Lux Halloway's point of view. .
"Bye, Miss Halloway!" Anthony, a cute little five year old boy, grinned as he bounced out of the room with his spiderman painting in hand. I waved at him with a beaming smile, then waved at his mother.
"See you Money, Miss Halloway!" Alisha, another cute little five year old girl, grinned as she pulled her oversized princess backpack onto her back.
"Yes you will sweetheart, and remember to practise your counting!" I grinned, watching her nod before darting towards her aunt who was collecting her.
"Miss Halloway," Julian, an adorable little boy who was slightly less fortunate than the other students, spoke. I crouched down to his level and smiled.
"What is it sweetie?"
"Thank you for giving me the crayons" he said politely. "and for helping me colour in."
I smiled lightly, "You don't need to thank me sweetheart, you just have fun colouring in, okay? Maybe next Friday you can draw me a picture and I can hang it on the doodle wall." I brushed his dirty blonde hair from his eyes.
"Really?" He gasped, his eyes sparkling in delight. I nodded and grinned at his priceless expression. "thanks Miss! You're the bestest!"
"Julian!" Megan, his mother, called as she rushed to the gates. Her breathing slowed once she saw he wasn't alone. "come on baby."
"Bye, Miss Halloway!" he grinned before rushing in the direction of his mother.
Megan looked towards me, smiling and mouthing a quick 'thank you' before wrapping his arm around her sons shoulders and guiding him back in the direction she had previously ran from.
I re-entered my silent classroom, the smell of paint and crayons lingering in the air and made my way to the cluttered desk. As I sat down and tidied the scattered papers into piles, my cell buzzed from inside the closed drawer.
Hayley Bieber calling. . .
I accepted the call and held it too my ear, "Hello?"
"Hi Lux!" Hayley's cheery voice floated through the speaker. "am I calling at a bad time?"
"No, I'm just clearing up my classroom before I leave." I replied, balancing my iphone between my shoulder and ear as my hands grasped the untidy papers. "do you need something?"
"Not really, I was just checking in and seeing how you are," she said softly. It was quite obvious that she was hiding something and I had a small idea of what that was.
"I was actually going to call you when I got home," I told her, "this time two weeks ago, doctors were trying to impregnate me with a baby. I think it's time I took a test to see if it worked.."
A window-shattering squeal rang through my ears, my skull being rattled by the loud noise. Holding the phone at least eight inches away, I giggled as she continued to squeal in delight.
"Oh my god, are you serious!" She squeaked, a mumble interrupted me from talking back. "it's Lux, she's going to take a pregnancy test!" staying silent, she then turned her attention back to me. "sorry, Justin wanted to know why I was squealing like a pig. Oh my god, Lux, this is amazing! When are you going to take one?"
"Well I was thinking about taking it tonight, if you and Justin want to be there then you can." I said,
"Oh Lux, that would be amazing if we could." She sighed happily, "Whatever time you want to take one, then call us and we'll be straight there."
"How about you both come over for dinner tonight? That way you'll be able to see my home, meet Jake and already be there for when I take it." I mumbled, standing up and grabbing my bag.
"I'll ask Justin. Hey babe, Lux invited us to dinner tonight at her place, you wanna go?" She said, as I locked up my classroom and began walking towards the exit. "He said yes, if it's alright with you."
"That's perfect, I'll see you both about 7 then?"
"Perfect!"
* * *
"What's cooking, good looking." I smirked, waving my arms around the bulky chest of my attractive boyfriend. I could feel his chest vibrate with laughter, his stirring motions slowing down before he turned around and smiled dreamily down at me.
"Not much, buttercup" He smirked back. "what time are they coming at?"
"I said seven," I replied, my chin resting in the center of his defined chest. "I'm taking a test tonight."
Jake nodded but said nothing. He wasn't particularly thrilled at the news about myself having a baby for another couple, but he wasn't disowning me either. Reaching up and putting a reassuring peck on his plush lips, he kissed back within a split second. But a knock on the front door interrupted us both.
"That's them," I whispered, suddenly feeling my stomach twist with nerves.
Jake kissed my lips again, "You'll be fine, just go answer and I'll be out in a sec."
Nodding, I spun on my heel and headed out of the kitchen and towards the door. As I pulled it open and spotted the two loved-up people in front of me, my nerves got heavier and the doubts got stronger.
"Hi," I grinned, trying my best to conceal my emotions. "come on in, Jake's just making dinner- he'll be out in a second."
"Well, we didn't exactly know what to buy you since you mightn't be allowed champagne," Hayley said, "so we brought flowers instead." thrusting a bouquet of colourful flowers in my direction, I smiled and took them from her slim hands.
"Thank you, you didn't need to do that though." I replied, "go and make yourself comfortable, I'll just put these in a vase."
With their hands still grasped in each others, they headed towards the couches and sat down, taking in the surroundings of my decent apartment. I sat the flowers in the empty vase that sat on the breakfast bar, making a mental note to fix them later.
"How've you been?" Justin asked, smiling and smoothing his thumb along his fiancee's knuckles. I nodded and sat down on the single chair.
"Good, busy with work and everything. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get a day to sit down with you both and talk a little more about the situation." I apologised.
"Don't worry about it, we know you've got a full-time job to concentrate on." he smiled,
"Hey," Jake breathed, walking into the living area. "Sorry, I've been preparing dinner. I'm Jake by the way." he held his hand out to Justin who shook it and introduced himself while Hayley copied his actions. "I'd love to stay and chat but I don't think you'd want to eat burnt food."
And within seconds, he walked back into the kitchen and started slaving again.
"He's a perfectionist, he'd beat himself up for a week if something was to go wrong with dinner." I giggled, "I was thinking, after dinner and everything is cleaned up, I could go do a test then.."
Hayley nodded eagerly. "Whatever is comfortable with you."
"I've been looking at tests on the internet, y'know, to see what the best one was to get. I got a clearblue one, it can tell as early as a week if a woman is pregnant or not." I explained, "then I've to make an appointment with my doctor to have blood samples to confirm the pregnancy. If I am pregnant, I'll be due to go to my first scan between ten and fourteen weeks."
"I want to be there," Hayley pipped, "at every single scan, every single appointment, I want to be there."
"Hayls' why don't you just calm down a bit.." Justin murmured, "we don't even know if she's pregnant. Don't be going and making plans just yet."
"But I've already got everything planned," she whispered, looking towards him with puppy dog eyes. Thankfully before the conversation could go any further, Jake came to the rescue with two bowls of steaming hot tomato soup.
"Would you all like to come and take your seats?" He announced, setting the two bowls down on the brown and lime green table mats. I jumped up, walking quickly to the table but yet still in earshot to hear the whispered conversation between them both.
"Will you stop, you're planning to far ahead." Justin spoke.
"I don't care, it's going to be my child so I can be protective over it." Hayley snapped back.
* * *
"This is great, Jake." Justin complemented, cutting into his chicken. "I'm picky about foods but I gotta hand it to ya', this is amazing."
"Thanks mate." Jake grinned, he loved getting compliments on his cooking.
"Are you a chef or something?"
Jake chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I'm the manager of Daniel's on 65th. It's actually my fathers restaurant."
"That's a great restaurant, dude." Justin said, "I've been there a few times with my team."
"Next time you come, let me know and I'll throw in a few free dishes." Jake smiled.
"Man, you don't need to do that. I'm already asking a lot from your girlfriend, I don't want to ask much from you either." Justin quickly spoke, I could hear him hiss out and shoot a glare in Hayley's direction. He set his knife down and reached down under the table, almost like he was rubbing his shinn. Did Hayley just kick him?
Jake however shook his head, "Don't worry about it, just let me know and I'll inform the staff."
"Thanks man" Justin grinned, raising his hand and clasping it around Jake's from across the table. I smiled at them both and continued eating my healthy selection of steamed vegetables.
"So, Jake," Hayley started, "how do you feel about Lux having a baby for us?"
Jake shrugged, "I can't say I'm over the moon but I'm happy that she's helping you both. Lux and I have agreed that we aren't ready for a child of our own just yet."
"He just needs to prepare to live with a pregnant lady." I giggled.
"A very hormonal and emotional pregnant lady," Hayley added.
"I don't have a problem with the hormonal part." Jake smirked, making me nudge my elbow roughly into his side. Justin burst out laughing. "I'm obviously kidding babe.." he paused and brought his drink to his lips, "kind off."
I rolled my eyes and sipped at my water, trying my best to stay still as Jake's hand slithered around my waist and tried to pull me in his direction.
"Please excuse my boyfriend, he has a very British sense of humour." I said.
"We don't mind," Hayley giggled. "you'll have to excuse Justin though, he doesn't quite get British humour."
"They have a weird way of sarcasm!" Justin exclaimed,
"As much as I would love to continue this conversation, I need to use the restroom. Excuse me." I said, standing up and leaving the table with all eyes following my every move. From the cabinet under the sink, I pulled out the slim blue and white box, taking out the white stick and reading the small printed instructions.
With each instruction followed in the correct order, I sat on the counter and stared down at the white stick sitting beside the sink. My stomach turning unpleasantly, my heart rate increasing dramatically and the endless amount of thoughts circling my brain.
Instruction 6: Read result after five minutes.
Those five minutes seemed like forever, every second felt like a minute, every minute felt like an hour until the beeping from the set alarm on my phone. My breathing hitched in my throat, my eyes squeezing shut before opening slowly to read the small window area.
My feet dragged along the floor, the laughter filling my ears as I walked down the forever long hallway until I reached the end.
"There you are, we thought you fell asleep." Jake joked, laughing slightly before turning serious. "babe? Are you okay?"
I nodded faintly and pulled the stick out from behind my back, my eyes glossing in sticky tears. Hayley held her hand over her mouth, Justin's face slowly dropped.
"Is that a test?" Hayley whispered in shock. I nodded.
"And?" Justin gulped.
I breathed out, a warm tear leaking from my left orb and trickling down my cheek. All for the right reasons. "You're going to be parents."