Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77717 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
My eyebrows push together. “Why is it so hard to believe that I—never mind. But yes. That’s when it happened because that’s the only time anything happened in a very long time.”
“What are you going to do? I assume you’ve considered all your options.”
“I’m keeping it. Once I saw the heart beating … I don’t know. I just know I have to keep it.”
“Okay, that’s good if it’s what you want. So you don’t know who the father is?”
My lack of response tells her everything.
“You have to tell me who, Lauren.”
I put my head in my hands. “No, I don’t. It’s bad, Katie. Really bad.”
“You’re already pregnant, Lauren. It can’t get much worse than this. Even if this guy turns out to be nothing more than a sperm donor, we can make him pay child support or something. Just tell me who you hooked up with and I’ll help, okay?”
“Okay.” I look up, meeting her eyes, feeling sick again. His name is on the tip of my tongue, yet I can’t make myself say it. I close my eyes and let out a breath. Fuck it. “Noah.”
Katie doesn’t say anything for a good thirty seconds. Then she blinks several times and pushes her eyebrows together. “Colin’s friend Noah?”
I put my head in my hands. “Yes,” I say, voice muffled.
“Are you sure it’s his?”
“Positive. Like you said, I don’t sleep around. He’s the only possible one.”
She holds up a hand. “I need a minute to process this.” Her eyes close. “So you got drunk, slept with Noah, and now you’re pregnant with his child.”
“It sounds worse when you say it out loud.”
“It sounds pretty bad in my head too. Does he know?”
I shake my head. “I thought about telling him, but I actually don’t know his number, or where he lives.”
“I’ll get the info for you.”
“Do I have to tell him? I mean, Noah … he’s not exactly father material.”
“He has the right to know. Colin is going to beat his ass. You know that, right?”
My stomach flip-flops. “I haven’t even thought about telling anyone else. Oh my god—Mom!”
“She’s going to beat your ass, once you push that baby out, that is.”
I take a sharp breath in but get no air. I take another, and another.
“Lauren, calm down!” Katie says. “Do not hyperventilate on me.”
“I … I … can’t.” My hands are trembling. I haven’t thought about pushing or labor or anything either. “I don’t know what to do,” I say and start crying. Katie’s arms go around me.
“It’s okay, Lauren. We’ll figure this out. I won’t say anything to anyone until you’re ready.”
I nod, unable to say anything while sobbing into her shoulder. She rubs my back for a minute then moves away. “Dry your eyes. Crying doesn’t solve anything, and I’m only allowing this because you’re probably hormonal and shit.”
“Probably,” I hiccup. “At least now I know why I’ve been so tired.” I wipe away tears, smearing mascara down my face. I don’t care. “What am I going to do, Katie?”
“Nothing I can say will make you feel better,” she replies slowly. “But we’ll figure this out, and you know I’m here.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This is what sisters are for. That and it automatically gives me ‘best aunt’ status.”
Aunts. Babies. It’s all too much. “I wish I could drink right now.”
Katie laughs. “Hell, I think I need a drink. I can only imagine what you’re feeling.” She puts her arm around me. “For now, take a deep breath. I think no matter what, no matter who you’re with or where you are in life, expecting a baby causes everyone to freak out on some level.”
“I’m sure. So where do I go from here?”
Katie takes a breath. “You’ve already decided to keep the baby, so … in a perfect world, what happens next?”
I raise an eyebrow. “In a perfect world this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Well, it did,” she says pointedly. “But from here. What would happen next?”
I rub my eyes, feeling a headache coming on. “By some miracle, Noah and I would end up together. I want this child to have a mom and a dad. But that’s not—”
“Stop,” Katie says gently. “We’ve known Noah for a long time, but do you really know him?”
I start to move my head up and down then stop. “Not on a personal level. But I know him enough to know having a baby and getting married is the last thing he wants.”
Katie pushes her brunette hair back. It’s the same shade as mine, only she’s added blue and purple highlights. “Sometimes things like this change people. Remember my friend Erica?”
“The drunk? Yeah, what about her?”
“She got knocked up two years ago. She’s in nursing school now, and doesn’t party anymore. From the moment she peed on that stick and found out she was pregnant, she turned her life around. So it is possible. And you’ll never know if you don’t tell Noah and give him a chance. And if anything else, you will find out if you need to cross that hope off your list and move on. Plus figure out child support and custody and all that other legal shit I know nothing about.”