*
Nausea had Makenna tearing out of bed and dashing across the room. She threw up everything she’d had for dinner the previous night and possibly some stuff she’d eaten two weeks ago given how many times she wretched.
Damn. When she’d felt better yesterday, she’d assumed she was over the stomach virus. Maybe she ought to go to the doctor. Shuddering, she flushed the toilet, then pulled herself up to the sink to rinse out her mouth.
Which was when it occurred to her.
She was late.
No, she couldn’t be—
There’d been that one time a condom broke as Caden pulled out, but Makenna had had a period since then. True, it had been light. But her periods had always been like that—light one month, heavier the next; coming twenty-eight days later one month, then thirty-one the next. Which was why she hadn’t given the lateness much thought.
Except this nausea had her thinking.
No.
No.
Shit.
Thoughts reeling, she shuffled back into the bedroom, completely unsure what she was going to say, to find the bed empty. “Caden? Hey? Where’d you go?” She found the other rooms dark and empty. What the heck?
Flicking on the kitchen light, she found a note on the counter.
Red—
I didn’t want to wake you. Realized I needed something from the house before my shift so I left early. Talk to you later. –C
Makenna frowned. In all the time that they’d been together, he’d never left before morning. On a sigh, she combed her fingers through her hair. Not that it meant anything. Oh, screw it, she was just out of sorts from her maybe-but-probably-not-bathroom-revelation. Back in the bedroom, she disconnected her phone from its charger and shot off a text.
Missed waking up to your freaking gorgeous face. Have a good day! xo
She didn’t get a message right back, but he never texted while driving, and he was probably on his way to the station given the time. She sagged down onto the edge of the bed.
Could she really be pregnant? Her stomach did a flip flop that made her wrap her arms around herself. Crap. There was no way she could make it through the entire work day without finding out.
Forcing herself up, she threw on some leggings, a sweatshirt, and a pair of gray knit boots, and ran a brush through her hair. She bundled into her coat and grabbed her purse, and then she was a woman on a mission. This was one of the things she loved about where she lived—the little urban enclave of Clarendon had everything you could need, most of it within easy walking distance. Including the Walgreens, just two blocks away.
Soon she was standing in front of a shelf full of pregnancy tests. And, good God, why were there so many? Pluses, minuses, one line, two lines, words, symbols.
This is ridiculous. Right? I don’t need these.
Except. Maybe I do?
Pull down your big girl panties and pee on a stick and you’ll know for sure.
Right.
On a sigh, Makenna grabbed one test that claimed to be able to provide the earliest results. And then she picked another that not only gave the words “pregnant” or “not pregnant” but also estimated how many weeks had lapsed since her last ovulation. Awesome.
She made it back to her apartment in no time flat, and for the first time since she’d met Caden, she was glad he wasn’t there. Only because she didn’t want to burden him with a possible baby scare without knowing there was definitely something to worry about in the first place. If she thought he wasn’t ready to hear I love you, she could only imagine that his unreadiness to hear I’m pregnant would probably have to be multiplied by a factor of, like, a gajillion.
Dumping the bag out into the bathroom sink, Makenna had the oddest thought—she didn’t know what she wanted the results to say. Which made no sense given that she was twenty-five and they’d been together less than three months, but the thought was there all the same.
With her heart in her throat, she opened the boxes and laid the plastic sticks out in a row—two of each kind. She used them all, just to be quadruple sure. And then she waited. And her pulse raced. And her belly flipped.
And then the results came in.
Plus. Plus. Pregnant 3+. Pregnant 3+.
Makenna stared at the little windows like she was trying to decipher Sanskrit.
Plus. Plus. Pregnant 3+. Pregnant 3+.
She was pregnant. And it had been more than three weeks since she’d ovulated? How far along was she? She sank down onto the closed toilet lid and dropped her head into her hands.
Oh God. Ohgodohgodohgod.
Okay. Don’t freak out.
Right. I’ll do that right after I freaking freak out!