Exhausted and famished, I finally pull myself off of the floor. Looking in the mirror, my eyes are red and my face is blotchy. Those scallops definitely did not agree with me. I wash my hands and splash some water on my face. Making my way back to Bain, he stands right away, coming towards me.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. I was fine, then there was this smell in the bathroom and I lost it. I threw everything up.”
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry. Let’s get you home.”
I nod my head and Bain waves the waiter over. “Can we get our check please?”
“Sure, but your meals?”
“My girlfriend just got sick from your food. So we’ll pass.”
“Oh, please accept our apologies. The meal is on us, Mr. Adams.”
“Thanks,” Bain says and grabs my hand, walking us towards the front doors.
“Carl,” Bain barks into the phone. “We’re ready.” He hangs up and looks at me. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I feel better.”
He kisses my forehead and we wait outside for Carl. The events that just took place swirl around my head. Why did I get so sick? It’s not like me at all.
Then someone walks by with a cigarette and I inhale the scent. What once was my favorite habit gives me that same nauseous feeling. I know right away that it wasn’t the food.
I take a few deep breaths to calm my stomach and count back to my last period. “Fuck,” I blurt out.
“What? Are you going to get sick again?”
I shake my head. “No. No, Bain…I think I might be pregnant.”
He smiles ear to ear and asks me, “Really?”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“My period is late and the way everything smells is making me feel strange.”
We get into the back of Carl’s car and Bain asks him, “Carl, will you stop at a CVS?”
“Yes, sir, I will.”
“Why are you smiling at me like that?” I ask him.
He has the biggest grin on his face. “Arion, I don’t know how you feel about kids, I mean, we’ve never talked about it. But just imagine,” he says placing his hand over my stomach.
I slap it away. Is he out of his goddamn mind? “No, Bain!”
“Here you go. I’ll wait here,” Carl says.
Bain practically drags me out of the car. I’m in shock. What the fuck are we doing? It’s not possible. I take my pill every day and I don’t miss it. I never have. This can’t be happening right now.
“Which one do we buy?” Bain asks me, looking at the shelves of pregnancy tests.
I shake my head and he kisses my cheek, grabbing the most expensive one.
“Wanna take the test here?” he asks me after we check out.
“No, I’m not going to find out if we are pregnant in the bathroom of a fucking CVS.”
With that shit-eating grin plastered on his face, we get back in the car. I look up and sense Carl has caught on to what we are doing as Bain reads the back of the box. “Don’t you say a word, Carl,” I snap at him.
“Not a word, ma’am.”
“Put that back in the bag,” I gripe at Bain before we get out of the car at the condo. Both of us race across the lobby, my sudden sickness gone. When we enter the apartment, Guy looks up at us like we are two loons as we run into the bathroom.
“What do I do with it?” I ask him.
“Just pee on it, I guess.”
“Maybe we should wait and see if I get sick again. I’m sure it was just the food.”
“Arion, your period is late. We have to fly to Miami soon. You’re doing this.”
I nod my head taking the test from him and go to the toilet. After I’m done I hand it back to him and we stand there waiting. The room around us is as still as a movie on pause. Guy comes into the room and sits next to Bain. He scratches the top of his head while we stare at this ridiculous stick that could change our lives forever.
“I know we’ve never talked about it, but regardless what it says, Arion, I want kids. I really do.”
Then the result on the screen is displayed, Pregnant. I blink a few times and watch Bain drop to his knees. He lifts my shirt and begins kissing my stomach. I stand frozen, a tad bit in shock. Tears flow from my eyes, watching him. Bain on his knees in front of me like this is nothing I’ve ever seen.
He presses his lips to my stomach and whispers something, then says, “Stay here.”
I nod my head knowing in this moment that I couldn’t move if I wanted to. Guy follows Bain and I see him rummaging in his dresser. Then he comes to me, stopping in the doorway of the bathroom for half a second. He takes a deep breath and looks down at the box in his hand.