Page 35 of Chasing Ghosts

“Oh my God!” My heart thuds in my ears, and I realize I’m crying. My head starts nodding even before I find my voice to accept. “Yes! Yes!”

I throw myself at him, offering him kisses and hugs and more kisses. He slips the ring on my finger, and I hold it up to see it sparkle in the light. It’s beautiful and so unique. I love it!

“You don’t think it’s too soon?”

“I wanted to propose to you the day after we first made love, baby. It’s felt like forever for me.”

“The day we went to meet the others at the restaurant? You wanted to ask me then?”

“I would have married you then, but I didn’t have the ring. I got busy fixing that right away. I’ve had it for two weeks now, and it’s been killing me.”

“Wait…you said you wanted to do it now because you were worried I would think there was a reason you had to do it. What does that mean? What would make me think…?”

“Roxie’s pregnant.” His words sit heavy in the room between us. “She told Tray, and Tray told me. She just found out last night.”

“And you were…worried…I would be mad that you knew and I didn’t?”

“Not exactly. I didn’t really think about that.” He winces as he says the words. “A lot of her symptoms…are similar to the ones you’ve been having.”

My mind shuts down, and I can’t make sense of what he is trying to tell me.

“I want you to take a test so we can find out…for sure.”

Oh my God! I…we never did anything about protection, never tried to stop it from happening. My hand drops to my belly as it lurches like I might want to hurl.

“You…think we’re…that I’m…?”

“I want to know for sure, baby. I…Hope you are.”

“You do?” That shocks me almost as much as the fact that we might be having a baby.

“Of course I do! I want everything with you, Cori. I want marriage and kids and…we need a bigger place.”

“Slow down, slow down. I might not even be…”

He holds up another box, this one blue and pink with the picture of the test on the front of it. I take the box and spend the next three minutes wondering how much my life has changed over the past two months. Before I started our show, I was lonely and lost, and now…Now, I have a family that understands me and protects me. I have Mac, who loves and takes such good care of me. I look down at the stick as I clutch Mac’s hand and see the two pink lines.

And now, we have our baby.

We hug and start our brand of celebrating, where we end up naked and wrapped around each other. No more loneliness, no more fear, no more endless questions. No more Chasing Ghosts. I only do that on television now! And only with my soon-to-be-husband and best friends. I might not know all the answers, but I'm having fun finding them and that is what matters most in life...and maybe beyond!

The End!