Page 28 of Key Lime Kisses
“Sorry, I'm feeling sick,” I told him. “I was hoping to… you know.”
Weston chuckled. “There’s plenty of time for that. I kind of like you.”
“I kind of like you too,” I giggled.
We got comfortable and I quickly fell asleep. When I woke up, he was gone. I found a note taped to the bathroom mirror; he had been called into work after someone called out sick, but promised he’d be back for lunch.
By the time I had gone to the bathroom and fed the dog, I was absolutely ravenous. I poured myself a big bowl of cereal, ate two heaping spoonfuls and then had to promptly rush to the bathroom. This time Ididvomit.
When I was feeling well enough to leave the bathroom, I called Weston. It went straight to voicemail; I hoped he’d beck it before he got left for lunch.
“Hey, it’s me. Iamsick, I just threw up. You probably shouldn’t come back. I hope I didn’t get you sick too. I’ll talk to you later. I…” I hung up quickly, mortified. I had almost told him I loved him! How crazy was that?
I was sitting on the couch, feeling quite a bit better as far as the queasiness went but tired, when Weston called back.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“I'm okay,” I told him. “Just tired now. Getting hungry too, I think. It’s hard to tell.”
“Any more vomiting?”
“Just the one time. I’m sorry.”
“You’re sick, don’t be sorry! I’ll pick up something for lunch and come by.”
“You don’t have to, not if I’m sick.”
“What’s an alpha for?”
“Thanks, Weston.”
There was a long pause.
“Are you still there?” I asked.
“Yeah. I just… I was thinking…” Weston said slowly. “You were napping yesterday, and then feeling sick at the restaurant, and then this morning… And it’s been almost a month since that first night on the cruise ship. You don’t think you’re, you know…”
My stomach lurched and this time it wasnotthe nausea. I knew what he was going to say before he finished.
“Do you think you could be pregnant?”
Chapter Eight
Weston
Despite his protests, I assured Shea that I was perfectly fine with grabbing a pregnancy test while I got lunch. And it was true. Maybe it was my experience with emergency veterinary medicine, but I felt pretty calm about the whole thing until I found myself standing in the aisle looking at all the tests.
I couldn't help but remember the last time I was here, buying a test for a scare with Bernard. I could still remember the way my hands shook and my palms felt sweaty; how I dropped three of the damn tests, trying to read the instructions. I remembered how my heart was pounding, repeating a mantra in my head in time with the beats –please be negative, please be negative, please be negative.
I could recall it like it was yesterday, pacing in front of the bathroom door with a feeling of dread, asking myself what I’d do if it was positive, trying to convince myself that I needed to do the right thing. It wouldn't be so bad. All too clearly I remembered the feeling of hopelessness, of being trapped.
And yet, oddly enough, I didn't feel any of that this time. It was just like the night on the ship when I ran down to the clinic, I felt calm. I honestly couldn't say that Iwantedit to be negative. I wasn't really sure if I wanted it to be positive, but the sense of dread and foreboding just wasn't there. The thought of Shea if it were positive wasn't even something I had to consider.
As I drove home, trying to think of what to say depending on the result of the test, it occurred to me that the biggest concern on my mind was whether or not Shea would want me around.
“What happened to you?” I asked, glancing at myself in the rearview mirror. A month ago, I hadn't wanted a boyfriend at all. Now was I actually sort of hoping to start a family with?
“Oh, that smells delicious,” Shea called when I opened the door.
