It was the day before Hadley’s birthday and she was spending her last day in Brampton sitting in the waiting room of her doctor’s office. Candace was right. Hadley had put off doing it for the past few days, but she just had to hear those words in order to believe it. Those two small words – you’re pregnant.
She sat in the stiff chair and twiddled around with the hem of her t-shirt. Her stomach felt like it was doing a series of backflips, which didn’t do much but add to her anxiety.
“Hadley?”
Hadley stood up when she heard the nurse call her name. Wrapping her arms around her body, she followed the young woman in scrubs towards the back of the office before being placed in an exam room.
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Fifteen minutes. It’s been fifteen minutes since Hadley had taken the test the doctor had given her. With her hands tightly braced around the edge of the exam table, Hadley felt a wave of nausea course through her body just thinking about what the doctor was going to say. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she mumbled a prayer that by some miracle, maybe she wasn’t pregnant and that she was just a little stressed.
“Ms. Sinclair,” the doctor walked into the room with a clipboard in his hand and a smile on his face. “Congratulations! I’m happy to inform you that you are expecting.”
“God, please no.” She slumped forward with her head in her hands. Quickly wiping her eyes, Hadley slid off the exam table and took a deep breath to compose herself.
“Not the news you were hoping for?” He looked down at Hadley over the wire rims of his glasses.
Hadley sniffled and grabbed a tissue to dry her eyes. “Not really,” she sniffled but laughed, trying to find some reason to smile and be happy about what was happening but there was none. “Thank you, doctor.” She brushed passed the man in the white lab coat before quickly walking out of the office. She had less than twenty-four hours to figure out what she was going to do, but before she made any life changing decisions, she had to talk to Jackie.
When she pulled up the driveway to the Seguin household, Hadley immediately shut off the engine and hopped out of the car before her nerves got the best of her and she just took care of things herself.
Walking up to the front door, she rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. “Hey,” Jackie opened the door with a bright smile on her face. That smile slowly turned into a look of concern. “Hadley, what’s wrong?”
Hadley swallowed back the lump in her throat. Her voice was strained, but she managed to choke out, “I need to talk to you.”
“Of course,” Jackie moved aside and Hadley walked into the warm house. “I’ll make you some tea. Go ahead and sit down.”
“You don’t have to make me any tea.” Hadley’s voice was nasally. “I just need to talk to you.”
Jackie stopped her scavenging and sat down at the table. “Hadley, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
Tears welled up in Hadley’s bright blue eyes. “I honestly don’t know how to tell you this.”
Jackie reached her hands out and placed them on top of hers. “Hadley,” her voice was soft and comforting. Tears rolled down Hadley’s cheeks as she looked up at Jackie. “Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.”
Hadley shook her head. “I –” she sighed and closed her eyes. If she couldn’t tell Jackie, there was no way she would be able to tell Tyler. “I’m p-pregnant.” Hadley let out another shaky breath before saying it again. Still not believing those words left her mouth. “I’m pregnant.” She looked at Jackie and shook her head again. For a moment, she imagined her mother sitting across from her. Her mother would’ve been so disappointed. “I’m so sorry.” Hadley broke down sobbing.
Jackie slowly got up from her chair and moved around the table so she was standing next to Hadley. “Oh sweetie,” she cooed and pulled Hadley into a warm, motherly embrace. “Sh,” Jackie ran her hands gingerly through Hadley’s long brown hair. “I know it seems like the end of the world to you now, but I promise you it’s not.”
Hadley took slow, calming breaths as Jackie held her. She breathed in through her nose and let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Tyler.” Her voice was barely audible.
Jackie placed another kiss on top of Hadley’s head. “Don’t worry,” she looked down into Hadley’s eyes that were still glassy. “I know Tyler will do the right thing.” Hadley nodded, hoping that she was right. She couldn’t do this alone.