Claude & Zoe
I knew it was over when I threw up for the first time. Claude and I had been on and off going on two years, and a baby was not the solution to bringing us together.
We had recently reconciled after a three week break, and it was intense. It seemed like the entire night and even the next day was dedicated to making up for lost time. But in the heat of the passion filled moment, we forgot about condoms.
I sat on the edge of my bathtub, turning the test that read positive over in my hands. We'd never talked about kids because we were under a mutual agreement about not wanting any, yet here I was, pregnant.
"Zooooooooo?" Claude yelled. He'd just gotten home from practice.
"Fuck it," I mumbled and stood up, smoothing my shorts down and flipping my hair over my shoulder.
"Hey cutie," he said, barely looking up at me.
"Claude, I've got news."
He locked his phone and slowly looked up at me, then looking back down at my hand. Shit, I meant to hide it. He immediately started shaking his head with furrowed brows.
"This is a terrible joke, Zoe," he said, eyes still trained on the test.
"It's not a joke, dude. I'm pregnant."
"Holy fucking shit. No, hell no. We agreed on no kids! Shit, Zoe! You know how I feel about them!" He said while frantically running his fingers through his hair.
"Claude, you need to chill out," I said, stepping onto the next step. He moved back simultaneously.
"I'm not having a kid."
"We're having a kid," I said slowly. He was seriously freaking out.
"Abortion? Abortion sounds g-good," he stuttered.
I stopped where I was and threw the test at him as hard as I could. He flinched as it clipped his shoulder.
"I'm not getting a fucking abortion you piece of shit!" I screamed, running down the stairs.
I threw on my shoes, grabbed my keys and was out the door. Before I could get to my car, Claude was behind me with a hand on my arm.
"Get away from me! I can't believe you'd suggest something like that," I said, tears starting to spill over.
He ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled with his eyes closed before looking at me.
"Baby, Zoe, I'm sorry," he said, grabbing my chin and turning me back to him so we were making eye contact. "I don't want you to get an abortion. I don't even know why I said that. Maybe a kid won't be so bad."
I smiled a little and leaned into him, feeling somewhat relieved. After a minute, I pulled back and bit my lip.
"This is serious, Claude."
"I know, Zoe. But we're gonna pull through. I promise."
