His Vanilla Girl | ✔

Chapter Thirty-seven

The next day, from sunup to sundown, her phone rang off the hook and it was Caleb each and every time. By the end of the day, she finally put his phone number on her block list. He wasn't going to have a chance to decide what he wanted until she was out of the picture entirely.

"Becky, I'm going to go to my parents' place for a while," Maria said, putting her hands in the hot soapy dishwater.

"What do you want me to do if Caleb comes calling?" her roomie asked as she grabbed a plate from the dishrack to dry it.

"Nothing, just do nothing. Don't let him know where I am." Maria was almost certain that Becky would somehow find a way to meddle. Her roomie really liked the idea of a double wedding, so Maria knew that Becky was going to do what she could to talk her into taking Caleb back.

"Are you sure, hun? I thought you really liked him."

"That's why I don't want you doing anything. He needs to come to terms with his new life first, and he won't be able to do that with me around."

"So you think he might get back together with Karen?"

Maria shrugged, running her hand carefully over the dinner plate to make sure that she had scrubbed it clean before placing it in the rack. The thought of him getting back together with his ex killed her inside, but he deserved that chance.

It's not every day that an old love comes back into your life, one that you've had a kid with. That was the stuff love stories were made of. Almost every other book she'd read was about a second-chance romance. And she knew that first love never ever dies, and she didn't want to find herself wrapped up in the middle of it and end up losing him in the end anyway. Better to cut loose now and give him the freedom to see what's there without having to worry about her feelings.

It tore her up inside though. Her stomach was churning, and she hadn't been able to eat anything all day without running to the bathroom. She wasn't sure if it was because she was upset or if it was another issue entirely. If she was pregnant, it would really screw things up.

She bought a pregnancy test earlier, but hadn't taken it yet. It said to wait until the morning as that was when the HCG was most concentrated. How would she be able to wait until morning? The test was sitting there on the counter. She couldn't help but glance over at it every now and again.

"You could probably take it now you know."

"I don't want to risk it coming up negative if I am."

"Well, if you've already missed your period, then it should work regardless."

With the new circumstances, she really hoped it was just her body being stressed out that was making her period late, but she knew that didn't account for the puking. It wasn't like any stomach bug she's had before.

"I can't be pregnant, Becky," she said with tears welling up in her eyes. "I can't."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. If you are, I'll be there for you. Nathan will be, too."

"You guys already have so much going on, you don't need to be worrying about me, too."

Becky made a "psh" sound, waving off her concern before wrapping an arm around Maria's shoulder. "It's my turn to help you this time. You've always been there for me. Now go take the damn test."

Maria walked over to where the test was sitting and picked the bag up by the handle, letting it hang from her thumb and index finger, acting like it was contaminated or a snake poised to bite.

"It's not alive, girl!"

"That's what you think," she said, sticking her tongue out at her roomie.