Be Your Everything

s i x t y e i g h t

"I had the lab run the test a second time to be sure," the nurse tells me with a soothing tone. "I'm going to advise you to see an obstetrician as soon as possible so that you can discuss your options. We have one on-call upstairs; I can ask her to come speak with you now if you like."

"Okay," is all I can manage to say. I have so many questions, but one is sticking out above the rest.

Luke gulps behind me, confirming my suspicion that he's thinking the same thing that I am. Calum already looks as if he's seen a ghost, but I know what I'm about to say next isn't going to make him feel any better.

"Sir?" I call after the nurse just before he can disappear out the door, making him stop in the doorway. "Is it possible to run a paternity test before we leave?"

"What?" Calum looks even more shocked than he did moments ago. All of the color has drained from his face, and my heart sinks when I see the emptiness in his eyes.

All I can do is look down at the ground in shame, but the nurse simply says that he will need a sample of blood from each potential father to complete the test. He promises to return shortly to draw the samples before exiting the room once again, leaving Calum, Luke and I in an extremely uncomfortable silence.

"Lennie, did you know?" Luke asks me hesitantly, and I adamantly shake my head.

"I had no idea," I tell him honestly. "I didn't get my period last week, but it's always been irregular, so I didn't think much of it."

"Elle..." Calum brings my attention back to him, his face filled with confusion and disappointment. "Why are you getting a paternity test done?"

I mentally scold myself for not telling Calum about what I did with Luke while we were on vacation, now knowing that it all was about to be laid out on the table. I take as deep of a breath as I can manage and sit up in the bed to answer Calum's question.

"Because, I don't know if this is your child," I turn my head to face Luke, "or his."

"Are you serious?" Calum asks in disbelief, "you guys actually hooked up? I thought you were just faking it to make me jealous."

"More than once," Luke mutters just loudly enough for everyone to hear. I snap my head around and glare at him for bragging at a time like this, but my attention quickly returns to Calum, who looks like he's been punched in the stomach.

I want to say something, anything, to make him feel better, but I'm not sure there's anything that will ease his nerves as much as a confirmed paternity test will. I don't even know what he's dreading more: the idea that this could be his child, or that it might not be.

"We were broken up..." I say quietly. Luke places a comforting hand on my back and shushes me as I sniffle back a tear. I feel so ashamed of myself, but I don't even fully understand why. A moment later, the nurse comes back in to take the blood samples, but none of us say a word the entire time he's there.

"I'll be back in just a few minutes." He puts the samples into a plastic bag and hurries out of the room, leaving us to resume our conversation.

"What if that's Luke's kid that you're carrying?" Calum asks me irritatedly once we're alone again. I'm not surprised that he's upset, but his quickness to anger does catch me off-guard.

"What if it's yours?!" Luke snaps back at him. "What the hell are we supposed to do then? There's no way to cover that up in the press, and Baker would come for Elle. It's probably best for everyone if I'm the father."

I never thought that out of all the potential problems we'd run into with this fake relationship setup, pregnancy would be one of them. Until now, my worst fear was explaining the relationship to our parents, but how am I even going to begin figuring out what to do with a child in the mix of things?

"You mean it's best for you!" Calum is pissed at this point, but I'm more angry with both of them for being so selfish right now. This is bigger than both of them, and I'm not about to let them turn anything (or anyone) else into a turf war.

"Am I the only one who cares about what's best for the baby?!" I glare at the two boys and sit back in my seat so that I can see them both. "What's best for him? He deserves two parents that love him, and I will do everything in my power to make sure he has that, regardless of which one of you is the father."

"You're right," Luke sighs in resignation. "Regardless of whether or not that kid is mine, I want him to be alright."

I look up at him with a smile on my face, but my joy is quickly interrupted by Calum's pessimism.

"So you're going to keep it?" He asks hesitantly, and I look at him in shock.

"Yes, I am," I snap angrily, but then quickly backtrack. "I mean... I don't know. This is a lot to process at once. I need some time to get my thoughts together, but if I do go through with this, it's my choice. I'm not asking either of you to stick around but-"

"What are you talking about?" Luke shakes his head furiously as he kneels down beside me. "Of course we're not going to leave you alone in this. Give me some time to come up with a plan, but I promise, I'm not letting you go through this by yourself."

"Well, that's great for you," Calum interjects, "but how do I fit into all of this? We still have to acknowledge the fact that this kid is probably mine."

I don't even know what to think right now. How can Calum be so impossible in this situation when Luke is being so kind and concerned? I want to scream at him... or cry or... do both?

"If he is, we'll figure something out," Luke answers him calmly. "Right now, let's just try and stay calm. Elle is the most important person in all of this. We need to focus on taking care of her."

"Thanks Luke," I smile up at him just as the nurse comes back into the room. He looks unsure of himself as he scans our faces, and I want to tell him to just come out with it already.

"Did you already run the test?" I ask him eagerly, and he nods.

He's nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other, and I can tell this is a more uncomfortable situation for him than normal. Whatever is on that clipboard is going to determine so many things. I have no idea what he's about to tell me, but either way, I know I'm in for one hell of a ride.