I hauled everything out to the far end of the parking lot and put my groceries away. The test stayed in my purse.
I did the speed limit home, not wanting to draw any attention to myself. I took the back roads. I took some of my sneaky paths so no one would see me.
I managed to get home without anyone really seeing me. I put everything away and then slowly climbed the stairs and sat in the bathroom staring at the box.
What if I was pregnant?
What would I do? What would Jacob do? I wasn't sure how he was going to react. It was one thing to say you wanted kids, but a totally different thing to find out you had one.
But we were going to be parents.
Part of me was terrified. This wasn't what I had planned. This was a complete surprise.
But another part of me was excited. Happy, even. I was pregnant.
I was going to be a mother. It was all I'd wanted for a very long time and now I had it. Granted, it wasn't the way I wanted it, but I wasn't about to turn it down.
I just had to make sure.
So I peed on a stick and paced the bathroom floor for two minutes until two pink lines showed up.
I was pregnant.
And suddenly, things just got way more complicated.
Chapter 24
I stress baked the rest of the evening. Muffins, cookies, brownies, and I even attempted a double layer chocolate cake. It came out better than I expected and that made me feel a little bit better. I would have kept baking, but I ran out of flour and didn't have the guts to go into town and get more.
Jacob got pulled to the hospital for a patient after stitching up Jackie and he wasn't able to get back. Jacob had privileges at the local hospitals so that he could treat the patients he knew in the hospital setting along with the doctors there. The privileges also allowed him to deliver the town's babies at the hospital as well.
That night, his patient unfortunately took a turn for the worst, and Jacob didn't want to leave the hospital at all. I told him it was fine and that I would see him at the office in the morning.
I held the phone in my hand a long time after he hung up.
I had no idea how I was going to tell him I was pregnant, but I knew on the phone while one of his patients was dying was not the right time.
It was late and I was out of flour. I took a bath and then laid in bed trying to sleep. Unfortunately, despite feeling exhausted, my mind was too busy to rest.
My phone buzzed with messages from my mother. They were mostly things like: call me. What have you done? I raised you better than this.
I didn't answer any of them. I did get one text from my father.
* * *
You doing okay, kiddo?
* * *
I felt pretty safe answering him.
* * *
I'm fine.
* * *
Okay. I love you.