. I’m sure my dad could use my help.”
My breath hitched in my throat as he laid out his plans.
“You could go to school local and we… we could get married.”
A gasp fell from my mouth at his statement.
“Caleb McQuade is that a proposal?” I asked, eyeing him with doubt and uncertainty.
I expected him to hesitate, stumble over his words and try and backpedal.
“Yes.”
My heart was racing, but I still didn’t quite believe him. I didn’t want him to think that was our only choice.
“We don’t have to get married just cause I’m pregnant.” I said, trying to gauge his reaction.
I expected to see relief written on his face, but he roughly pulled me towards him, anger etched into the lines on his face.
“Woman.” Caleb said the word fiercely. His gaze roamed over my face. His anger melted away to be replaced by tenderness.
“I don’t know how many damn times I have to tell you I love you.
I’m trying to show you. I don’t want to be talked out of it.
It may be happening in a different order than I expected.
I’m okay with that. It was always going to lead here.
” He placed his hand over my belly. “I want you. I want us. Forever.”