Waking Up in Vegas

Chapter 15

Carly stood and immediately bolted from the bathroom, Rydel right on her heels. She made her way to their shared bedroom and snatched her purse from beneath the bed. The small day planner that went with her everywhere fell out into her lap. She flipped quickly through the pages, letting her finger scan over the dates. Her heart dropped when she reached the day’s date; she was five days late. Rydel stood frozen in the doorway. She noticed the change in Carly’s expression. “Carly…” She said quietly as she stepped into the room. Carly shook her head slowly. “No.” she whispered. Her eyes began to blur with tears; she could barely make out the dates and scribbles on the pages of her planner. Rydel sat hesitantly on the bed beside her. “Carly, just stay calm-” she started. Carly leapt to her feet and whirled around to face her blonde roommate, cutting her off mid-sentence. “Calm down??” she cried. The tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. “Rydel, I might be pregnant and you’re telling me to calm down?! Oh my God…pregnant. I can’t be pregnant! I just can’t!” She let out a groan of frustration and launched her planner across the room. It collided with the pink lamp atop Rydel’s nightstand; it crashed to the floor with a loud BANG. Carly immediately froze. She strained her ears for the sound of Stormie’s footsteps that would surely be thumping down the hall after her outburst. After several agonizing moments of silence, both girls let out an audible sigh of relief. Carly felt fresh tears well up in her eyes. Her cheeks were beginning to turn red with embarrassment; she usually had more control over her temper than that. The outburst was unlike her. She slowly sank down onto the floor and pulled her knees up against her chest. “No.” she whimpered. Her body began to shake slightly as a few involuntary sobs escaped her lips. Rydel sat down on the floor next to her and wrapped her arms tightly around her shoulders. “Oh, Carly.” She said quietly as she soothingly rubbed her back. Both girls sat in silence for a few minutes; the only sounds that filled the room were Carly’s muffled sobs. She slowly lifted her head and looked at the shattered remains of Rydel’s favorite pink lamp scattered across the floor. She felt her cheeks flush pink once again. “I’m sorry about your lamp.” She mumbled. Rydel half-smiled and shook her head. “It’s okay, Carly. Lamps are replaceable. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have reacted the same way. I can’t even imagine...” She pulled back just enough to look Carly in the eyes. “You do know that nothing is certain yet, right? You haven’t actually taken a test or anything. For all we know it could be coincidental.” Carly gave Rydel a skeptical look. “I’m coincidentally almost a week late and puking my guts out?” Rydel nodded. “It happens.” She said defensively. Carly shook her head and slowly got to her feet. “Name one time.” She muttered as she crossed the room to where the lamp lay in pieces. Rydel bit her lip nervously as she stood as well. “It happened with Kristen.” She said quietly. Carly immediately dropped the few shards of glass she’d picked up and whirled around. “What?” she asked incredulously. Rydel sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed. “Last winter Kristen and Riker went through a scare of their own. Except Kristen was nearly a month late, and she was MUCH more sick than you are now. She couldn’t keep anything down. Turned out, it was just coincidence. And the stomach flu.” Carly felt a small glimmer of hope shine through the darkness of the past hour. Rydel was right. It was a long shot, but there was a chance. She knelt back down and began gathering up pieces of the broken lamp once more. Rydel knelt down beside her and delicately pulled the shards from her hand. “I’ve got this, why don’t you go clean yourself up in the bathroom?” she suggested quietly.  Carly nodded and made her way back down the hallway towards the bathroom she’d abandoned earlier that evening. She felt tears begin to sting at the corners of her eyes once again. She immediately shook them away. Hope. There was still hope. And she would hold on to that hope with every fiber of her being, at least until morning. Whatever was going to happen the next day would happen but just for the night, she had hope.

**

“Carly?” Carly groaned and rolled over tiredly. She blinked into the bright sunlight coming through the window. Rydel was standing above her, holding a glass of orange juice. “Mom made pancakes.” She said quietly. Carly sat up slowly and gratefully took the juice from Rydel. “Thanks.” She mumbled. Her voice was hoarse from all the crying she’d done the night before. She took a sip and glanced over at the alarm clock; it was almost noon. “Oh my God, why did you let me sleep so late?” she asked incredulously. Rydel half-smiled. “I thought you could use some sleep. The boys won’t be back until later tonight. Mom just left a few minutes ago to go shopping. She’ll be gone awhile.” Carly nodded silently; she knew what Rydel was hinting at. “How are we going to get a test? Kristen can’t go buy me one, everyone will think she’s pregnant. And you certainly can’t go buy one.” She pointed out. “My sister is bringing one over. She and David have been trying for a baby so she’s got dozens of tests at her house.” Kristen’s voice came echoing into the room. Carly turned to face the doorway. Kristen was standing just inside with a plate of pancakes and bacon. “Rydel called this morning. She told me everything.” She gestured to the plate in her hands. “Breakfast in bed. I think you could use it.” She joked as she laid the plate across Carly’s blanket-covered legs. “Thanks.” Carly said quietly. She heard a faint knocking sound come from downstairs. Kristen nodded towards the door. “Must be Katelyn now.” She stood and made her way back down the hallway. Rydel lifted the juice glass from the nightstand and handed it to Carly. “Better drink up. You’re going to need it.”

“Anything yet?” Kristen asked through the door. Carly stood in front of the bathroom sink staring at three different tests. Katelyn had dropped them off nearly two hours ago; it’d taken her up until ten minutes before to get up the nerve to use them. “Nothing yet.” She called back. She crossed the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. She’d barely had a moment alone since the night before when Rydel had suggested her sickness may have, in fact, been something entirely different than food poisoning. It felt nice to sit alone for a few minutes, even though those minutes were filled with agonizing torture brought on by the three plastic sticks rested on the countertop. She allowed her hand to drift downwards towards her stomach. There could be a baby inside of her right then… The thought was terrifying. A life could be growing within her. A life that would depend entirely on her to take care of it. Her and Ross that was… She hadn’t even begun to think of how she would tell him. It wasn’t a joyous occasion, that was for sure. He was already teetering on the edge with Disney. One more thing. One more tiny, insignificant ‘screw up’ on his part and he was done. She didn’t know what exactly ‘done’ entailed, but it couldn’t be good. And Harvard… She felt her stomach drop. Would they still accept a brilliant, straight-A lawyer to be if she were carrying a child brought on by what was essentially a one night stand in Vegas? “Do you think she’s pregnant?” Kristen’s voice came drifting through the door. Carly stood and placed her ear against the wooden frame, straining her ear to hear bits and pieces of their conversation. “I don’t know… I mean you weren’t.” Rydel said quietly. There was a brief pause. Carly quickly stepped away from the door, suddenly afraid they’d caught her evesdropping. She breathed a sigh of relief when the conversation resumed. “Well yeah. But Riker and I…you know, we take…precautions. Carly and Ross were wasted. I doubt being safe was on their mind.” She pointed out. Carly slowly sat back down on the edge of the tub. Kristen was right. The small bit of hope she’d been holding on to disappeared as Kristen’s words played over in her head. She suddenly knew, without having to check the tests. She just knew. As if to confirm what she already felt to be true in her heart, she crossed the room and lifted one of the three tests with a shaking hand. A small pink plus sign stared up at her. Her eyes drifted across the other two, both positive as well. A slight wave of relief washed over her. It was as if knowing for a fact that she was pregnant somehow relieved the tension she’d been feeling since the night before. She knew her life would change forever. She knew this could only mean disaster for both hers and Ross’s careers. But somehow, her worries were pushed temporarily to the back of her mind. She slowly opened the bathroom door and stepped out into the hallway. Kristen and Rydel immediately leapt up from their positions against the opposite wall. “Well?” Rydel asked expectantly. Hope was shining desperately in her brown eyes. Carly’s gaze drifted to Kristen; she had tears, not hope, beginning to form in her eyes. She knew. Carly felt she’d probably known all along. She took a deep breath as she turned her gaze towards the carpeted floor. “I’m pregnant.”