Chapter 42 #2
‘Understatement of the century. I can’t lie anymore. Ryan needs to know, but I need to talk to Alex and make sure we are both on the same page. He might want to be there when I tell him, so I just need to give Ryan a wide berth until then.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Tes laughed. ‘I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your brother is like a very intense, very badly-behaved golden retriever, begging for all the attention in a room all of the time.’
‘Thanks. I am aware, but avoidance has been my tactic so far and it seems to be working just fine. Anyway, I am so drained right now. I don’t want to deal or even think about this right now.
I feel like I could sleep for a week, and it wouldn’t be enough.
Fancy not talking about life for a bit and just watching some TV? ’
‘Music to my ears.’
There were unsaid words on Tes’s lips, and Noa could see it. She knew when Tes was struggling. There was something going on with her friend and she knew she should ask, but she felt like she needed some quiet time as much as Noa did, and she didn’t want to push.
So, ignoring any elephant in the room, the two of them bedded down under her covers, somehow squeezing into her single bed, and watched re-runs of Noa’s comfort TV show, Gilmore Girls .
Noa had lost count of the number of times they’d done this together.
The predictability of it had always settled something in her and, right now, she needed that.
Tinks squished between them comedically, with only her head popping out from under the covers, enjoying the strokes they both offered her.
Noa sometimes wondered if her cat fancied herself more human than feline, but she wouldn’t change her for the world.
The comfort her presence brought was like her own personal anti-depressant wrapped in fluff.
Not long into episode two, as Tinks’ light snores filled the room, Noa could feel Tes becoming increasingly restless as she tossed around the bed, letting the odd groan passed her lips.
‘What’s up?’ Noa asked.
‘Oh, just my stupid period. I feel like my uterus is trying to claw its way out of my body as we speak, and I will not thank her for it. Hurts like a bitch.’
‘Hot-water bottle?’
‘Oh my god, yes please.’
Noa flung her feet over the side of the bed and padded downstairs to the kitchen. She stared at the colourful tiles behind the kettle, mindlessly filling the hot-water bottle until suddenly the sight of it had her stomach falling.
What date was it?
When was the last time she had needed this for her own period?
She couldn’t remember. Rushing to pull up her period tracking app on her phone, her heart sank when she realised she was two weeks late.
Rushing back up to her room with more urgency than when she came downstairs, Tes sat bolt upright as she barged in, as if sensing her panic .
‘What’s up? What happened?’
‘I’m late.’
‘What? You’re late? As in late-late, or late to be somewhere?’
‘As in late-late. Two weeks late to be exact.’
‘Okay, okay. Let’s not panic. There might be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.
Stress, maybe, or the pill messing with your cycle.
How many times have we stressed like this only to buy all the tests in the store that turn out negative each time?
Which, you could say is irrational for me, considering I mainly sleep with women and, most of the time, it’s not even possible.
But I swear this fear of yours rubs off on me and we lose our heads every time our periods don’t show up. ’
‘You’re right. We have been through this countless times. There is no reason this will be any different. But you know the drill, right?’
Without even having to be asked, Tes was out of the bed, pulling on her coat and boots and heading for the door.
‘Yup. Let’s go get you that test.’
R ushing to the store in record time and finding the pharmacy aisle without any issues, Noa pulled three tests from the shelf, looking over at Tes for reassurance.
‘Seriously?’ Tes asked.
‘No, you’re right, that’s definitely not enough,’ she said, picking up two more and a large carton of apple juice.
The two of them were at the counter and paid in no time. The nerves that felt like a whirlwind taking over her entire stomach meant Noa couldn’t settle until she knew for sure .
‘I need to do this now,’ she blurted, stopping dead in her tracks in the middle of the supermarket.’
‘Now? Like here?’ Tes asked, looking around.
Nodding, Noa turned, heading straight to the customer toilets with Tes hot on her heels. Patience had never been Noa’s strong suit, no matter how much convincing Alex had tried and, right now, three minutes had never felt so painful.
Bouncing her leg, Noa perched on the counter by the sinks whilst Tes stood next to her, waiting for the moment that could spin her entire world off its axis.
A jarring noise rang in Noa’s ears, bouncing off the tiled walls of the small room they had locked themselves inside.
Realising it was the timer Tes had clearly set, having done this with her many times before, Noa turned the sticks until the truth was glaring up at her.
Two pink lines taunted her from all five tests in her hands.
Tes turned to look at her, wide eyes filled with what Noa could only assume was sympathy.
‘You’re pregnant,’ she stated after several minutes of them both standing silent and stunned.
She repeated the words again, because Noa was pretty sure she looked like she was malfunctioning. She just nodded, unable to find any words for the clusterfuck she somehow found herself in.
She was pregnant.
Well, shit .