Page 46 of A Match Made In Evan
Finally pulling back, she shakes her head and bites her lip. “I’m too embarrassed to buy one. What if…what if someone sees me?”
My heart goes out to her. She sounds so impossibly young right now.
Nodding, I say, “Okay. I’ll go buy a couple. Best to cover our bases, right?” Then I lick my lips anxiously and ask, “Can I askwhyyou think you might be…?”
“My period is late. A-and my boobs are tender.” Oh, God, I don’t need to think about my goddaughter’s boobs. “And I had gastro last month.”
I frown. “You think that was morning sickness?”
“No.” She sighs, then eyes me warily. “Did you know that vomiting and…other gastro symptoms…can impact the effectiveness of the Pill?”
“Nope. I did not know that.”
“Well, it can. So can taking antibiotics.”
I nod at that. I’m pretty sure that’s how Mia came to be. Or, at least, that was what James said her mum’s doctor had told them.
“Okay,” I exhale, my heart hammering. “Okay. Well, I’ll, uh, I’ll head off to Woolies. Or the chemist. Uh, do you think the ones from the chemist would be better?” I pull out my phone and Google the question, feeling so very out of my depth.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Mia shrug. “They’re all the same brands, right? But…maybe get a couple of different brands?”
“Yeah,” I swallow. “Yeah, okay. Good plan.”
I look back down at my phone and bite my lip. Should I call James? He’d get on an earlier flight home for an emergency like this. Except getting here earlier isn’t going to change whatever the test results say, is it? And he’d just stress for the entire flight and taxi ride back home.
Deciding not to involve him until we at least have test results, I slide the device back into my pocket. Then I press my lips to the top of Mia’s blonde head, reassuring her, “It’ll be okay. No matter what, sweetheart, I promise.”
***
The tests are inconclusive. I bought three in three different brands which all alluded to being some kind of early-response test, and Mia scurried into the bathroom with them as soon as I handed the bag over.
She was pale and shaking when she came back out, frowning at them in her trembling hands.
The digital one reads ‘Negative’. One of the older-fashioned ‘two line’ tests hasn’t even come up with the control line, making it null and void, but the third has what looks like —from certain angles, anyway— a very faint second line.
Fuck.
Mia’s big, blue eyes are wide and wet as she looks up at me. “What do I do?”
Heart thumping madly, I take the tests, drop them into a ziplocked bag, and tell her I’ll take her to her usual GP. When I call the clinic, the receptionist must hear the anxiety in my voice, because an appointment opens up miraculously for us.
Despite my nerves, I get us to the clinic in one piece. We’re distracted on our walk through the busy car park, though, and I have to yank Mia back to my side when some guy in an SUV zooms past us in his haste to find a spot. Distractedly, I give him the finger and shout after his car for him to slow the hell down. He almost hit us! People around here always drive like they’re the only ones on the road, even in parking lots like this one.
I don’t usually lose my temper, but I was already shaken. Still, I should know better to keep my wits about me, especially when I’m supposed to be keeping my Goddaughter safe.
With my heart hammering from the close call, I’m even more anxious by the time I get Mia into the clinic, and she refuses to let go of my hand when her doctor calls her name.
I get an arched eyebrow from the woman as I take the spare seat in her office, her gaze flicking down to where Mia’s hand is holding on to mine for dear life.
“Hi,” I greet with an awkward smile. Doctor Miranda Rogers is about my age, with dark hair and a sharp, intense aura about her. She has pronounced cheekbones and a long, thin nose. She’svery attractive, and also incredibly intimidating right now. “I’m Evan.”
“And you’re here with Mia because…?”
“He’s my godfather.”
“I’m engaged to her dad.”
Mia and I answer at the same time, and Mia gives me a questioning look for a moment before turning back to her doctor, adding, “Dad’s in Sydney for work.”
