The truth was, I didn’t even know how he felt about children. Maybe he didn’t like them at all. I knew he brought up his niece or nephew from time to time, but that was different. That was somebody else’s child. He could enjoy doting on them and have all the fun he wanted, then turn the child back over without having to take on any real responsibilities.
There was a huge difference between enjoying a young child when they were a relative, and actually wanting to raise one. I didn’t know how Tyler was going to cope with the idea of becoming a father.
But I couldn’t stand around in the water all day thinking about it. Eventually, he was going to get suspicious and come into the bathroom to find me. It would be better if I just went about my day and didn’t let on that anything was unusual. I didn’t want him thinking something was wrong or prying until I blurted everything out.
I got out of the shower and got dressed. When I got downstairs to the kitchen, Tyler looked at me with a questioning expression in his eyes.
“I was wondering what happened to you. Come on. Breakfast is ready and I don’t want it to get cold.”
We sat down at the table, and he dished out eggs, bacon, and potatoes on two plates in front of us. He added a couple of pieces of buttered toast and dug in. I knew he would think something was off if I didn’t eat, so I nibbled on a few bites. I was surprised to find eating actually helped to settle my stomach a bit. I couldn’t eat a lot, but it was enough that he didn’t question it.
After breakfast, we cleaned up, and then Tyler had to get ready to go to work. As soon as he was gone, I headed to Melissa’s. I couldn’t handle this completely on my own. I needed to tell her and have her there with me.
She opened the door with a wide smile, but it dropped as soon as she saw my face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I think I might be pregnant.”
She pulled me into her apartment and closed the door. “What’s going on?”
I dropped down onto the couch with a huge sigh. “I missed my period. My boobs hurt like hell. I’m sick to my stomach.”
She nodded as I rattled off the symptoms. “Alright. We’re just going to stay calm and take this one step at a time. Come to the bathroom.”
I followed her into the bathroom, and Melissa crouched down to rummage through the cabinet under her sink. She emerged with a box of pregnancy tests clutched in her hand. I looked at them strangely.
“Why do you have those?” I asked.
“When I had that scare, I bought about a million of them to make sure. When they came back negative several days in a row, I decided that was it and put the rest in the cabinet,” she said. “But now they’re here for you. Take a couple of them just to be sure.”
Melissa stepped out of the bathroom, and I took two tests out of the box. After thinking about it for a few seconds, I got out another.
Just like I had, Melissa sat outside the bathroom door while I took all three tests. I lined them up on the counter for the three minutes I had to wait for the results. That time dragged on until finally the timer on my phone went off. I took a breath and stepped up to the counter to look down at the tests.
Positive. Positive. Positive.
There was no questioning that.
I opened the door and looked out at Melissa. “What am I going to do?”
27
Tyler
The bar was a little slow that evening, and I was glad for it. A night where I didn’t have to run like crazy the entire time was a welcome change. Obviously, the busier we were, the better for the bar’s bottom line, but I wasn’t going to turn my nose up at a night where I could relax a little. A few of the regulars were there, nursing their drinks the way that regulars tended to do.
I had just run a plate of fries out of the kitchen for one of the ladies who came in once a week like clockwork when I saw the door open from across the bar. Light from the parking lot poured in and created a shadow over the person, so I couldn’t tell immediately who it was.
When the shadow had finally gotten to a point where I could tell who they were, it was a shock. Nick stood just feet from me, with a look on his face I couldn’t quite decipher. I raised my hand in a short wave, and he responded with a similar one and took a seat at the bar. I didn’t bother to ask him what he wanted, since as my best friend, I knew. I brought him a Jack and Coke, sat it in front of him on a napkin, and rested my elbows on the bar.