places my things on the chair then lays me down on the bed, climbing in next to me. I ask if he can stay, just until I fall asleep, and he agrees without hesitation. He holds me for hours, trying to soothe me after such an awful day.
Despite everything, I feel I’m giving in to Jake. My heart, mind, and soul know it. I have no clue as to where we go from here. I only wish it was already time for my mum to have her baby. She’s not due for another seven weeks, and waiting is making everyone miserable. I know Jake has a court order in place for a DNA test the moment the baby’s born, but it kills me that we’re having to go through this. It’s all anyone can ever think about.
However, something else crops up the next day that takes center stage. Something that will change my life forever.
31
When I wake up Jake isn’t in the bed. As I place my hand on the pillow next to me, I feel a piece of paper. Rousing further, I push myself up a little to grab the note.
My dearest sweet, Ana,
I didn’t want to leave you, but I had to go to work for a while. Please call me the moment you wake up so that I know you’re okay. If you need me, I promise I’ll be right home by your side.
Forever yours,
Jake xx
When I see that he ended his note the same way I did mine, my heart skips a beat. In that moment, nothing else matters but the way I know he feels for me.
But just as the butterflies in my stomach starts, so does the nausea again. I’m not sure whether I’m still feeling the results of drinking or if it’s from the terrible events that took place yesterday. I hear Jessie up, so I decide to let her know I’m in the land of the living.
When I get to the kitchen, she beams her lovely big smile at me. She’s cooking a big breakfast it would seem, bacon, eggs, and waffles. The smell of it hits me so violently that before I can register what’s happening, I’m racing for the toilet again. Dry heaves wrack my body violently as I clutch onto the rim of the toilet.
Man, what’s wrong with me lately?
“Ana, are you okay?”
I groan before wiping my mouth with some tissue, flushing the toilet, and opening the door to a concerned Jessie standing on the other side. “I don’t know if that food you’re cooking is off, but it smells bloody awful.”
Her face scrunches in confusion. “It’s not my cooking.” Her frown deepens. “You normally like my breakfasts.” Something seems to flash across her face, some sort of recognition perhaps. She sighs, looking at me like she’s the headmistress about to tell me off. “Two weeks ago, I had my period, and you had yours the last time I had mine,” she reports, walking closer before placing her hand on my shoulder. “Did you get your period two weeks ago?”
I think back to that time, my eyes widening when I realize something. I haven’t been taking my pills since my last period. I came off them to let my period start, but because I was so caught up in everything going on around me, I forgot to start them back up again.
Fuck!
Jessie doesn’t need me to answer. My reaction says it all. She turns off the burners on the stove and walks to her purse, grabbing her keys before making her way to the door. “Jessie, where are you going?” I call out.
She turns, showing me her purse. “Where do you think? To the drug store to get you a pregnancy test. Jake is at work, and Matthew was out bright and early to start a game, so don’t worry about a thing. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”
Before I can think of a response, she’s out the door, leaving me in a blind panic. I can’t be pregnant.
Can I?
I start pacing the floor until I realize just how thirsty I am after being sick. I walk to the kitchen to get some water, but the smells just make me heave again.
Oh, God, this is not a good sign. I should be thinking about all the shit I put up with yesterday and what to do next about Jake, not the possibility that I could be carrying Jake’s child.
I place my head in my hands. Oh, shit, Jake. How