New Beginnings.

31

It had been about four weeks since the accident, and things were going surprisingly well. The blood test results had come in; the gender results were in an envelope with Stacia. She decided, well, demanded instead that she throw a gender reveal party for us. This weekend, we would tell his parents on Friday and then Saturday the party to celebrate and learn the gender.

I was finally starting to be excited about the idea of becoming a Mom and having Cullen's baby. Things were falling into place; though I knew it would be hard finishing college with a newborn and eventually toddler, I knew that we could do it with all of my friends and family. Cullen had no trouble landing a job with an engineering firm and had been working quite a bit. Instead of staying with Tarran, he temporarily moved in with me until he found a place he liked. Cullen was incredibly picky and wanted to find a small house for us. 

I was back at the coffee shop and had finished the summer classes, though just barely due to the time off because of the accident. It was now my small window of a summer break before our fall session started up. Stacia spent most of her time with Derrick, but we all hung out quite a bit still. Cullen was mixing in with the group well. Liam, though had distanced himself quite a bit since hearing the news of my pregnancy. I tried talking with him, but he was hesitant and told me congratulations, wishing me the best. My heart hurt at losing him as a friend, but I was hoping he would come around as time went on.

I worked at the coffee shop, wearing my apron and sporting a new little bump that had developed seemingly overnight. I was wiping down tables and waiting for Stacia to pick me up. Cullen was working late, so Stacia and I planned to have dinner together and hang out since we hadn't in a little while. As I leaned over to wipe the last table, I felt a stabbing pain in my abdomen. I brushed it off as a muscle pulling, but as I stood straight, the pain intensified. I took in a deep breath and huffed it out, turning around to see if anyone was nearby. The shop was empty, as it was closing time. Aaron had already left, and the only other barista, Anna, was in the back. I stood still, hoping the pain would subside, but to my dismay, it continued getting worse, and I suddenly felt a warm liquid pouring down my leg. I could barely bring myself to look down at my pants, but I saw my leggings soaked with what appeared to be blood when I finally did. I nervously grabbed my phone out of my pocket and dialed Stacia.

"I know, I know!" She answered, groaning. "I'm on my way."

"Stacia, I'm bleeding and hurting pretty bad," I whispered out, trying to stay calm.

"Oh my God. Okay, I'm hurrying. Call Cullen! I'll be there in like 5 minutes." She ended the call. I kept taking deep breaths, trying to fight the tears that were threatening to come. I needed to stay strong and calm. Even though I didn't want to alarm Cullen or interrupt him at work, I knew this was serious. Unfortunately, it went to his voicemail straightaway. I sighed, afraid to move to make a mess or make it worse. I finally found my voice and called out to Anna. She came running from the back at the sound of my voice.

"Everything okay?" She chirped.

"Actually, no. I'm, I'm having an issue here. I don't know if I told you, but I'm pregnant, and right now, I'm bleeding." I stuttered out. The way she looked at me was as if I had three heads, she looked down at my legs and back up to my face, and the look she gave me terrified me.

"Do I need to call an ambulance?" She cried.

"No, my friend should be here any minute. I just, I don't want to make a mess. I'm scared to move." I barely got out. She came over to me, taking my hand and holding it. I was so grateful to her for that.

"It'll be okay. Stuff like this happens sometimes." She tried to reassure me. I just nodded. The pain was causing me to start to double over, which caused more blood to pool into my pants. I could no longer fight the tears as the pain was overwhelming. My phone started to ring just as Stacia was rushing in the door.