"That says positive too." Shayla said as she looked at the fifth pregnancy test Brooklyn just took.
Brooklyn sighed. She did not want another child. There was too much going on. "Fuck."
"Brook!" Cleo shouted from downstairs. He and the kids just arrived home.
"Hide these for me." Brooklyn told her sister.
"You don't want to tell him?" Shayla asked.
"Not now. I want to go to the doctor first."
Shayla shrugged and began to hide the pregnancy tests for her sister. Brooklyn went downstairs to meet her husband and kids.
"What's up, baby?" Cleo said, kissing his wife. "How you feeling?"
"I'm fine." Brooklyn said.
"What's Shay doing here? I saw her car outside." Cleo asked.
"She was just checking on me. She heard about Messiah." Brooklyn replied.
"Mommy." Hassan said.
Brooklyn sighed and picked him up. "Did your mom say anything about his behavior?"
"She said he was crying a lot. That's about it." Cleo said.
"Hey, CJ. Hey auntie's babies." Shayla said.
"Hey." All of them said.
"I'm about to head out. I'll see y'all later this week." Shayla said before she walked out of the house.
"I'm about to go start on dinner." Brooklyn said as she passed Hassan to him. "Come help me, Nicole." Nicole got up from the couch and followed her mother into the kitchen. "How was school?"
"Good. I have a multiplication test next week." Nicole said as she washed her hands.
"Well, I already know you're gonna pass it because a math wizard gave birth to you and raised you." Brooklyn told her.
"Yes, I like math. It's easy." Nicole replied.
"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Brooklyn asked.
"I want to be a counselor for children."
Brooklyn smiled. "Yeah, I can see you doing that."
-
Brooklyn was in the doctors office the next morning during her planning period. She was very upfront with her doctor and he made her take another pregnancy test. After it came back positive, he gave her an ultrasound.
"It looks like you're almost eleven weeks pregnant." He said.
"Really?" Brooklyn asked.
The doctor nodded. "Did you have any symptoms?"
"Just nausea and I noticed a little weight gain." Brooklyn replied. "I was just in denial because I felt like those two symptoms weren't enough to make me believe that I am pregnant."
"Well—you are indeed pregnant and the baby looks healthy." The doctor said. "We're gonna check the heartbeat. Then I'm gonna send you home with some pictures."
After her doctors appointment, Brooklyn was about to get back to Crenshaw before the bell ring for the next class. She sat down at her desk and began to think about how she's going to make the announcement to her family.
"Hey, Mrs. James." A couple of her students said as they made their way into the classroom.'
"Hey." Brooklyn replied.
