She flinches then shakes her head. “I’m not going with you.”
“Lex, whatever is going on, we can deal with it…together. But you can’t miss Georgia’s graduation. You will never forgive yourself. This is a big day for your sister.”
She sniffles and fresh tears surface. “You’re right.”
I sigh in relief. “I’ll meet you in the front.” I walk around the house and a minute later, Lexi steps out. “We can come back and get your jeep.”
“No, we can’t,” she says, stepping up to me. “Because…” She releases a sob that hits me in the chest. It’s as if someone is gripping my heart with a vice grip. “We’re not together anymore.” She slides her ring off her finger and tries to hand it to me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I step back as if the ring has the potential to burn me. “What’s going on?”
“I’m calling off the wedding…our engagement,” she says, tears streaming down her face. She grabs my hand and forces the ring into my hand, closing my fingers around it.
“Why?” None of this makes any damn sense.
“Because I’m pregnant,” she sobs. My eyes go to her belly. She’s pregnant…We’re having a baby. Then why the fuck would she leave me? I’m about to ask, when her next words stun me into silence. “And I don’t know if the baby is yours.”
Lexi
The look of pain and confusion on Alec’s face damn near makes me throw up. I didn’t plan to tell him like this, not right now, which is why I ran, so I could take some time to figure out how to tell him. I should’ve known Ryan would tell him I was here. I’m not mad, though. I shouldn’t have left without telling anyone where I was going, especially Alec. He must’ve been so worried. I was going to text him that I was okay, but my phone died last night, and I didn’t bring a charger with me. By the time I thought about it, after Micaela and Ryan left, I couldn’t find one. They must’ve taken the chargers with them.
“Lex,” Alec croaks. “You’re going to have to explain this to me, because I know damn well you would never cheat on me.”
He’s right, I wouldn’t. Because he’s my entire world. Which is why I had to break up with him, because he deserves more… better… than what I can give him.
My head feels fuzzy, probably from all the crying and throwing up and lack of eating. “Let’s sit down and I’ll explain.”
We have a seat on the porch swing, and it makes my heart hurt. Micaela and Ryan have the cutest little family home. They have a large backyard with a jungle gym for RJ, a wraparound porch with a swing that fits the three of them, and there’s even a white picket fence. My hand goes to my belly, as I think about how badly I wanted this: the house, the family, the white picket fence. Only a few short days ago I was fantasizing about being a mom. Now, I…
“Lex, please,” Alec pleads.
“Sorry.” I take a deep breath. “As I said, I’m pregnant…and it might not be your baby.” My thoughts go back to yesterday…
“Alexandria Scott,” the nurse calls out with a smile on her face.
“That’s me,” I tell her, standing.
We go through the standard visit stuff: weight, blood pressure, temperature check.
“It says you’re here to get your pregnancy confirmed,” she says once she’s done jotting it all down on her iPad.
“Yes.”
“Go ahead and change into this gown and pee in a cup in the bathroom. Write your name on it and slip it through the metal door.” She hands me a white gown. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.
Once she’s gone, I do as she says, then have a seat on the table. As she said, a few minutes later, she returns, bringing with her my doctor.
“Lexi,” Dr. O’Neil says, shaking my hand. My mom, Georgia, and I have been seeing her for years. “How are you?”
“I’m okay.”
“The urine test confirmed you’re pregnant.” I expect to suddenly feel nervous or worried. I mean, this is it. It’s been confirmed. I’m pregnant. But I don’t. I feel happy. Images of me telling Alec and him being as excited as me flit through my head.
“It said in your chart you weren’t sure when your last period was,” she adds. “So, we’re going to do an ultrasound so we can give you an estimated date.”
“Okay.”
She rolls a condom onto the probe and explains she’s doing an internal ultrasound because if I’m not too far along, she won’t be able to pick up a heartbeat with the external one.
She turns the screen on and almost immediately a loud whooshing sound fills the room. “That’s your baby’s heartbeat,” she explains. My eyes stay trained on the small fluttering heart as I tear up. A heartbeat. My baby has a heartbeat. There’s a living being in my body and in several months I’ll be able to hold him or her in my arms. I immediately regret not telling Alec. I didn’t want to get his hopes up if I was wrong and wasn’t pregnant, but now he’s missing out on this amazing, magical moment.