After Five Years

Chapter 9

The sound of laughter greets me as I walk into the apartment after an extremely long and tedious shift.

Not only were three different drinks spilled on me, but I also got sick and had to spend twenty minutes in the bathroom vomiting resulting in an angry boss.

"What's going on in here?"I ask walking into Mia's room. Mia is laying in her bed with Autumn, her laptop sitting between them.

"Impromptu Office marathon," Autumn says not taking her eyes away from the screen. "I brought you ice cream, it in the freezer."

"I knew there's a reason I'm friends with you Autumn." I joke. I look at Mia who hasn't looked at me. "Did you get me anything?"

Her face turns to me and is completely emotionless. "Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to go shower, and when I get back we are going to watch the casino episode." I say then walk out of the room, leaving no room for argument. They know the casino episode is my favorite.

I quickly grab a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants out of my room and head to the bathroom. I then turn the shower on and strip out of my clothes, a restricting pair of skinny jeans and a work t-shirt. Once I get in the shower, I stand under the hot water stream until I feel all my muscles relaxing. After getting out of the shower and getting dressed I open the bathroom door. The smell of fish surrounds me and my stomach immediately rolls. My throat starts burning and rush to the toilet and vomit for the third time today. When I finish I wipe my mouth then look up to see Mia standing in the bathroom doorway studying me. Autumn is sitting on the floor behind her with a sympathetic look on her face. Mia suddenly holds out a cup and a white and purple box. I take the box from her and look at it.

"How did you know?" I ask as my hands start shaking.

"Your period is nonexistent, and you're throwing up all the time." Mia replies. "We even cooked fish just to see if you'd throw up."

"And you turned down wine last week which is so not you." Autumn adds.

"Now," Mia hands me the cup, "pee in this cup that way it will be easier to take both tests."

My eyes flicker between the two of them before I give Autumn a weak smile.

Nodding at me then smiling she reaches forward and closes the bathroom door so it's just Mia and me.

Autumn knows I love her but sometimes I need it to just be Mia.

Tears start to blur my vision, and Mia doesn't hesitate to pull me into a hug.

"No matter what, everything will be okay. I am always going to be here. Autumn's always going to be here. And once you tell Isaiah I'm sure he will always be here for you."

Just the mention of Isaiah's name causes me to practically start wailing.

"But we don't know anything yet," Mia's starting to panic, "so let's not mention him until we're sure." She pulls away from the hug and sits in the bathtub. "Now I'm going to sit in here with the curtain closed and you're gonna pee in that cup, okay?"

I sniffle then nod. "Okay."

Once the shower curtain is closed, I quickly pee into the cup. Then I open both pregnancy tests and dip them into the cup setting them on the counter after.

While I'm washing my hands the shower curtain is suddenly yanked open and Mia sits down on the floor resting her back on the tub.

"I forgot you just used the shower and now my butt is wet."

I can't help but snort as I sit down next to her.

"Should I be concerned you didn't say anything to me?" Mia asks, breaking the silence we had fallen into.

"No," I immediately reply. "It had nothing to do with not wanting you to know. I was simply trying to prolong the inevitable. I actually wanted you to know so you could help me."

"Good, because I already booked you your first checkup."

I choke on the air. "What?"

"I know we don't know for sure yet but, you threw up two days ago while making tacos so; I'm pretty sure. Your first appointment is August third at eleven over at Hopkins. You should be roughly ten to twelve weeks by then. That is, if you are pregnant, other wise you should probably still go see a doctor to figure out what's going on."

I give her a weak smile. "Thank you."

After what feels like hours, the timer on Mia's phone finally goes off.

I'm frozen until Mia squeezes my hand reassuringly. "No matter what, I will be here."

I take a deep breath and stand up looking at both tests on the counter. The emotion I feel sweep over me knocks the breath from my lungs. I'm terrified yet excited. I'm thrilled yet heartbroken. The two lines on both tests suddenly become blurry as my eyes again fill with tears.

When my silent tears turn into sobs, Mia pulls me into a tight hug. She stands there hugging me and whispering words of reassurance until I'm able to calm down.

"You have to tell him."

I start shaking my head. "I can't," I say, my voice cracking. "He won't care."

"You don't know that."

"You don't know he'll care either." I snap at her.

"You're right, I don't know that. But, what I do know, is he's the father and he deserves to know."

She's right. "Okay, I'll tell him after my first checkup."

She gives me a stern look. "Just don't wait too long Meg."

"I won't, I promise. Autumn, get in here." The door opens a few seconds later with Autumn looking curious.

"I'm pregnant."

***
So you probably saw that coming but what do you think?

🖤