His Hush-Hush Baby - Holly Rayner Page 0,14
call it an early day and head home.
“I don’t think so. I should probably get into my pajamas and crawl into bed.” Diane made a face. “Sorry. I do want to keep hanging out.”
“It’s okay. You get home and take care of yourself. Maybe we can do coffee next week.”
They said goodbye outside of the bar with a hug and walked in opposite directions, Diane aimed for the train that would take her to Sunset Park.
Halfway to the subway station, a wave of nausea hit. She had to stop walking for a second, afraid she was about to vomit right there in the street.
Thankfully, her stomach settled. But her mind didn’t.
What was going on? She wasn’t often one to get sick. Maybe what Brie said about it being stress-induced was true. Or it could be it was that time of the month when she felt particularly hungry, run-down, and weak—usually the few days before her period.
Wait. That couldn’t be right.
Her period was two weeks ago.
She gasped. Correction: her period should have been two weeks ago. It hadn’t come, and entrenched as she was in everything with her life she’d forgotten all about it.
Her heart racing, she picked up the pace. There was a drugstore right before the subway, and she desperately needed to pay it a visit.
The purchase couldn’t be made fast enough. Plastic bag clutched tight in her hand, Diane rode the subway with her knee jiggling from anxiety.
She couldn’t be pregnant. Could she?
The only person she’d slept with in months was Kai, and they always used protection.
Which was never one hundred percent, she reminded herself.
Closing her eyes, she focused on taking deep breaths. Okay. So maybe she was pregnant. What then?
It was easy to immediately think of Kai and her parents, but that wasn’t right. She needed to think of herself first. Did she want to have a baby?
The answer was one she barely needed to think about: yes.
Which came as a surprise. At twenty-nine, she didn’t feel anywhere close to hearing her biological clock ticking. She’d always wanted kids but had pinned that as a “one day” thing.
But what if that day had come? The future was so uncertain. Her mom’s illness had taught her that.
When you got a hold of good things, you needed to do everything you could to keep them around. As difficult as life was with juggling work and her mom, Diane wanted to be a mother.
And what about Kai? What did he want? They’d only been dating for a little over a month. Their conversations hadn’t even scratched long-term life plans.
The train screeched to a stop. They’d arrived.
Legs weak, she climbed the staircase and walked the few blocks to her one-bedroom apartment. Once there, she dumped her purse on the floor and went immediately to the bathroom.
The box's instructions said the pregnancy test could take up to three minutes to show results. Not wanting to stand in the bathroom staring at the test, she went into the living room and paced.
Should she call Kai?
No. That was silly. There was no reason to have him worked up along with her. After the results came in, she could tell him. If it was negative, maybe she’d keep the whole thing to herself. Or use it as an opportunity to break the ice regarding talks on the future.
And if it was positive…
The alarm on her phone went off, making her jump. Killing the alarm, she rushed into the bathroom and snatched up the test.
What she saw there had her clutching the counter for support. It was positive.
She was pregnant.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
So many feelings rushed into her chest at once. Fear. Elation. Confusion. Hope.
She knew she wanted this baby. Even if the timing wasn’t the best, it was her child and she didn’t want to pass up on an opportunity to be a mother.
What Kai would want, she couldn’t even begin to guess. If the pregnancy upset him, she didn’t know what she would do. How could she continue to date a man while carrying their child that he didn’t want?
She looked down at her hand, pressed to her belly. People would have varying reactions. Kai. Her dad. Her friends. They would all have their own two cents.
What mattered most was that she did what was right for herself and her child.
Chapter 7
Diane
The next morning was hard, and that was putting it mildly. A restless night with baby-filled thoughts running through her head did little to help Diane sleep. She woke to a text