Goodbye for now || n.h

Chapter 17

I closed the door behind me, seeing a white paper in front of me on the floor. With a frown on my face I picked it up.

"There's my birthday boy! I have a present for you waiting in the kitchen / D"

I lightly chuckled to myself and hung my jacket on the wall before heading towards the kitchen. The flat was extremely quiet, more than usual, and I started to wonder if she was home at all.

I turned on the lights as I walked in and found another note beside a small, rectangle white box on the kitchen counter. It looked like a box you keep necklaces in, but Dakota wouldn't buy me a necklace. I read the note before reaching for the box.

"You're being videotaped, so be careful"

Once again I frowned to myself and looked around me. There were no visible camera to see, but I guess she had hidden it well. But why on earth would she want to videotape me while I'm opening the gift?

I lifted off the small lid. My heart skipped a beat when I looked down. There were a pregnancy test tucked into the box, and it had a plus sign.

Dakota's pregnant?

I just stared down into the box, trying to figure out what to feel about this. Of course I was happy and excited about it, but this could also be one of her many pranks. Deep down I somehow knew she would never joke about something like this.

Oh my god, I'm going to be a dad.

How the hell are we going to afford this? Sure, Dakota's back at working with her cousin at the kindergarten and Dave gave me a raise a couple of weeks ago. But that's far from being able to buy all the stuff a kid needs.

"Your reaction sucked."

I was startled by her sudden voice and quickly spun around. She was standing by the doorframe, and held another small present in her hands.

"I thought you'd have a priceless reaction to it, but I got nothing."

"You're... you're pregnant?"

She smiled, gently patting her stomach. "Three weeks."

I placed the box on the counter again and quickly headed her way. She knew what I was doing and lifted her arms up. I wrapped my arms around her waist and she swung her arms around my neck. I picked her up, spinning her around and couldn't help but laugh against her shoulder. Then I set her down on the floor again, cupping her face between my palms.

"We're going to be parents."

"I know." She smiled, still having her arms around my neck. "And I know we didn't plan this, but-"

"But that's fine." I cut her off. "Everything will be just fine."

I kissed her, smiling upon her lips.

"I was just lucky the test could show me the plus sign right in time for your birthday. So around late in May we'll be taking home a new born baby from the hospital."

"Aren't you scared?" I asked her, slightly frowning.

But Dakota just smiled, shaking her head.

"Not at all. It's only two months before I turn 23, so we'll be fine. And since I know you, you've already been thinking about money. So I'm going to talk to Lucas tomorrow, ask if I could get more shifts or a higher ranking. Don't worry about the money, okay?" She asked, getting up on her tiptoes to kiss me. Then she unwrapped her arms around my neck and handed me the other gift. I opened it and saw a silver watch.