But Are You Sure?

chapter one

My day was going normally enough, until I decided I needed to take a pregnancy test. 

I was supposed to start my period two days ago, but it never came. That mixed with my recent headaches and soreness drove me to the market to grab a test.

I had thought about it. I mulled over every symptom in my head. My headache: did I eat today? Did I drink enough water? The soreness: had I worked out recently? Pulled a muscle? 

I almost didn't get a test. I chalked the soreness up to my past injuries flaring up for some reason. I took some pain medication and went to get ready to go to sleep.

That is, until Eren got into bed and wrapped his arm around me, his forearm squeezing my chest. We always slept like this, I had never had a problem with it. But last night, it hurt. It hurt so bad that I had to put an icepack on my boob. Eren laughed, and I lied and said I had been doing too many pushups.

That's when I knew I needed to take a test.

I was scared of getting the results simply because I didn't want to be pregnant. I'm only twenty-three, not even a full year out of college. I wasn't ready for this kind of milestone in my life.

I placed the stick on my bathroom sink and walked into the kitchen to wash my hands and get something to drink. Out of habit, I reached for the wine. My fingers hit the bottle when I realized that alcohol might not be the best choice right now. Instead, I poured myself a glass of water. I drank it quickly and placed the cup on the countertop. The test would be ready by now.

My heartbeat quickened as I walked back into the bathroom. I picked up the stick and read my results.

What I saw was a dark pink plus sign.

I wasn't surprised; all my symptoms pointed to being knocked up. I wrapped the stick up in a paper towel and took it into the living room. I mean, Eren wouldn't believe me without some kind of physical evidence.

I didn't know if either of us were ready for a baby, since we had only been dating for three years. Of course, we knew that we were currently better off than most young adults fresh out of college. We own a three-bedroom house in the suburbs of Washington D.C., both working our dream jobs. Eren taught kids how to play the guitar, and he had almost every kid in the district as his student. He also was the regular entertainment at more than one popular jazz bar and coffee shop. As for me, I worked as a freelance artist for a while until I was commissioned to redo the covers for the book series Harry Potter. Since then I've made good money illustrating children's books.

This wasn't my first run in with pregnancy; I had gotten an abortion in college. I wasn't ready for a kid and neither was Eren. It was obvious at that point that we couldn't support a child and we both decided it was the right choice. 

But now was different. I mean, we could support a baby.

My head swirled with thoughts when I heard the garage door grind open. I grabbed the pregnancy test off the table and curled up on the couch.

"Mikasa? Are you still up?" He called from the foyer, putting his shoes and keys away. He walked into the living room and caught my eye.

"Why aren't you asleep yet? It's so late! You look tired." He said, walking into the kitchen.

"Can we please have a conversation about something? I understand if you need to eat or wash up first or whatever." I said, trying to act as normal as possible. His eyes filled with concern.

"Of course we can talk. Although, I have to call-" he was cut off by his phone ringing loudly. He fished it out of his pocket and picked up.

"Armin." 

"What's Armin doing calling this late?" I asked, glancing at the clock. It was nearly midnight. Eren gave me a look of who knows. 

"Well I mean yeah. Yes. Yes, Armin." His face scrunched up with confusion and annoyance. 

"What do you mean you'll explain when you get here?!" Eren exclaimed as Armin hung up on him. Not even a minute later we heard knocking at the door.

"If that's Armin-"

"It is." Eren said, cutting off my hollow threat. He threw open our front door and walked in.

"Please, come in." Eren muttered under his breath. Armin made a beeline for the couch and plopped down next to me. He sighed loudly. Eren and I just looked at him in confused silence. Armin met my eyes and saw right through my facade. He always had a knack for that.

"What's wrong, Mikasa?" He asked, placing his hand on my shoulder. 

"Nothing. What's wrong with you?" I asked hastily.

"Yeah, Armin, we love you and everything, but it's midnight and you show up on our doorstep with no warning."

"Yeah, well, I need a place to stay." He explained nonchalantly, still studying my face. 

"What do you mean?" Eren sputtered.

"Well, I'm divorced, and I need somewhere to stay."

"Divorced?!" Eren and I yelled together, utterly shocked. Armin nodded calmly.

"Yeah, for a few months now. Mikasa, are you sure you're okay? You don't look well." He said, feeling my forehead with his hand. I knew somehow that Armin would find out my secret. 

"Armin. I am fine. You on the other hand, are not. You'd better start explaining." I threatened, seizing his wrist. Eren sat down on the couch next to Armin, clapping him on the back.

"Fine fine." He sighed, leaning back and laying his head on my stomach. I tensed ever so slightly, and he noticed. Armin always notices stuff like that. He shot up and stared in my eyes. A large smile crept onto his face.

"Mikasa! You're pregnant!"