Page 93 of Love It or List It
He was debating if he could get Will to pick up soup noodles on his way home or if they should just make do with rice when someone banged on the door.
Austin had barely made it to his feet before the knock came again.
“Joe?Will said you’re home today, so—”
Austin crossed the dining room and pulled open the side door.“Hey, Alex.Shouldn’t you be in school?”
They pushed inside, running their hands through their hair.Austin suppressed the urge to ask them where their hat was.They’djustgotten out of a vehicle; they hadn’t had time to get their ears frostbitten.And Austin wasn’t their mother.“Is Joe home?I need to talk to him and he wasn’t answering my texts.”
“I mean, yeah, he’s home,” Austin said.“He’s in bed, though.Passed out.You could talk to him, but, like, you might as well talk to a wall.He’s pretty out of it even when he’s conscious.”
“Fuck!”
Pepa, who’d wandered in to say hello, nudged Alex’s thigh in a quest for affection.Alex ignored her, which made Austin nervous.
“Do you want to come in?”he asked after a moment.Dumb question—they were already inside—but he wasn’t sure what else to do to preempt the panic pouring off them.
“No, I—” They ran their hands through their hair again.Their undercut needed a touch-up.“It’s fine, you know, uh—I actually don’t think I wanted to talk to Joe anyway, right, because, like.How many times in my life am I going to have to disappoint my dad, right?I mean, at some point the bit is going to get old—”
“Come inside,” Austin said more firmly, closing the door to the elements.“I’ll make tea.”
Alex laughed, but the sound was manic, brittle.“I don’t, uh.I don’t know if—can you drink tea?If you’re, like, pregnant?”
Austin’s brain screeched to a halt, along with his body, and for several long seconds, he stared, frozen, at Alex as he rapidly assimilated all the thoughts created by that one statement—discovering they were sexually active, hysterically wondering if they knew about condoms or the pill, realizing he suspected he knew who the baby daddy was, and also Joe was too young to be a grandpa but damn he would look good holding a baby.
“I don’t know,” Austin finally managed to say.“I think caffeine might be bad?”
“Oh, good, so now I can feel guilty about drinking coffee,” Alex gasped and stared at Austin, wide-eyed and desperate, and looking so horribly young that it shook Austin out of his stupor.
“Right, come in and sit down.”
Once Alex was settled at the table with a glass of water and a mug of peppermint tea—their only caffeine-free option and which the internet said was safe for pregnant people—Austin said, “So, you’re pregnant?”
“I don’t… maybe.”
Austin stared at Alex, trying to figure out what to say next.“Um.Maybe….Why do you think you’re pregnant?”
Alex gave him a look.“I know you’re gay, but you must know where babies come from.”
Austin gave the look right back.“Yes, Alex, I know where babies come from.But you must have reason to worry more than just having had sex with a penis-having person.”He paused, and then, because he was apparently a massive hypocrite and also apparently hated himself, added, “An appendage I hope you’ve been wrapping up.”
Alex glared.“We’re not stupid.We use condoms.”
“Thank God,” Austin muttered.
“But condoms aren’t, like, foolproof.And I’m late and I feel nauseous all the time and I don’t want a baby!”
Shit, Alex looked like they were going to cry.“Okay,” Austin said quickly, as if he could forestall that if he could just get the words out fast enough.“First, you don’t have to have any babies you don’t want to have.There are options that don’t involve teenage parenthood.Second, have you taken a pregnancy test?”
Alex sniffed.“No.I can’t….What if someone I know saw me?”
Austin blew out a breath.“Okay.So, first things first.You need to know for sure, right?I mean, no sense borrowing trouble.”Like, okay, buying a pregnancy test… not generally a fun time for a teenager, probably doubly unfun as a trans person.And yet wouldn’t it still be better than not knowing?
“But then I’ll know.”
Apparently not.“Uh, yeah?”
“What if it’s positive?”Alex wrung their hands in their lap, avoiding Austin’s gaze.“Joe will be so disappointed in us.”
