Getting Along

48. Managing

Niall, I’m pregnant.

I’m pregnant.

Pregnant.

Last time I heard those words, I got angry. Yelling and screaming followed, along with denial and some unforgiveable insults. I didn’t want to claim it or be associated with it. I couldn’t remember the last time I was that angry—so angry I broke things and cried. Pregnant. It ruined my relationship. Back then there was nothing good about the word; I hated it. I’d done so much to avoid it after that, to keep from having another girl say that to me. I’m not sure if the hated faded, or if I just forgot about it up to this point.

And now Hunter’s said it, and there’s no question about who it belongs to.

I’m pregnant.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. We were just frozen, staring at each other—both of us waiting to see my reaction. Niall, I’m pregnant. I looked over her face, seeing the same exhaustion from before. Her eyes looked like they were fighting to stay open. I scanned over the rest of her. She didn’t appear any different than she did two weeks ago.

But she’s pregnant now. She doesn’t have a stomach bug—she’s pregnant. All that sickness and exhaustion, her sudden snaps on the phone that she took back immediately after, all the peeing…and you can’t even see the thing. Some tiny little thing was making her that way.

I’m pregnant. When did it happen? Was it one of the slower times, or a rough time? I didn’t know which one I preferred. What happened to her shot? When was the last time she got that? I can’t remember. I can’t even remember her last period. Meaning we’d had sex while she was…pregnant…

“Say something!” She screamed. I flinched away from her, but paused as I saw Fuzz flinch closer. He looked protective of her, like he knew this all along. Is that possible?

I looked back to Hunter, seeing tears welling up in her eyes now. Why is she crying? “I’m sorry.” She cried. “I forgot about my shot during all the stuff this summer. I—I didn’t do this on purpose Niall. I swear. I’m sorry.” I shook my head, confused by her guilt. As I walked towards her, The Fuzz got off the couch and sat himself by Hunter’s legs, making sure he stayed no more than inch from her.

I moved in front of her and sat on the coffee able, taking her face in my hands and wiping her tears away. “I’m sorry.” She whispered again. A smile finally broke over my face and she gave me a confused look.

“Hunter…” I breathed, moving my hands to hers. “This isn’t anything to be sorry about.” Her expression didn’t change. “Aren’t you happy?” She didn’t say anything. “I am.”

“You are?”

“Yeah.” I looked down at her stomach, wishing I had x-ray vision so I could see it. One of my hands let go of hers as I moved it across the space between us and pressed it to her stomach. I couldn’t feel anything—it felt the same. “How far along are you?”

She swallowed, “Doc said about seven weeks on Saturday.” I inched my hand to the left. “You’re not going to feel it, Niall. He said it’s the size of a kidney bean.” I retracted my hand and looked in her eyes. She’d stopped crying and stared at me with a curious expression. “I have a picture of it.”

“Really?” She nodded, “Let me see.” There was a second of hesitation before she grabbed her purse, rummaging around before she pulled out her wallet. She presented a black and white picture and basically pushed it in my hands. I stared at her for a couple seconds before looking at it.