Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(119)

“I don’t think Sean would like to hear you aren’t 100% in this. Especially with his parents’ track record.”

“I am, it’s just that I’m scared. My body is going to stretch and go crazy, I’ll look ugly and misshapen when it’s all over, and let’s not forget the needles and horrible pain…”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”

They went over the calendar. It was quite possible that Krista was a week late. They went online and looked up pregnancy symptoms. Sore boobs was one of them. Krista broke into a cold sweat.

“You’re coming over tonight and we are going to deal with this. Jasmine and Cassie are coming,” Kate said sternly.

“No one tells Sean.”

“No one tells anyone! You might be as ready as you’ll ever be, but I’m not even that ready yet. Yuck.” Though neither wanted to admit it, Kate and Jasmine both were in serious relationships. Kate’s man was just about to pop the question, it was obvious. Kate swearing off marriage and babies was her way of waiting patiently for a ring and eternity.

At Kate’s house, Krista was given a birth control test, shoved in the bathroom, and yelled at to hurry up. After the pants were back in place, all four women crowded in and watched the test, which turned positive within thirty seconds.

“Oh yeah, you’re pregnant,” Jasmine said. “When it turns that fast, you are definitely pregnant.”

“Oh my God, you bitch!” Cassie roared, taking the test. “Why didn’t you tell me? Now I’m behind!”

“Because you would have told Sean,” Krista said, not quite sure how to feel.

“True. Okay, do another. Then I’m going to do one just to see if there is a miracle.”

Krista did three. Cassie did one. Krista’s were all positive. Cassie went home directly to get pregnant. Kate and Jasmine toasted to Krista with a glass of wine. Krista had juice.

Cassie being sworn to secrecy wouldn’t last long—she was way too excited. For that reason, Krista had to get on the ball with telling those closest to her. Sean, obviously, being the first. She wanted it to be special, though. She wanted him to remember the day he found out.

She stayed late that night at Kate’s, saying they were talking girl talk. She skipped surfing, pretending she had a hangover. She tried to stay busy all day to avoid Sean—she never could get anything important past the man; he read her as easily as a freaking billboard. At the end of the day, she raced home before him, getting a ride from Kate, and put one of the most easy to read pregnancy tests on the counter with a blue and pink intertwined ribbon. She then punched Cassie in the arm when Cassie said that meant she’d get twins.

All their closest friends—who would not judge and who would have been told before the three month mark anyway—waited quietly in the backyard. It was Autumn and still nice out, so no one minded in the least.

When Sean came home, he stepped beside the door to deposit his keys in the bowl, like he always did. He moved into the living room to switch on the TV and saw a note on the remote that said to turn on music. It wasn’t unusual—sometimes Krista didn’t want to hear people talking after a busy day. He did as instructed, only then seeing the weird looking white object with the ribbons. It looked like a digital thermometer.

That, of course, made Sean nervous, since Krista tried to pretend she wasn’t sick until she was basically on bed rest. He had picked it up and surveyed it.

Instead of temperature, in the window, it had the digitally displayed word: ‘Pregnant.’

Sean’s life burst into color. He read it again. He turned it over and flipped it back, reading it a third time. He looked around to see if Cassie would pop out and this would all be a joke. It didn’t happen, so he read it a fourth time.

Being that there were ribbons on it, it meant he was supposed to see it. It wasn’t hidden away or thrown in the garbage. It wasn’t something Krista was ashamed of. It was left for him, as a surprise.

In a daze, he wandered out to the deck, to his chair overlooking the ocean. He sat back and held the stick close, not realizing or caring that it had been peed on. It would later be the thing everyone made fun of.

That was where Krista found him ten minutes later. He was sitting, staring out at the ocean, his eyes glassy, with the test hugged to his chest. When he noticed her, she smiled shyly. His eyes were so full of love, Krista got a lump in her throat.

“Hey,” she said, walking out onto the balcony.

Sean watched her cross in front of him to take her balcony chair. His eyes were blazing with emotion, the foremost being hope. He held up the test.

“Is this what I think it is?”

Krista wanted to say something witty but decided it wasn’t the time. “Yes.”

Sean nodded slowly, looking at her intently. “Are you okay with this?”

Fear raked Krista’s chest for the first time. Cassie had promised he would be excited. She had ardently swore that he would be eager to share that moment with those closest to him.

“Uh…aren’t you?”

“I told you, I would wait until you were ready. I would rather never have a child if you aren’t 100% sure this is what you want.”

“If it wasn’t what I wanted, I wouldn’t have stopped the pill.”

Confusion flashed across Sean’s face. Then a flicker of a smile.