Becoming Bridgewater

Epilogue

December 5, 2023

"Mmmm, smells delicious," I hum, mouth watering from the smell of the breakfast James just cooked for us.

"All in a day's work," he sets my plate of French toast, bacon, and eggs down in front of me.

"Thank you," I kiss his soft lips. I love mornings like this.

"Welcome," he smiles, moving across from me and taking his seat. I dig into my food and finish it in 5 minutes flat, still hungry.

"Damn," James whistles, still eating his food. "That was really fast. I don't think I've ever seen you eat like that."

I just shrug, "guess I'm just super hungry." James laughs and goes back to eating. I sneak my hand over and steal a piece of bacon from his plate. He looks up and meets my gaze, curiosity shining back at me. I'm halfway through eating the bacon when I have to stand and run to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I throw up. I heave up every single bite of food I just ate, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth and my stomach rolling.

"Babe," James squats next to me, rubbing my back. "Here drink this," he hands me the glass of water that he brought with him.

"Thanks," I gulp it down and lean back against the wall with a sigh. We sit in silence for a moment before James speaks up.

"Elle?" He draws out my name.

"What?" I ask, peeping my eyes open to look at him.

"Are you...?" He trails off, not saying the word but it clicks in my head. I look up at the ceiling and try to remember when my last period was, but I can't come up with anything.

"I don't know," I mumble honestly, brow furrowing. "But I can't be, can I? We always use protection." Except for those three times, but I would already have a baby in my arms or be heavily pregnant if it were from that.

"It's not 100 percent so you really could be..." he trails off yet again, spinning on his heel and heading for the door.

I climb to my feet and follow after him, not sure what he's doing. He slips on his shoes, grabs his keys and spins around, kissing me. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" My voice trembles.

"I need to know for certain," he moves his hand down to touch my stomach, "I need to know."

"Okay," I nod, scared out of my mind at the possibility.

"I'll be right back," he kisses me one more time before kneeling and placing a kiss on my stomach. A smile rises to my lips at the action, slightly overshadowing my panic.

I'm pacing around the living room when James walks through the door, not even 30 minutes since he left. While he was gone I did the dishes and tidied up the house to occupy myself so I didn't go crazy, but I couldn't focus on any task so instead I just wore a hole in the floor.

"I didn't know which one to get," James says nervously, dropping the bag on the coffee table.

"So you got them all?" I dig through the bag and find at least 20 tests.

"Yeah?" He says, like even he is unsure of the answer. I pick a random test and head to the bathroom. "I'll be right here," he calls to me. Thank god he isn't all up in my business right now. I'm already overwhelmed and don't know how to handle my emotions, let alone his.

I close the door and hurry to unwrap the test. It's one of the digital ones that says 'pregnant' or 'not pregnant' so you don't have to spend forever looking at the stupid lines to see if there are two of them. As soon as I've peed on the stick and cleaned up, I open the door and go back to the living room. James, who is sitting with his head in his hands and elbows on his knees, shoots his head up and looks at me.

"We have to wait for 1 minute," I sigh, slumping onto the couch and leaning into his side. He nods and wraps an arm around my side, eyeing the test that's flipped upside down on the table in front of us. "What do we do if it's positive?"

He turns to look at me, "what do you want to do if it is?"

"I don't know," I shake my head and close my eyes. This monumental decision possibly before me...and I have to make it in less than a minute.

"Look at me," he leans back and places his hand on my cheek, angling my eyes towards his. I open my eyes and am overwhelmed by the emotions shown so clearly on his face. "If you don't want to keep it, then we can get in the car and drive to the nearest clinic. It's what? 9 hours away," he shrugs. "Washington is a safe haven state for abortion after all." I nod, absorbing his words. "But if you want to keep it then I'm all for that. No matter what your decision is, I will love and support you completely."

"Okay," I nod my head and take a deep breath, prepping myself. I turn to look at the test on the table and then back at James. "You look. I can't," I shake my head, tears forming in my eyes.

"Okay," he whispers, wiping away my tears with his thumbs as he cups my cheeks with his hands. He kisses me once before reaching over and grabbing the test. I scoot away, letting go of him and leaning back against the couch to wait for his reaction. He takes one deep breath before flipping it over and looking at the results. He goes completely still, not moving an inch. Not even breathing.

He looks up at me, his face not revealing anything. Slowly, I grab the rest from his hand and read the word that is clear as day, 'Pregnant.' I look up at James and try to say something but all that comes out is a squeak. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his lap and wraps me in a hug as tears rush down my face.

"Are these happy or sad tears?" He asks. I pull back and look at his face, taking in all of the details before landing on his eyes. His always sparkling, beautiful brown eyes. It's at this moment that I know what I want to do. I want this baby with this man.

"Happy," I smile at him.

"You want to keep it?" He asks, tears pooling in his eyes as he allows the joy to finally run through his veins. I nod, leaning forward and kissing him as he places a palm on my stomach. "I'm going to love this little baby so much," he grins at me after breaking the kiss to look down at where his hand sits.

I place my hand over his and am overwhelmed with joy. Sure this baby wasn't planned and we are still really young, but I know that I can do anything as long as James is with me. The life growing inside of me is half of him and half of me. Something that we created together.