Taken by the Alien Next Door (Aliens Among Us #1) - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,127

be ashamed of.

She paid quickly and stepped away in search of the restrooms, finding them at the back of the store. She entered the women’s room, which was thankfully single occupancy, and locked the door.

“Moment of truth, Tabby.”

Hanging her purse on the door hook, she opened the pregnancy test box and pulled out the wrapped test stick and the instructions, reading over the latter. She’d seen plenty of people do these in movies and TV shows. How hard could it be to pee on a stick?

Easier than trying to pee in a cup, that’s for sure.

“Okay. One line not pregnant, two lines pregnant. Easy.”

Tabitha tore open the test, removed the cap, and moved to the toilet.

After doing her business, she recapped the stick, set it down on the sink, and washed her hands. She lifted her phone out of her purse briefly to note the time.

The instructions had assured her there would be results in five minutes.

“And now…the wait.”

She returned to the sink, looked at herself in the mirror, tucking back a few loose strands of hair, and forced herself to breathe slow and deep.

Five minutes was nothing; more often than not, five minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Scroll through a few posts on social media? Boom! Five minutes gone. Try to find something intriguing to stream on TV? Boom! Twenty minutes, gone.

Tabitha absently drummed her fingers on the sink, nails clicking against the porcelain. When her eyes started drifting toward that test stick, she forced herself away, pacing the small space instead.

She stopped to check her phone again.

One minute had passed.

“Ugh.”

Not going to look. I am not going to look yet.

The remaining minutes felt like years, and Tabitha seemed to develop a plethora of new nervous ticks during that time. She tapped her foot on the floor when she stopped moving, she picked at her fingernails, even caught herself about to chew on one. She wrung her hands, she fiddled with a lock of her hair, and ultimately reverted to her old, reliable favorite—she worried her bottom lip.

Anticipation and anxiousness warred in her stomach in a nauseating torrent wholly unlike the sensation that had woken her this morning. She’d never been so happy, excited, terrified, and nervous at once.

When she felt like enough time had passed, she stepped to her purse and reached inside only to stop her hand once it had closed around her phone. She closed her eyes, blew out a breath, and counted to thirty.

Opening her eyes again, she took her phone out of the purse and pressed the button to activate the screen.

Four minutes. How could it only have been four minutes?

The clock changed from eight fifteen to eight sixteen.

She dropped her phone into her purse and darted to the sink fast enough to have put the Flash to shame.

Tabitha stared down at two blue lines.

Two lines. Pregnant.

“I’m pregnant,” she breathed.

Her lips stretched into a wide smile, and she placed her hand on her belly. “I’m pregnant! Oh my God, we’re compatible!”

Tabitha snatched the test stick off the sink and moved to her purse. She stuffed the stick into her purse, pulled it down over her shoulder, and made her way outside.

Once she was in her car, she took out her phone, opened up the messages, and was about to text Zevris before she stopped herself. She wouldn’t tell him over the phone. This was something she had to tell him in person, and she could only imagine how breathtaking his smile would be when she did.

Setting her phone on the seat, she started the car, reversed it out of the parking space, and drove it out onto the main road.

She was thrumming with excitement, with anticipation, with…with…with love. Tears prickled her eyes. She’d been so unsure, so indecisive in the beginning, but now she knew without a doubt that this was what she wanted. His baby.

Their baby.

And she couldn’t wait to tell Zevris.

“He’s going to be a daddy,” she said with a wide grin as she came to a stop behind the car in front of her at a red light. She could barely sit still as she anxiously waited for the light to turn green. She couldn’t get home fast enough. Tabitha just knew Zevris was going to make a perfect father.

Once the light changed, and the cars in front of her started moving, she pressed her foot down on the gas pedal.

As her car entered the intersection, she flinched at the loud blare of a horn to her left.