im, “Sry. Knocked up. Having ur baby.”
She really hoped he didn’t want her to terminate the pregnancy. Her stomach churned even further at the thought. She couldn’t even squash bugs. There was no way she could—
Elle shook her head. She wouldn’t even think about that.
Moving to her laptop she scheduled an appointment with her doctor. After, she started doing web searches. She read about the changes that would happen to her body. She felt woefully ignorant about the subject. One search led to another. She kept reading stories and seeing these horrific pictures. Elle was terrified.
She was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack by the time Jim arrived. She really didn’t want to have this conversation. Opening the door at his knock, she said, “Hey. C’mon in.”
Jim narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her face and asked, “Elle. What’s wrong?”
“We need to talk,” Elle said as she led him to the couch.
She saw him wince and thought, you’ve got no idea. After they sat down Elle continued, “I don’t know how to say this with any tact, so I’m going to just blurt it out. I’m pregnant.”
Jim sat there for a moment, shock written all over his face. When he finally spoke, he said, “Wow. That wasn’t what I was expecting. You’re sure?”
“Three different tests, three different brands. I’m sure,” Elle said, miserably.
Jim rubbed a hand over his face as he absorbed the information. Carefully he asked, “So, what did you want to do about that?”
“I want to keep it, if that’s what you mean. I don’t think that I could…” Elle trailed off, unable to complete the sentence.
“Okay. Good. I don’t know if I’d be able to handle that. That’s you and me,” Jim said as he pointed to her midsection, struggling to articulate.
Understanding his thoughts perfectly, Elle breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Agreed.”
Leaning forward, she put her head in her hands. She was swamped with a sense of relief knowing he wanted her to have the baby, too. When she felt Jim’s arm slide around her, she flinched slightly in surprise and then leaned into him.
“This is way earlier than either of us wanted, honey. It’s going to be okay,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Turning, Elle wrapped her arms around him and said, “Way earlier. I don’t get it. We used protection every single time.”
Snorting, Jim said, “Clearly that didn’t work out.” A moment later he looked at her and added, “Holy shit. I’m going to be a father.”
“I’m fucking terrified,” Elle confessed.
“Me too,” Jim answered, a dumb struck look on his face.
“I made an appointment for Tuesday at four with a doctor,” Elle said. “In case you wanted to go.”
“I have a sales meeting but I don’t really need to be there for it. I’ll ask Chris or Deacon to handle it,” Jim said. “This is more important.”
Elle felt her eyes water. Jim immediately said, “Oh. No no no no. Don’t do that. Come here, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay.” He reached over and pulled her into his lap and held her.
Sniffling, Elle said, “Sorry. I’m a mess. I really didn’t want to go alone.”
“You’re not doing any of this alone. I’m going to be with you the whole way. We can be a terrified mess together,” he said as he rubbed his hand down her back. “Are you feeling okay? Do you have morning sickness?”
“I haven’t thrown up, but I’ve been a little queasy in the afternoon the past few days. Other than that, I’ve been fine so far,” Elle said.
“Your dad is going to kick my ass, isn’t he?” Jim asked with a wince.
“He’ll probably shoot you on sight,” Elle said.
Jim nodded, then said, “Considering I knocked you up less than a month into our relationship, I kinda feel like that’s fair.”
Snorting, Elle said, “Yeah. I really guess we can’t class this up, can we?”