Goldilocks Forever

Chapter 53

Washington, D.C.

August 2006

Cleo and Alex gave her a full tour of the house and told her to make herself at home. While they were gone at work, Anna baked cookies, vacuumed, and did the dishes. She looked around for more tasks, but didn't want to overstep her boundaries, so for the rest of her day, she played the violin.

Alex arrived home first. Anna put down her violin when she heard his key in the door. He walked by the guest room she occupied and went upstairs. Minutes later, he knocked at her door holding the plastic container Cleo called "the sick kit" under his arm. "Sorry to interrupt," he said. "I have your test results."

Something's wrong. The look on his face told her he'd found something in her sample. More weirdness? Special. Toby's words echoed in her mind. She sat on the end of the bed. "What is it?" Her stomach knotted.

He sat in a chair in the corner of the room and pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and looked down at it. "Nothing looks out of the ordinary—given your infection—except one thing."

"What is it?"

He dropped his eyes and kept them on the paper. "Your hCG levels are high."

"What's that?" Her heart beat faster.

"It's a hormone." He set the sick kit on the floor and folded the piece of paper back up, ran its corners through his fingers.

"What does it mean? I'm not crazy, just hormonal?"

"No, you're not crazy..." He looked up at her. "You're pregnant."

No way. She waited for him to smile, to laugh, to say he was joking. She hadn't learned his sense of humor yet. "You're joking, right?"

He stared at her.

She stood, towering over him as he remained in the chair. Her voice rose in panic. "This is a sick joke, right?" He looked down at the floor. "Alex, tell me you're joking!" She backed away from him and shook her head. "No. It can't be that. I thought...I thought it was impossible..."

"See for yourself." He opened the sick kit. Nestled next to a box of bandages was a row of pregnancy tests. He pulled out one of the pink boxes and held it up to her.

"Noooo..." Anna's voice faded as she rushed into the kitchen and filled a glass with water. She drank it down and followed it with a second glass. She was so out of breath that she had a hard time drinking the water and gasped between guzzles. Was the world spinning again, or was that just her? She gripped the edge of the counter.

No. No way. After a few deep breaths, she went back into the bedroom. "How could this happen?"

He glanced up at her. "We don't know very much about your mutation of the virus. It's possible you retain some fertility."

"I haven't had a period in since I got infected. I thought..." She couldn't look at him.

His brows furrowed like he was regretful and uncomfortable, like he wished he didn't have to have this conversation with her. "I don't know, Anna. This is only the second time I've tested your blood."

"Is there anything else that could cause hCG levels to be high?"

"Cancer, tumors, other health issues." He lifted his hands in defeat and shook his head. "But pregnancy is the most obvious answer. Your levels are in the two hundred thousands. You could be anywhere from eight to sixteen weeks pregnant. Is that at all within the realm of possibility?" He looked at her in question.

Anna groaned and took the test from him. "I can't believe this." She shut herself in the bathroom and read the directions, her hands shaking. It can't be real. She'd never been in this position before and she never intended to be, or thought she would be. She peed on the stick and waited, staring at its little viewing window. Nothing was happening. She washed her hands and dried them on the blue hand towels that matched the shower curtain.