A few weeks ago, you and your boyfriend, Erik, decided to celebrate a win a different way. You two were in the heat of the moment, so neither of you thought of something important. Then, a couple of days ago, you started throwing up. You though it was just a bug, but your best friend asked you when you last had your monthly visitor. When you realized that it didn’t visit when it was supposed to, she ran to the store and got you a few tests, which leaves you in this moment, staring at the three positives.
"Oh God," you breathe. "Oh God, oh God, oh GOD!"
"I’m guessing you are," your friend says as she appears in the doorway.
"I can’t be! We’re only twenty-two! I haven’t even graduated yet!" you exclaim. You burst into tears and sit on the edge of the bathtub.
"What are you going to do about it?" she asks.
"Tell him and probably get an abortion. I don’t think I’m ready for this, and I bet he isn’t, either," you sigh.
"What if Erik is?" she suddenly asks.
"Then we’ll see what decision we come to. Now, go. You have work in twenty minutes."
She gives you a hug and promises to call you later before leaving. You clean the apartment as you anticipate Erik’s arrival. When you pass the bathroom, you hear the front door open. You panic when your eyes falls upon the tests that lie on the counter. Quickly, you throw them in the trash and cover them with some toilet paper.
"Babe, you home?" you hear Erik ask.
"Hey! Sorry, I was cleaning the bathroom," you lie as you plaster a fake smile onto your face.
"Did you not make it?" he questions.
"Huh?" you ask, but then you remember the "bug". "Oh, no. I just thought the apartment needed to be cleaned."
He nods and kisses your forehead before going in the kitchen to make dinner. You two eat your food in the family room and watch TV, but then your phone starts ringing. You look at the caller I.D. before answering.
"What’s up?" you ask your friend.
"Have you told him yet?" she asks.
"Not yet," you mumble as you walk to the kitchen.
"Y/N! You need to tell him now, or you’re never going to," she tells you.
"I’ll tell him, I promise."
You hang up and lean over the counter. How the hell are you going to tell him?
"Tell who what?"
You jump and turn around to see Erik standing in the doorway.
"I was going to surprise you at your game on Friday, so I was going to tell my boss that I couldn’t work that night," you lie.
"You were?" he asks.
"Between school and work, I don’t get to go to your games anymore. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you."
This was all true, but now you have to call your boss so that Erik doesn’t get suspicious.
Later that night, you’re sitting on the couch while reading a book while Erik goes through his nightly routine. You get so lost in the story that you don’t hear the bathroom door open.
"You weren’t talking about your boss, were you?" he asks.
"What are you-" you start, but you freeze when he holds up three familiar, white sticks.
"How long have you known?" he asks, slowly taking a step forward.
"Only a few hours. I was going to tell you, but I didn’t know how," you admit.
"So, what now?" he asks as he sits next to you.
"Get me the laptop. I need to find the closest clinic."
He gets it, and when you start typing “closest abortion clinic” into the search bar, he stops you. “What are you doing?”
"I thought this was what you wanted," you confess.
"Is it what you want?"
You stop and think about it. Is it? You’ve always imagined having a family with him, but do you really want to?
You shake your head, and he smiles. “Then this isn’t what we’re doing.”
He takes the laptop and puts it on the coffee table before lying you flat on your back against the couch. He kisses your stomach lightly and looks at you. “I love you.”
"I love you, too," you say, and he kisses your lips before placing his hand on your tummy.
-Emily
