housekeeper

37. a bag

(Vanessa)

A few weeks have flown by and I'm back at work. It's more exhausting than I thought and I'm home from work one day a week. Orders from my boss. He has made sure that he has no meetings that day and only has to arrange paperwork. Dave left for work an hour or two ago. I sit comfortably in my sofa drinking a coffee and scroll through my Facebook on my mobile.

The bell rings and I look up. I hear Barabara shouting that she will open the door for me. A while later Barbara walks into the living room with Stephanie behind her. "Hey, everything okay?" Stephanie says whit a small smile.

"Yes, everything is okay and with you?" I reply as I stand up from the sofa and give her a big hug. "Here, I have a present for you," Stephanie says grinning.

"Thank you," I answer enthusiastically, looking into the bag she handed me. I frown when I recognize the contents of the bag. "Stephanie, why are you giving me two pregnancy tests as a gift?" I ask as I take out one of the boxes.

"Because you've been nauseous for over a month now. And I have my doubts that this still is that virus," Stephanie says with a grin.

I stare at the boxes for a while, not knowing what to do. "Vanessa, testing doesn't hurt."

"We did it safely. It can't be, unless..." I ask myself pensively. We made love without condoms before the kidnapping, but then I took the pill. The chances are slim. I'm certainly not one of those women who gets pregnant after one forgotten pill or... I'm I.

"Unless, what?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"I don't know," I reply with a sigh.

"Try it. If it's nothing, it's nothing," she says with a shrug.

"Good, but you don't look at me peeing on the stick," I say, pointing at her.

"No thank you, I'll stay on the sofa until you come back."

I rush to the bathroom and open the two packages. I look at the cup at the sink and take it. I put myself on the toilet and pee in the cup. After putting the cup in the sink, I take the two testers and push the end into my urine. Then I put the caps on and make my way back to Stephanie.

As I walk into the living room, Stephanie looks at me from her phone. "And? Succeeded?"

"Mhmm, I have them here with me." I put them on the table and sit next to Stephanie.

"Now, we wait. And... What if you're pregnant?" Stephanie asks in a whisper. I rub my hands over my knees and feel the nerves come up.

"I don't know, we haven't really talked about kids yet. I want them and you know that, but I don't know what he thinks." Stephanie looks at her phone and says, "The moment of truth is here."

"Good," I reply, looking at the testers from a distance.

"The testers aren't going to come to you on their own." I place my hands in front of my eyes and say in a small voice, "I don't dare to look. You look."

"Alright, I'll see," she replies, and I hear her shift on the sofa. "Vanessa," she says with a sigh.

"What, what?" I ask with my trembling hands still in front of my eyes.

"I'm going to be a godmother," she says whit a small melody in her voice. I remove my hands from in front of my eyes and stare at her open-mouthed before looking at the tester. You can't miss it. The two pink stripes are as clear as it gets. I take the other tester off the table and see just the same thing on this one. Stephanie and I look at each other with wide open eyes before bursting into screams. We fly into each other's arms.

"I'm going to be a mother," I say in a shrill tone. "Oh my god, I have to tell Dave. I can't wait." I take my phone and call to him. I hear the ringtone three times before he answers, "Hi Vanessa, everything okay?"

"No, I want you to come home as soon as possible. I..."

"Sorry, I have to go home. My assistant will take care of the rest. I'm there..."

Oops, did I disturb him during something important?

Fifteen minutes later Stephanie is gone home. I have hidden the tests in a drawer in the living room and am now supposedly watching the TV. I admit, I'm eating myself up on nerves. A few minutes later, Dave storms into the room and looks at me with a worried look. "Everything alright?" he asks as he comes to sit with me on the sofa and puts his arm on the backrest behind me. I tilt myself a bit so that my face is facing his, but I wriggle at a piece of fabric from my sweater. "Dave, you know I haven't been feeling well for a while after my injuries."

"Yes, I know."

"Well Stephanie and I did something crazy and yes... It was positive." I look into his eyes, and he looks at me like he has to solve a puzzle.

"I guess I don't understand it very well. What's positive?" he asks. I go to the drawer and take out both the testers. I give them to him and look at his facial expression. Dave stares at the two sticks with an illegible expression for a moment and I really get on my nerves when the silence becomes too much for me.

"Dave..."

"Are you pregnant?" He asks with furrowed brows.

"Yes," I answer hesitantly.

"But we made out safely. How... Can you be pregnant?" The courage is already sinking into my shoes, his face shows nothing of joy.

"We used condoms after my kidnapping. Before that, I was on the pill, and we had sex." I look at his attitude and it doesn't look reassuring. "You don't want the baby?"

Dave doesn't answer and continues to stare at the sticks. I admit that I'm starting to cook in my own skin from his silence. "Dave, if this is ..."

His lips press on mine, and he pushes almost all the air out of my lungs. Then his lips release mine and he lays his forehead on mine. "Oh, Vanessa. You don't know how happy this news makes me," he says cheerfully with twinkling eyes.

"Really?" I ask, genuinely happy. "I was afraid you wouldn't accept it."

He chuckles and replies, "This is the best news ever. Our love is sealed with this little creature growing in your belly." He puts one hand on my stomach and kisses me on the lips again. He releases me and says: "Vanessa, I had a really dreadful day at the office. When you called, I was under the impression that more sad news was coming my way. But you made my day," he says, kissing me again. I laugh at first, but quickly push myself away from him. Dave lets go of me and I run to vomit my stomach contents just in time above the toilet.

Yep, I'm definitely pregnant!