up her phone and tapped away, clicking on her period-tracker app. Ever since she’d gotten on the pill, she hardly even checked the app, nor kept up with her periods. It’d been one of the few perks of being with an older man. Ted had had a vasectomy years prior. So, she’d never had to worry about getting pregnant with him. Being on birth control now, there was no real need to check either, right? But then she’d only been on the pill for a few months, and she wasn’t very good at remembering to take it at the same time or even every day. The calendar popped up and she gasped. She’d been so busy with the baby, this new relationship, and then planning this damn party, she hadn’t even noticed she’d missed her period weeks ago. “No, no, no,” she whispered, feeling nearly faint. The app had an early-pregnancy-symptoms list she tapped on. “Nausea, tender swollen breasts,” she whispered as she touched her breasts over her blouse and winced at the not too tender, but definitely swollen breasts. She’d chalked it up to a sign of her period coming since they tended to always get swollen a few days prior. “Increased urination, fatigue, sensitivity to smell, bloating, mood swings. God, I’m an idiot.” She touched her bloated belly, something she’d also attributed to her period coming soon. The app said you might experience some of these symptoms if you were pregnant. She’d never even heard of bloody noses being a symptom of pregnancy. But of course her ass would be experiencing every last one of them. But again, she’d just attributed them all to her impending period. She’d even been annoyed that Aunt Flow might show up the day of the party. Just as she heard the knock at the door, she bent over to throw up again in the toilet. Only this time it was just dry heaves.
“You okay, Dani?” Orlando asked from outside the door.
“Yeah,” she said, still bent over because the nausea was brutal, and she didn’t trust she wouldn’t actually throw up again. “Just washing up.”
“And throwing up again? I heard you.” Of course he had. How in the world was she going to tell this man who’d already had a major life changer just this year, that he may be in for another one?
“It was just dry heaves,” she explained, trying to make less of it. “I didn’t actually throw up. I’ll be right out. Just give me a minute.”
She heard his phone ring just outside the door. “What’s up, Beast? Nah, nah, leave it all as is. Everything’s been getting paid for this whole time, and no one’s been living there. At least now someone will be there to enjoy it. Leave it all on for him . . .”
Glad he’d apparently walked back out into the living room because his voice faded, Danica only hoped Beast calling Orlando meant he and the guys at the shop were all on the way. Beast had dropped off Ali earlier but left to help get Byron moved to the apartment upstairs at the shop. From what Orlando had let her in on, things hadn’t gotten better at home with Byron’s stepdad. But all she could focus on now was changing her blouse as fast as she could so she could get out to the party and hope the guys all got there soon to keep Orlando busy. If she’d learned anything about herself since she’d met Orlando, it was how incapable she was of being able to keep anything from him. The last thing she wanted was to start blurting out what she’d begun to seriously suspect and had her heart pounding today. Except for when she’d looked into birth control, she hadn’t given any thought to how Orlando might feel about her accidently getting pregnant. She just naturally assumed it was the last thing he’d want this soon.
After changing her blouse and checking her face again then removing the tissue plug from her nose, she rinsed her nose out one last time and made sure it wasn’t still bleeding. Rushing back out to the party, she smiled when she heard Oreo squealing out back but walked to the dining room first to make sure all the food was set up. Danica froze when she saw the amount of food on the table. She’d taken the plunge and made a large lasagna and garlic toast for the party. Orlando had been quick to say