The test
With everyone occupied by one thing or the other, sneaking out of the house was not so hard. And as for bypassing security, well a tenny tiny lie for a good cause never hurt anyone.
Right?
I knew there would be consequences for this action.
God, I was actually sneaking out, like a 16-year-old.
But maybe the results of this might just deflate Lucas's fury when he did find out.
Between being on the brink of going crazy and the undue attention that would result from having an escort come with me, I had a good feeling I was doing the right thing.
15 minutes later, I was pulling up in the parking lot.
I considered going to a drug store, but with very limited time and the option of trying to find a pharmacy in a foreign country, I decided to stick with a superstore.
I checked my phone screen as I hunted the aisle for kids' party essentials.
No call or text from anyone, meaning no one had noticed I was gone yet.
That was good for me. The quicker I got back the better.
After buying the Candies and some more balloons for Zoey, I made my way to the main reason I had come out.
I stood in the pharmacy aisle, trying to figure out which brand would be best. I had not realized there would be so many brands.
I had zero experience with pregnancy test kits, mostly because before Lucas I had never really been with any guy longer than a few weeks, a month tops.
And I never really let myself take liberties as much as I did with Lucas.
I wanted so badly to seek my best friend's thoughts on this but knew better than to do that. Celine was still on Lucas's side with the 'no going out' rule and I knew Lucas would be here in minutes if Celine found out I was out here alone.
With a sigh, I picked out the one closest to me. I just needed something to tell me in clear words whether or not I was pregnant. After checking out, I made my way to the loo, forcing my legs to keep a regular pace and not run into the toilet like a crazed woman on the brink of peeing herself.
With shaky hands, I locked the bathroom stall door and practically ripped the box open. The instructions were pretty easy to follow but with my shaky hands, I dropped the testing kit into the toilet.
"Fuck," I sighed, rubbing my forehead. It seemed completely dumb that I would be so mortified of a simple plastic kit. I reminded myself that no matter the outcome, Lucas was there, by my side. Even if I did turn out to be pregnant, I was not going to do it alone.
That was all I needed to calm my spiraling nerves.
Still, I had two choices, pick the testing kit from a public toilet used by thousands of people daily or run back out for a new set. Yeah, the first was not even an option worth considering at all.
After running around the store a second time, I was back in the bathroom stall, and in a much better state to take the test. Thanks to the ginger ale I had earlier, it was pretty much easy to get the flow coming.
I sat on the toilet seat, trying to figure out which angle would work best but only ended up drenching my hand in pee. "Can this day get any fucking worse?" I said through gritted teeth, raising it to see if I had at least gotten a few drops in. I did.
Should be enough.
The instruction said to wait at least three minutes before the results would come up and once again the fear of the unknown crept through me.
Flipping the test over on the sink, I cleaned myself up not wanting to look at the results just yet.
Thankfully, the absence of anyone else gave me the chance to pace the space as I counted the numbers in my head, mumbling the famous french chant.
He loves me, he loves me not...
He loves me, he loves me not...
He loves me, he loves me not...
"Fuck this is stupid," I finally admitted, picking up the test, and there it was. Clear as the sun in the sky, the words in bold black—PREGNANT.
Pregnant!
I held the test, staring at it for a moment and letting the reality of the moment sweep through me. And then finally I found the words to express the emotions coursing through me.
"I am pregnant!"
Suddenly all the fears building up in me up to this moment melted away like a cube of ice in steaming coffee. I could not even do so much as remember why I was so terrified of this moment.
I was actually pregnant, carry a living being, with a frigging heartbeat inside me.
And all of a sudden my legs could not carry me fast enough. I wanted to scream it to the world, wanted to cry it out, but first, there was one person who needed to hear it.
The car was unlocked when I pulled the door handle and for a moment I wondered if I had been so on edge that I had forgotten to lock the door.
I shoved the other things I had gotten in the backseat along with the positive test. On second thought though, I picked it back up, tossing it on my lap as I got behind the wheels.
Having it this close to me made the moment feel more real and, not like a dream I would have to wake up from.
The car coughed to life, an unusual sound, different from when I had started it on my way here.
But the sound of the high-tech, luxurious car was the very least of my worries.
I had to tell Lucas, had to see him, had to be wrapped in his warm embrace.
And C, she was going to be the next on my list to know.
Oh my God, I was going to be a mom and Celine would be an aunt.
She would go crazy with joy. And then there were the twins, they would have a new brother or sister.
Or maybe a brother and a sister. Jesus, we just might be nurturing an army of little soldiers soon after all. Honestly, it didn't really matter.
Joy attacked my heart from all corners and I did not want to waste one more moment on the road. Where is a magic wand when you need one, or at least teleportation powers?
I was still spilling with happiness when my phone chimed in the passenger's seat next to me. I expected a call from someone at home long ago, most likely Lucas, but it was weird to be receiving a text instead.
Without a second thought, I maneuvered the wheel with one hand while I checked to see who was texting me with my other hand.
A thread of messages greeted me.
Lucas: Where are you and why is your phone unavailable?
Shit! the bathroom must have been a dead end.
I was not surprised to see the next message from Celine: Bess, where are you? You promised.
He called her.
Without reading the other messages, I switched to my call app, just as my screen lit up with Lucas's image and a familiar ringtone played.
"Christine." his voice filled the car, a mixture of anger and worry hidden almost perfectly under a commanding yet smooth undertone. "Where are you?"
"On my way to you," I said softly, willing myself to keep my excitement in check. I was only a few minutes away and the last thing I wanted was to break the news to him over a phone call.
"Fuck, please tell me you're in the garden or somewhere within the premises." his voice had a concerned and furious edge, but along with it, I could hear the desperation.
"I just went to get something from the store," I explained softly, "I'll be home in at least eight minutes," I said, reading the information according to the navigation system on the screen.
"Jesus, fuck. Chris. Do you have someone with you?"
Why was he freaking out so much? I expected his reaction but at this point, I felt no more than a teenager being treated like I could not take care of myself.
Well, you did sneak out...so... an annoying voice in my head pointed out.
After a beat of silence, he spoke. "Pull over to the side of the road and share your location with me. I'm coming to get you."
"Would you relax Lucas? I'm coming to you, just—" My words were cut off by a sudden impact, followed by the gut-wrenching sound of metal scraping against metal.
The air from my lungs was whipped with the forceful hit as my body slammed against the shattering glass window and then back to the steering wheel.
Someone was screaming my name—Lucas. As the world spun, instincts kicked in and I clutched my stomach, a sudden sense of protection, even in the sharp pain shooting through me.
I had never wanted to have my eyes open as I did now, but with no power to do so much as breathe, the world slowly faded until there was just blackness.