SERENITY PAYTON
"D-Did you just say...pregnant?" I stammered, looking at Ayesha in disbelief.
Ayesha nodded her head. "Yes, have you been having any symptoms? I mean, you just threw up by smelling steak!"
"That could mean anything," I exclaimed. "I could be about to come on my period of something!"
Ayesha shook her head at me and knelt down beside me, and gave me a sad smile. "Serenity, I'm serious...I know you're probably not ready or you're trying to deny it right now, but I think you should take a test just in case."
I let out a shaky breath and tried to calm myself down as tears filled my eyes and I immediately started panicking...this cannot be happening to me right now. I just got back into the swing of things when it came to my job, I was starting my modeling camp for different ages, and I was in the middle of trying to start my business; why was this happening to me now?
If I was pregnant, I feel like it was only going to set me back and stop me from doing what I wanted and needed to do for myself and my career.
I know that I said that I wanted another child, but not at this moment...definitely not now. But at the same time, if this was meant to happen for me, then I would have to deal with it...and I'm sure I'd pull through.
Everything happens for a reason, right? But I just hoped that this wasn't the time for me right now...
"I know you're scared..." Ayesha said, "Hazel and I will go get you a test, okay? Just...just stay in here, okay?"
I nodded my head and pushed my hair out of my face and pulled my phone from out of my pocket and scrolled until I clicked Donte's name and placed the phone to my ear.
<>
DONTE DIVINCENZO
"I'm open! I'm open!" Jordan shouted on the far end of the court, holding his arms out and waving at Dray.
Dray didn't pass the ball to Jordan, but instead powered forward, working his way through and past JK and Moody only to get blocked by PBJ.
"Damn it, Dray I said I was open!" Jordan called out as we ran down the opposite direction now that Les had the ball.
"Focus, boys!" Steve shouted, smacking his clipboard against the back of his hand.
Jordan huffed in frustration and guarded Ryan, while I guarded Steph and tried to keep my eye on PBJ and Ty who were somehow besting us right now. Although this was just practice, this was embarrassing.
PBJ passed the ball to JK who passed the ball to Ty; he went up for the three and missed. Quickly, Jordan retrieved the hall and ran down the court, I matched his pace as he passed me the ball. I was immediately surrounded by Steph and Klay and paused, thinking of a way to get out of this predicament.
I glanced over at Jordan, changing my body language to make it seem as if I was going to move in Jordan's direction and faked right, causing Steph and Klay to jerk right, then broke left and powered pass Lamb, Ryan and Looney and went up for the layup, making it.
Just as I was about to go back to guarding Steph, I heard my
phone ring and automatically knew it was ringing because my ringtone for her was There Goes My Baby by Usher and instantly jogged off of the court.
"Donte! What are you doing?" Steve shouted.
I held up my finger to him and picked up my phone and placed it against my ear. "Hey, Rin. You okay?"
"I-I know you're at practice right now, but..." Serenity trailed off and sounded like she was two seconds from crying.
I scrunched up my face and immediately began wondering what it was that was going on. "Rini, what's wrong? Are you okay? Where's Landon?"
"He's with Jordan's parents," she sniffed. "I need you to come down here..."
Immediately, I grabbed my bag and my keys, ready to leave. I didn't know what was wrong because she wouldn't tell me, she just kept telling me that she needed me to come down to her job. I checked the time seeing that at this time she would be on her lunch break and was probably with Hazel or Ayesha, or maybe even both.
"Rini, is everything okay?" I asked urgently.
"I don't know.." she cried, finally breaking down.
I took a deep breath and looked over at Steve who was looking at me impatiently, while the guys were all giving me looks mixed with impatience, concern and curiosity.
"Alright, I'll be there in 15 minutes." I told her.
Serenity mumbled a small "okay" before hanging up. I let out a breath and slipped my phone into my pocket and made my over to Steve who was tapping his clipboard impatiently.
"I have to go," I said to Steve. "Rini called and something is wrong so I—."
Steve held up his hand and nodded. "I understand. Just be ready to play tomorrow, okay?"
I nodded. "Yes sir. I will be."
Quickly, I ran from out of the practice facility and got into my car, then made a beeline for Serenity's job.
I don't know what it was about this feeling that I got in the pit of my stomach, but something was telling me that whatever it was that Serenity needed me for, was about to change our lives forever...and the scary part was, that I didn't know if it was for better or for worse.
***
SERENITY PAYTON
"Serenity..." Ayesha knocked on the door. "Ten minutes is up...you have to check the test."
"Esh, I don't think I can do this..." I replied, leaning my head against the wall, looking at the counter where the pregnancy test was resting on.
"Rini, you're gonna have to..." She told me.
Well duh, I know that.
I took a deep breath and stood up. Slowly, I walked over to the counter and shut my eyes as I picked up the test. In my mind, I counted down from ten, then opened my eyes and looked down at the test.
I cupped my hand over my mouth in shock as my eyes filled with tears. My heart dropped in my stomach and I felt like my world had suddenly gotten flipped upside down instead of staying right side up.
Pregnant. Leave it to ClearBlue to be 100% blatant with your results...
Good thing that was only test number one...I flipped the next test over, and saw that it was negative and let out a sigh of relief. The next test would determine if I was pregnant or not...
"Please, God...let it be negative.." I whispered. "I'm not ready for another kid..."
I took a deep breath and finally flipped the test over and literally my heart sank into my stomach. "God, I said please!"
Pregnant.
I haven't even been back with this man for two months and I'm already pregnant. What kind of sense did this even make? None. No sense whatsoever. I had to only be a few weeks pregnant...or maybe even just a month pregnant? I don't know...it had to be one of the two. I just didn't know how I was supposed to tell Donte.
Did I have to tell him right away? Or should I wait to tell him?
I think I should wait, because I'm still on disbelief myself...
"Rini," Hazel's voice came through the door. "Donte's here."
Quickly, I stood up and grabbed the three tests and slipped them into my toiletry bag and tossed the bag back into the cabinet and quickly closed it shut.
"Rin, I'm coming inside..." I heard Donte say.
Seconds later, the door opened and Donte walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. The moment his eyes locked onto mine, I relaxed. Every ounce of worry or stress that I had been feeling immediately went away.
It baffled me every time how much of an affect Donte had on me. I was just always so relaxed around him, even if he made me upset or annoyed me, I was still always relaxed. It was like I was completely comfortable being my natural self around him; and that was a major part of the reason why I loved him as much as I did.
"Rini, what's wrong?" Donte asked, walking up to me, kneeling down in front of me, placing his hand on my cheek, his thumb gently rubbing against my skin. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"
I shook my head and smiled lightly. "Nothing. It's just uh...pre-period hormones. I wasn't feeling well, and I just wanted to see you, that's all."
Please don't see through my lie...please don't see through my lie...
Donte chuckled and shook his head at me. "Such a baby. You know Steve is gonna kill me if he finds out I left practice just because you having pre-period cramps right? We got a game tomorrow, baby."
"I know and I'll be there, like I always am," I said, reaching up and pulling at his chin hair. "But I don't want you to leave yet..."
Donte instantly read my mind and laughed, placing his forehead against mine and smiled. "Hazel, Tasia, Esh and Kasara are down the hall in your office...they're going to hear you."
"I'll just try to keep quiet then..." I mumbled, my lips brushing against his.
Donte smirked and nodded. "Fine, but after I'm going back to practice, okay?"
"Okay.."
****
30 minutes later...
"I don't wanna leave now..." Donte mumbled as we cleaned ourselves and put our clothes back on.
"I don't want you to leave either," I told him, pushing my hair from out of my face and pulled it into a ponytail. "But, I also wanna have someone to come home to, and if you don't go back to practice, Steve just might kill you."
Donte smiled and nodded. "You're right. I'll see you when I get home okay? And Im cooking."
"Donte you cooked yesterday!" I protested, following him out of the bathroom.
"And I'll cook again.." He said, placing a kiss on my forehead and smiling.
Laughing, I rolled my eyes and couldn't seem to stop the smile that spread on my face. Donte and I said our goodbyes. Once he was gone, I quickly walked back into the bathroom and grabbed the three tests and walked back into the office where now just Ayesha and Hazel were waiting.
"So, aside from the fact that you just got some dick from Donte in the bathroom," Hazel said. "Do we got good news or bad news?"
I shrugged and sat down at my desk, and placed my face in my hands. "It all depends on how you take it."
"So Im guessing that you're pregnant..." Ayesha said giving me a sad smile.
I nodded and let out a sigh. "Yep...I took all three tests you bought and two of them said pregnant while the other said negative."
"I think you should go to the doctor," Hazel suggested. "Did you tell Tae?"
I shook my head. "Nope...I don't even think that I'm ready to tell him yet because I'm still processing this myself. I mean, this is going to set back so many things..."
"Look, it may not be that bad," Ayesha assured me. "Asia and Juan's wedding is in two months and by then you're not going to be showing that much, and you'll still be able to get things done before you start showing and have to take a break."
"I hope you know that you're going to have to tell Donte soon before you even start showing," Hazel said. "And you know you suck at lying to him; so you might as well tell him soon."
I shook my head. "Not now...I'm not ready to tell him."
"When will you be ready to tell him?" Ayesha asked.
"I don't know maybe—."
My phone started ringing, causing me to pause my conversation with Hazel and Aeysha. I walked over to my desk and picked up my phone, checking the Caller ID.
𝖩𝖺𝗋𝖾𝗇 𝖩.
𝖠𝖭𝖲𝖶𝖤𝖱 | 𝖣𝖤𝖢𝖫𝖨𝖭𝖤
What the hell...
*****
END OF CH. 021
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