3. Bailey
Bailey
“Hey Blue, were you feeling okay Thursday? Thanksgiving is your favorite holiday and you hardly ate anything,” Aiden asks me as we sit on the couch in my apartment.
It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we’re catching up on some homework we neglected the last few days. I knew this question was coming. I’ve been off lately, and I know he could tell.
We spent the front half of the week at his parents’ house. Thanksgiving with the Bakers is my favorite. My parents never called or bothered to wish me a happy holiday. I wish it mattered to them. Wish I mattered. The same old ache returned, and I wondered if I’d ever be free of it.
“I’ve just been really tired lately. I’m sure it’s just a bug or something. Plus, I’ve been feeling a little nauseous the last couple days, so I wasn’t really feeling turkey.”
I’m honestly not convinced this is a bug.
I’m pretty sure that my one night stand with Daniel has had more consequences than a bruised ego and a very unsatisfying few minutes in bed.
Not only have I been exhausted and nauseous for the last week or so, but my period is two weeks late.
Which is not normal. I’m always regular since I take my birth control religiously.
I haven’t told anyone this because I know that the moment I voice those concerns outloud, they become real, and I’m not ready for them to be real.
I haven’t talked to Daniel since that night, and honestly I have no interest in talking to him. I mean, I’ll have to tell him if my suspicions are correct, but I’m not interested in any kind of romantic relationship with him.
“Did you just say, ‘you weren’t feeling turkey’?
Blue, Thanksgiving is your favorite holiday—and turkey is one of your favorite foods.
You eat a turkey sandwich almost everyday, and Thanksgiving leftovers are what you live for.
Are you pregnant or something?” he says the last part on a laugh, but when I don’t laugh along with him, he looks up at me. “Bailey? Are you pregnant?”
The stinging in the back of my eyes tells me I’m about to cry. I close my eyes trying to keep them at bay, but when I feel Aiden's strong arms wrap around me, I lose it into his chest. I choke out the words, “I don’t know,” around the thick lump in my throat.
“Shhh, it’s okay, we will figure it out.” He places a soft kiss on top of my head, “Have you peed on a stick yet?”
I shake my head into his chest, and laugh despite how much I’m freaking out. I’ve been freaking out for the last week alone. I knew I could tell Aiden, he would support me no matter what, but I was scared he would be mad or disappointed.
He smooths my hair away from my face, and the secret dream I’ve carried around for years flares to life inside me.
Aiden Baker is the only person I want this kind of future with—he’s the person I want to marry, start a family with.
We’ve always been close, teased about being practically brother and sister, but he’s never been my brother.
I’m aware of him in a way I’ve never been with anyone else.
He’s distracting, charming, funny—everything all rolled into one and God, do I wish he could kiss me.
It’s something we never talk about, but when I lay in bed at night and dream about my future, Aiden is the one I see right beside me.
I pull out my phone to text the one person I know will go to the store no questions asked that isn’t currently in the room.
Me: EMERGENCY! No questions asked. Drop everything. ????
Maggy: Oh shit! We haven’t done one of these since I made you pick me up from that party when Maddy and I got majorly shit faced the summer before junior year. What do you need?
Me: Go to the pharmacy. Pick up a pregnancy test, or 12, and bring them to my apartment.
Maggy: Fuck. ??
Maggy: On it. Be there in 20.
“Maggy will be here in 20 minutes with tests. I should probably chug some water so I can actually pee when she gets here,” I say as I put my phone down.
“I’ll grab you some. You sit right there.” He gets up and as he walks into the kitchen, I slump down on the couch.
I feel a little better now that Aiden knows, and I’m no longer in this alone, but at the same time it’s about to be real if this test comes out positive. Bear walks back into the living room and hands me a glass of water. “Hey, if you are, who is the father?”
I cringe. “Daniel.The guy I hooked up with at Halloween. He’s the only person I’ve been with in over a year.”
Before he can respond Magnolia walks into my apartment with Maddox right behind her. “I come bearing pregnancy tests! Please give me a niece! I want to dress her up in all the cute dresses!”
“Magnolia Mae! What the hell?” Aiden admonishes her. “You can’t hope for a baby to be a certain gender before we even know if she’s pregnant. Besides, we want a boy! I want to throw a football and baseball around with him.”
“I’m with Aiden on this one. We need more boys in this family. A boy would put us in a tie,” Maddox chimes in.
“You’re all ridiculous.”
I snatch the bag that looks like it literally has twelve boxes of pregnancy tests in it and head to the kitchen to get a cup that I’m not emotionally attached to. I head into the bathroom, hands shaking, and complete my business.
There are no boundaries between me and the Bakers. I open the door and the three siblings present come in. I have peed in front of all three of these people—Charly, too—so the fact that I was given space long enough to dip the tests is a surprise.
“Well, we have three minutes,” I say as I continue to dip tests. “What did we decide? Boy or girl? And don’t try me. I know you guys were fighting about what it should be the whole time I’ve been in here.”
“Boy, we want a boy. I will be calling him Little Bear, and he will be my new best friend,” Aiden announces proudly. I actually think he’s excited about the prospect of me having a baby.
“Little Bear is cute, but I will not accept my child stealing my best friend. That’s where I draw the line.
You can be cool Uncle Bear, but you will not be his best friend,” I raise one eyebrow, trying to tell them how serious I am with my face.
I’m only half joking about my child stealing my best friend.
As Aiden is about to give me some snarky come back, the alarm I put on my phone goes off. We all freeze for a moment, then I reach for the first one and flip it over. Two pink lines stare at me. I flip over the next one, same thing. As I flip over test after test they are all positive.
At that moment, I flop down onto the bathroom floor and put my head in my hands, tears begin to free fall from my eyes, my heart rate picks up, a heavy weight weighs down my chest, a tremor wrecks my entire body.
I’m pregnant, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.
My mind races with every possibility, every one of them worse than the last.