I'm pregnant. The only person it could possibly be is Dante's. Somewhere along the line we weren't careful enough.
My hands drift down to my belly. Thank heaven Norwood never hit me there. He wanted the bruises to show. He wanted to humiliate me, so he didn't hit my stomach. It was a blessing in disguise.
He didn't know it, but he'd spared my baby's life.
I sit on my bed in shock. I'm going to be a mother. It makes me think of my own mother. I wonder what she would think. She'd probably be mad that I wasn't married yet. She would probably be excited.
I look back at the piano. My mother. I'm going to be a mother. It still doesn't feel real yet. I see Nan's bible sitting on the bookshelf. I wonder if my child will carry this large, heavy book through their life like I did mine.
I am about to reach for the book, but the phone rings. I half expect it to be the doctor telling me that he got the files mixed up and that I wasn't really pregnant.
But, my period is late. My breasts hurt even before last night, and I had been so tired the last few days.
The phone buzzes in my hands and I quickly pick it up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it's Sara. Are we still on for breakfast this morning?”
“Sara, I'm sorry, I forgot all about it.”
“Well, hurry your ass down here. I'm getting hungry waiting for you.”
“Sara, I-” I try to tell her that I'm not coming, but she has already hung up. I smile. That's part of why I like her so much. Like me, she doesn't take shit from anyone.
I consider not going down anyway, but I could use some fresh air. Ethan has given me a panic button to carry with me as well as pepper spray. I feel a little safer having them with me, even just going downstairs. I throw on some sweats and a little makeup to cover the bruises and make my way down to the diner.
As soon as Sara sees me, I can practically see her hackles go up.
“Did he do this to you?” she asks immediately. I shake my head. “You can tell me if he did. Nobody gets away with hurting my Cara like this.”
“It wasn't Dante,” I say. Already the few other patrons in the diner were looking our way. I dislike the fact that she drew so much attention to me, and I'm glad when I'm able to duck into a booth, away from their prying eyes.
“Well then, who was it?”
I sigh. I'm not sure I want to go into it all right now. I don't want to talk about Norwood. I don't want to talk about the pregnancy until I've told Dante.
“It's complicated,” I tell her. “Be kind to Ethan. He feels terrible about letting me walk into a bad situation.”
“That's why he was so moody.” She slouches back in her chair. “He wouldn't talk to me at all last night or this morning. What happened?”
“I decided to be macho and go into a meeting without backup,” I tell her. “It was a bad decision.”
“I'm so sorry, Cara. If you need me to help...”
“It's okay. I'll be fine. Just know that I'll be seeing a lot more of your boyfriend. I'm not going anywhere without him for a while.”
“Hell, I'll go with you too. No one messes with my friends.”
I smile at her. She's making me feel better already. “I want pancakes.”
“Okay.” She shrugs. “I actually have news for you. Good news.”
I wave to a waitress. Suddenly, I'm starving for pancakes. With syrup. It's probably the pregnancy.
“Good news?” I ask her as I wait for the waitress. Sara grins.
“I'll tell you after we order.”