Page 27 of Christmas in Watch Hill
FIVE
JESSICA
Ishould have feltbetter.
Instead, I woke up feeling the same. Even after nine hours of decent sleep underneath my warm, fluffy duvet, I woke up around seven still feeling that something wasn’t right. I lay in bed for a while and stared at the ceiling, the generalized malaise washing over me.
No, something isn’t right at all . . .
I bolted out of bed and into the bathroom. Maybe I had something that would help settle my stomach and take away what was fast becoming an ever-present nausea. Whatever remedy I used, it needed to work. No question. I yanked open my medicine cabinet.I don’t have time for sickness.This was the holiday season for goodness sake, and we only had a few more days at Already Perked to make it a successful year. Besides, December was one of our biggest months, full of impulse orders from shoppers stopping at the café after time spent in the stores around Watch Hill’s central square. I couldn’t afford to miss out on any of it.
But as I considered all of that,anotherwave of nausea hit, and I steadied myself with my hand on the sink. That was weird, too—all the food I’d eaten the night before had already come up in the restroom.
Odd.
I dug through the shelves looking for something to help me. Aspirin . . . some cough syrup . . . an ancient jar of overpriced face lotion . . . a pregnancy test. Stopping short, I took that out and examined it.Hmm.
I wasn’t on birth control pills, but I always made a point of practicing safe sex. That had always been a priority. Besides, my love life wouldn’t exactly make other people jealous. Except . . .
I dropped the pregnancy test in the sink as if it had suddenly become as hot as a tray pulled out of the oven. No. No way.This isn’t it, is it?
It could be, though. I thought back to my last period. No, I hadn’t exactly kept up with that either, and I couldn’t remember the start or finish dates. It wasn’t long ago, though. Not . . .
I picked up the test again. What would it hurt if I took it? At least I’d know the answer for sure and could eliminate that possibility. And if I didn’t feel better in the afternoon, then I’d be able to tell the doctor that I’d already ruled out pregnancy as a reason for not feeling well. No big deal, right?No big deal at all.
Gritting my teeth, I opened the cardboard box.
Five minutes later, I had my answer. Two undeniable pink lines stared back at me. Their message was clear, and there was no way anyone could miss it.
I was pregnant.
SIX
IAN
