The Christmas Proposal - Miley Maine Page 0,50

She went back to her desk, sitting down and opening up her own takeout box. “Oh, yeah, I should probably give this back now.” She produced my credit card from her pocket and handed it over. I had given it to her earlier so that she could buy both of us lunch.

“Thank you,” I said, taking it back from her.

“Anytime,” she replied with a smile.

Chapter Nineteen

Serenity

I didn’t just buy food when I went out for lunch. I also decided that it was time to see if I really was pregnant. Though I hated to admit it, the skipped period and the hormone surges I had been experiencing all pointed to pregnancy, and the sooner I confirmed or denied it, the better off I would be.

So I stopped by the local CVS to pick up a pregnancy test.

The woman behind the counter smiled at me and looked down to my belly. “Are you excited?” she asked.

It seemed an odd question and rather invasive so I just shrugged and gave her a half smile.

“Don’t worry, it’s easier than everyone makes out to be,” she said, leaning forward conspiratorially. “And I’m sure your boyfriend will be there for you for it.”

“Thank you,” I said, grabbing my receipt. I didn’t like this. The situation was nothing like what she might imagine it to be, and I knew that. I didn’t want her making assumptions, or anyone else for that matter.

What would Grayson think if I was pregnant? We had used protection the whole time, and he knew I wasn’t on birth control...with everything that was going on, I worried that it would just add more fuel to the fire.

What if he thought I was cheating on him?

I shuddered, trying to push the thought from my mind. Of course Grayson wouldn’t think that. Or would he? He wasn’t necessarily at the best mindset at the moment, and I felt as if he might take it as an opportunity to lash out at me.

When we headed home, I excused myself to head up to my suite, and into the bathroom. I ripped open the package and read over the instructions carefully. Surprisingly, I had never had to take one of these before. Somehow Ethan hadn’t managed to get me pregnant until last minute (if he had actually gotten me pregnant, that was).

I took a deep breath, and followed the instructions, then waited the next several seconds for the result to appear.

It was an agonizing several seconds, and when the result appeared I felt as if I wanted to cry.

It was positive.

What was I going to do? How was I going to handle this? I had already made the relationship between Sebastian and Grayson strained enough. And would Grayson believe me when I told him it was definitely my ex’s? Or would he doubt me?

I didn’t know if I could handle that right now. More than that, I didn’t know how I was going to handle a pregnancy, or a baby.

Suddenly I felt very homesick. I wanted my mom to talk to, to tell me how to deal with this. I barely felt like an adult, how was I supposed to deal with all this?

I slid down to the floor of the bathroom, burying my face in my hands and began to cry. I didn’t know what to do. Should I tell Grayson what I had just found out? Should I call my mom? Should I go home? Should I ask Grayson to get me a flight?

I didn’t know if I could face him right now, the guilt felt like too much. Would he even want me when I was pregnant with someone else’s child?

I didn’t want to get rid of it, even if it was Ethan’s, but would he respect that choice?

Maybe I should just go home.

In the end I did decide that I was going to head home. I didn’t want to tell Grayson about it, so I was going to have to take a car home. I considered renting a one-way trip and just driving, but it would take me around six hours and I didn’t trust myself to drive all that way by myself.

So instead I called one of the local taxi companies, and they found someone willing to drive me up there for around a thousand dollars.

It was a hefty price, but it made sense, and I wasn’t about to blame them for charging that much for such a long trip.

I figured that I should probably call ahead to at least let