Page 93 of In This Together

Hazarding a glance at Tommy as she headed past him and into her kitchen, she found him stone-faced. How in the hell was she supposed to start this conversation? How should she reveal the truth of everything?

As those questions made her mind spin, her body’s lack of energy made her sway. Gripping the kitchen countertop, she closed her eyes, willing the room to still around her.

‘Andi? Andi, are you okay?’

Tommy’s arms came around her waist and she felt a stool press against her legs. Taking a seat, she came back to herself and felt like a damsel in distress – pathetic.

‘I just need to eat something,’ she said. ‘I’ll be fine in a minute.’

She tried to stand but Tommy pressed down gently on her shoulders. ‘Stay. I’ll fix you something.’

‘There’s bread by the refrigerator,’ she said, in no position to argue.

Tommy set a glass of water in front of her, hung up his leather jacket, and set about making noise and mess behind her.

Andrea turned on her stool to watch him move around her kitchen, overwhelmed by a sense of homeliness that she had never felt in her apartment before. Those pregnancy hormones were no joke.

Tommy didn’t speak as he set about cracking eggs into a pan and toasting bread. She wondered if he was also struggling for the right thing to say.

‘I’m sorry for leaving the way I did,’ Andrea said. Tommy stilled momentarily, his back to her, then continued going about his business in silence. ‘I’m also sorry about the car.’

Then he glared at her, and she got the point that he really didn’t give a crap about the damage to the car. He started to chop a pepper Andrea hadn’t even realised was in her refrigerator.Boy, he’s a tough audience.

‘It had been a really rough day,’ she continued, turning her water glass between her fingers in her lap.

Finally, Tommy spoke. ‘I’d like to think we were maybe getting to a point where we would share a rough day with each other.’ His tone was curt.

Oil spattered as he dropped the cold peppers into a hot pan. For as long as it took Tommy to turn out an omelette and two slices of toast and set them down on the countertop in front of Andrea, the pair remained silent.

As Andrea tucked into what was a surprisingly tasty plate of food, Tommy pulled up a stool on the opposite side of the counter.

‘Who is this singing?’ he asked.

She covered her mouth of half-chewed food with her fingertips and said, ‘Her name is Hayley Pearce. Do you like her sound? She’s indie and I’d like to work with her.’ She scoffed once her mouth was empty. ‘Not that I get to do much with artists these days but I’d like to bring her to Stellar.’

‘She’s good,’ Tommy said. Then he clasped his hands and leaned his forearms on the countertop and asked, ‘Do you want to be with me, Andi? Like, forget anything else, just answer me, right now, just you and me, nothing and no one else. Do you want to be with me?’

She swallowed the mouthful of food she had, almost choking.

‘Look, I know I’m not the world’s finest prospect,’ he continued. ‘I know that we’d have to work through schedules and touring. I have a past and I’m sure me telling you I’ve changed isn’t enough to scratch that. But I’m asking you, in this moment, if you want to try?’

‘Tommy, I?—’

‘Do you want to try?’

His eyes bored into hers and she knew, honestly, if there was nothing and no one else, then, ‘Yes.’

He hung his head and sighed. His unexpected relief was enough to bring tears to Andrea’s eyes.

She set her empty plate aside and reached out for his hands, wrapping hers around them. ‘But, Tommy, it isn’t that simple. I need to tell you something.’

He slipped a hand out of hers and took something from the back pocket of his indigo jeans, then set it down on the counter between them.

‘Is it anything to do with this?’ he asked.

She peered down to what was a receipt for three pregnancy test kits, her mouth opening and closing but not forming coherent words.

‘It was in the car when you returned it last week. Andi, are you pregnant?’

---