Page 64 of A Trial of the Heart
“Can you meet me at my mom’s?” I sniffled.
“Everything okay?”
“I just need you to meet me there. I am headed that way.” I needed my mother but also my best friend. They both got me through many life events, good or bad.
“Putting my shoes on now.” I heard her moving about.
“Okay. Love you. See you in a minute.”
“Love you too, Shiloh.”
I disconnected the call.I wasn’t a child, and I knew what could happen when having sex. Now just wasn’t the time to be pregnant. Without turning my signal on, I turned into my mom’sneighborhood before pulling into her driveway. As I was putting the car in park, I noticed LeeAnn in my rearview mirror pulling up behind me. It didn’t even shock me that she’d made it to my mother’s house so fast.
“Shiloh, what’s wrong?” LeeAnn questioned, rushing to my door and pulling it open. “Do I gotta fuck somebody up?”
I chuckled, even though nothing was funny. Just seeing LeeAnn on alert without even knowing the problem was almost comical.
“Let’s just go inside.” I didn’t want to have to say the same thing twice.
At an unhurried pace, we headed up the long sidewalk, and before our feet even touched the steps, the door swung open.
“Shiloh, what is it?”
I knew I sounded urgent when I spoke to them. I even cried and still had tears, but they were acting a little bit over the top.
“Can we just go inside and sit? I’m going to tell y’all,” I spoke softly.
Without a word, my mother spun on her heels, and LeeAnn and I followed. We all sat. Both their eyes shifted my way. Their expressions were the same, telling me to explain.
Letting out a heavy breath, I pushed the tear from my face.
“I’m pregnant.” Saying it out loud for the first time caused more tears. Now, I for sure was being the dramatic one. Being pregnant was life altering, but it wasn’t the end of the world.
They gasped in unison.
“Oh, my goodness, Oak.” My mother stood, staring at me with a sorrowful yet disappointed expression. My mother called me Oak, which was my middle name. I rarely heard it. It was rarer than peaches, but when I did, I knew it was one of two things. She was disappointed in me, or bad news was following.
“What are you going to do?” LeeAnn asked.
At thirty, I was grown, successful, and took care of my damn self, but that didn’t stop me from needing my mother and best friend in hard times.
I shrugged. “I don’t even know. Honestly, right now, I haven’t even gotten past the initial shock of seeing the positive test.”
“Are you positive you’re pregnant?” my mother questioned innocently, but it caused me to chuckle softly.
Pulling the test from my designer bag, I held it up. “Just as positive as positive can be.”
Leaning my way, they both glanced down at the test. Their eyes seemed to double in size like mine did when I found out I was pregnant.
“How many did you take?” my mother asked.
With narrowed eyes, I tilted my head slightly, my hair falling to the side. “Just one, but I don’t think taking more than one will alter the results.”
“Maybe that one is defective.” My mother seemed anxious. “LeeAnn, how often do you guys see faulty tests in the clinic?” She was being very optimistic about the situation.
My eyes shifted to LeeAnn, and her expression readnever,but that was not what came out of her mouth. “It’s rare but possible. Retaking the test won’t hurt.”
“Really?” I laughed.
