Page 50 of Mister Daddy
I nod. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
Jessica bites her lip. “You know, you’ve been sick a lot these last couple of weeks.”
“You keeping tabs on me?”
“I’m just worried about you.”
“Well, I’m fine,” I snap. I wipe my face with my hand. “I’m sorry. I appreciate that you care.”
On cue, our boss rounds the corner and points toward Jessica and Caitlyn’s desks. I catch Jessica giving me weird looks for the rest of the work day, but I figure she’s just worried. After a couple trips to the bathroom to dry heave a bit, I feel fine. It’s definitely just nerves, or maybe I ate something weird and I haven’t totally gotten rid of it yet. I’m sure it’ll go away by tomorrow.
“Meet at my place at six,” I text the girls. They respond with celebration emojis and promise to be there.
At five on the dot, I power down my computer and leave the office. I’ve gotten really good about only spending the minimum amount of time at work. It gives me more time for myself, and I’ve been able to arrange for a few post-work dives next week as long as I stick to the schedule.
Never on Tuesdays, though. Those are still my days for dinner with the girls. It’s Thursday today, but we’re making an exception because it’s a celebration. Plus, I can never have too much girl time.
At six on the dot, the girls knock on my door. I answer it wearing my favorite dress, a sleek black number I bought last week hoping I’d get to wear it soon. It’s the perfect dress for celebratory drinks.
Except that when I open the door, Jessica and Caitlyn are wearing their work clothes still. Not ideal for celebratory drinks.
“Why didn’t you change?” I ask. “We can stop by your places on our way out. It’s time to celebrate!”
They don’t budge.
“We need to talk, Abby,” Jessica says. They push through the door and close it before sitting down on the couch. “How long ago was your last period?”
Her question takes me by surprise. It’s an even bigger surprise that I don’t actually remember when it was. Before the cruise, I think. Wait, has it really been that long? That can’t be right… “I don’t know exactly. Why?”
Jessica bites her lip. It’s her tell – she’s nervous about saying something. She never holds it in long. “You’ve been sick every morning for almost two weeks now,” she says finally. “You’ve been a little more irritable than usual.”
“Hey!”
“And your boobs look bigger than they used to.”
“I’m wearing a better bra,” I say. “And they’ve always been big.”
Caitlyn ushers for me to sit down. “When you slept with Carter, did you use protection?”
“I don’t want to talk about Carter!”
“Abby, we don’t want to upset you, but this is important.”
I dissemble.
“Um, I don’t remember. I was caught up in the moment.”
As I’m saying it, I know it’s not true. Carter never once used protection, and he came inside me a lot, even though we talked about pulling out.
Shit. I’m such an idiot! How could I not be more careful? I’m not on birth control – I’ve never had a reason to be. Everything with Carter just happened so fast, and the cruise felt like a different world…
Jessica reaches into a bag that I hadn’t noticed before. “I can tell by your face that you didn’t use condoms. We brought you this. You need to take it.”
She hands me a pregnancy test.
“No. I’m not pregnant.”
“Fine. Just take it to humor us, then.”