“Pee on the freaking stick.”
My eyes snapped up to her and my heart rate picked up with the expectant look on her face. This was it. I was going to take a pregnancy test. I couldn’t help but laugh at how, for so many of my younger years, the idea of taking a pregnancy test held a scary connotation. Being pregnant would have been terrifying, something that interrupted my life. But now, with Porter, a baby would even everything out, bring us closer, and ultimately make us that much happier. Now, instead of hoping it was negative, I would be praying and wishing for it to be positive.
I went into the small employee restroom, followed the instructions, and checked my watch to make sure I waited the appropriate three minutes. I walked back out to where Megan was waiting anxiously, tapping her fingers against the countertop.
“Well?” She asked excitedly as soon as she saw me.
“One more minute.” Officially the longest minute ever. When the second hand of my watch reached its mark, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and felt Megan come to stand right beside me, her arm wrapping around my waist, leaning in trying to peek at the test. I exhaled slowly and flipped it over.
Pregnant.
One word.
One perfect word.
I gasped and my hand came up to cover my mouth and I had to remind myself to breathe after a moment. Everything went a little blurry and as I blinked, I realized tears were filling my eyes.
“Oh my God,” I whispered.
“You made a baby,” Megan said, just as quiet as me, as if speaking loudly would disrupt what was happening. “That’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done.” She sounded like she was in awe of me.
“Oh my God.”
“Fella, you ok? Do you need to sit down? I could grab that step ladder.”
“I can’t believe it worked.”
“What? All the sex?”
I looked at her and I could feel how big my eyes were, my eyebrows stretching up to my hairline. “Yes. All the sex. It worked. It made a baby.”
Megan giggled a little and pushed me towards the step ladder by the counter. “Take a seat, Momma. Let the news soak in a little. Do you want me to call Porter?”
“No! I can’t tell him over the phone!”
“Ok, calm down. Just relax. This can’t be good for the baby,” she said, winking at me and smiling. I smiled back at her.
“You’re going to be an auntie.” Megan’s face lit up and she gave me the biggest smile that probably only rivaled my own.
“I’m going to be an auntie? Oh my God.” She plopped down on the step ladder next to me, both of our rears hanging off the side for both of us to fit. Her head fell gently to my shoulder as my hand floated to my belly. We sat like that for a few minutes and then my phone started ringing, pulling us from our baby trance. I grabbed my phone and saw it was Porter calling.
“Here Megan, tell him I’m in the bathroom.” I tossed my phone at her and, luckily, she caught it. She answered it and from her end of the conversation I could tell he was just calling to confirm that our night would be spent in Salem. Megan told him she’d relay the message and hung up, turning to me.
“What the heck?”
“I can’t talk to him on the phone. He would be able to tell something was going on. I’m just not ready to tell him yet.” I reached up and readjusted the messy bun of blonde hair that sat atop my head, trying to think of how I would tell my husband that he did, in fact, have excellent swimmers.
Later that evening, after Megan helped me plot and plan, I had what I considered a sweet and sexy way to tell Porter he was going to be a daddy. It had taken a little bit of effort, but I managed to get everything arranged in time before he came home from work.
The house in Salem wasn’t optimal. It wasn’t my dream home—Porter was building that for us on a plot of land right outside the city limits—a house without close neighbors, with land to grow on, a place where we could have privacy and house a growing family if that’s where we chose to be. But tonight, the house was perfect. Lit with the soft glow of candles, it felt like home because this was where my husband was. Where ever he was would be home to me.
I heard the front door close and my pulse thumped in my chest, anticipation making room for nerves and excitement.
“Babe?” He called out to me. He knew something was going on, made obvious by all the candles.
“I’m in the bedroom,” I called out.