so,” Michelle said with a chuckle. “Carla, I do believe you’re gonna become a momma.”
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means,” Carla whispered.
Autumn looked at Michelle, startled.
“Princess Bride,” Michelle said, waving the unspoken question away. “And I do think it means what I think it means,” she said dryly to Carla. “Just how careful have you and Christian been?”
Carla’s mind instantly flashed to all of the times that Christian had wrapped up carefully…but then that one time he hadn’t. Their first time, up in the mountains in that meadow. It had only been once. Surely she couldn’t be pregnant after only one slip-up.
“It only takes once,” Michelle said quietly, as if reading Carla’s mind, scooting over so Keila could sit down again.
Carla’s hands shook as she unwrapped the muffin, mindlessly stuffing bites into her mouth. Pregnant. She could be pregnant. With Christian’s baby.
Then the muffin was gone – where did it go?? – and Autumn was gently tugging on her hand, pulling her out of the booth. “Let’s head back to the store,” she said, putting a steadying arm around Carla’s waist.
“Is she okay?” Gage called from the front counter.
“Oh yeah, she’s fine. Just didn’t eat enough this morning, I think. I’ll get her back to the shop,” Autumn called back breezily. Carla loved her eternally in that moment for not blurting out the truth.
“You’re a good friend,” she mumbled under her breath, her arms and legs shaking spastically. She was going to collapse at any moment. Suddenly, her shop seemed miles away, even though it was only a few blocks down the street. It might as well have been Jupiter. Her body refused to cooperate with something as advanced as walking.
Pregnant? I can’t be pregnant. I mean, I want to be pregnant. But later. Christian and I are still learning about each other. I don’t even know if he likes cheddar or provolone cheese more! I can’t bring another human being into the mix. I don’t know anything about this human being. What if it likes cheddar but Christian likes provolone?
In a distant part of her mind, she realized that Michelle and Autumn were on either side of her, holding her up, with Keila trailing behind. The words they were saying swam lazily into focus, and she finally figured out they were discussing the merits of different kinds of cheese.
“What…what about Swiss cheese?” Carla mumbled to Michelle as Autumn slid her own key into the lock and opened up the store. Which was very, very good, because unlocking a door seemed like a herculean feat in that moment.
“You were talking about cheese – what the baby would like versus Christian. So we were just discussing our favorites.”
“I was?” Carla whispered, surprised. She hadn’t meant to say any of it out loud.
Michelle helped her slide into her work chair and Carla gratefully sagged into it, her brain already running a million miles per hour, cheese completely forgotten. Where would they live? Surely not in the little attic space above the shop, and not at Christian’s place either. It was fine for a bachelor, but not her and a baby. Suddenly, their search for a home of their own took on a new level of urgency.
Autumn put a cool washcloth on Carla’s forehead and slipped a glass of water into her hand. “Drink something. I think it’ll help.”
Carla really wanted more than water in that moment – maybe a stiff drink, or seven – but if she really was pregnant…
“Hold on – you bought a pregnancy test!” she gasped, her mind clearing for the first time.
Michelle pulled a small brown bag out of her purse with a sly grin. “I got a few probing questions from Mrs. Morland but I refused to say a word. If everyone in town thinks I’m preggers by morning, I’m totally blaming you.”
Carla let out a bark of laughter and then clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry!” she whispered.
“It’s fine.” Michelle didn’t seem bothered in the least. Of course, nothing much ever bothered Michelle. “Now, let’s get you peeing on a stick, shall we?”
Chapter 23
Christian
I trust you with this secret.
~Prince Humperdinck in The Princess Bride
Carla was acting…weird.
Which sure, they’d only been together since June, so maybe this wasn’t weird at all for her. Maybe this was what she was always like, and the last few months were the exception.
But he really didn’t think so. He didn’t remember her being particularly “off” during high school,