Page 35 of Easy On Me

Get married. Get a house. Then have a baby.

I hadn’t done either of the first two, unless you counted paying my own rent, so I couldn’t be doing the third.

“Time’s up.” Maggie spoke from the doorway, her voice a near whisper. I looked down, sure I’d see nothing but a single horizontal line.

A blue plus.

Oh, my God. My breath hitched. I spun, hands outstretched. “Give me another one.”

Eyes wide, Maggie peered over my shoulder at the test and pressed the next box into my hand.

Two blue lines.

Two pink lines.

A digital pregnant.

Two pink lines, so dark they were almost red.

My knees shook, and I slumped to sit against the tub, staring at the last test. All of them were positive. Bewildered, I looked up at Maggie. “I can’t.”

“Oh, honey.” Maggie came down beside me and wrapped her arms around me. I leaned into her, burying my face in her neck. She stroked my hair.

Throat tight and aching, I pulled back enough to meet her eyes. “What am I going to do?”

I hated how my voice trembled, how my whole body was shaking.

She smoothed back my hair and smiled, although her hazel eyes remained serious. “You’re going to tell Jase and then you two are going to figure this out together.”

“Maggie, I don’t know anything about being anybody’s mama.” The words stuck in my throat, tangling up with the choking panic. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t.

“You do.” Eyes crinkling with that gentle smile, she stroked my cheek. “You know everything you need to if this is something you want to do.”

I struggled to control my breathing, lungs heaving then seizing, exhales almost like sobs. Before today, I’d thought about being a mother, hazy daydreams, but in those fantasies, I’d been older. More experienced. Prepared. In a longterm relationship. I mean, Jase and I were . . . what were we?

Propping my elbow on my knee, I covered my eyes. Maggie rubbed my back.

You’re going to tell Jase.

I shuddered. He couldn’t want this. We’d been dating weeks, barely into being able to call it months. Maybe I didn’t even have to tell him. I could . . . I could . . .

A sob burst free, tears spilling over my lashes.

“Oh, Tyler.” Maggie wrapped me close, patting me. After a moment, she pulled back and tugged my hand down so our eyes met. “Listen to me.”

I nodded and gulped in a breath, trying to calm down everything racing through my brain.

“You are not alone in this. You have Mama Nancy, not to mention me and Marilyn.” She cupped my chin. “And you have Jase. He’s decent, and we both know it.”

Again, I nodded on a deep breath, the oxygen helping me to center myself. She was right – Mama Nancy would be by my side through anything. And Jase was a good man, a decent one. We could co-parent if we needed to, if he dumped me over this.

The idea brought on a fresh wave of tears. I didn’t want to lose him, but sometimes men left over an unexpected pregnancy.

I mean, look at my father.

Pushing my hair away from my face, I blew out a shaky exhale. “We’re supposed to have dinner tonight. He’s cooking.”

She chafed my knee with a gentle palm. “Are you going to tell him?”