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Katrina left Maggie in the aisle and ran to the checkout with the pregnancy test. She was back in five minutes.
“Go.”
Yanking it out of Katrina’s hand, Maggie wasn’t angry with her. It scared her to death. If she was pregnant, she’d have to find a doctor. If she was as far along as she thought she might be, she’d exposed the baby to alcohol on almost a nightly basis except for Lent. Lent lingered like a shining light of hope. But if what Katring had said about the timing—the horror of that was so frightening, she couldn’t stem the tears from coming.
An older lady passed her in the hallway. “Dear, are you okay?”
Maggie nodded, grateful because that was the wake-up call she needed to pull it together.
She quickly skimmed the directions; it was straightforward. Go; wait two minutes; compare to image on box. She went through the motions, resting the stick on the toilet paper holder while she zipped up and set the timer on her phone. Then she got a text from Katrina.Save the stick.
Thirty seconds, one minute, ninety seconds, two.Pregnant.For no specific reason or a combination of reasons, she lowered her head and wept. Not wanting to deal with Katrina at the moment, she sent her a text.
Positive. Need to be alone for a minute.
She spent the minute cleaning off the toilet paper holder where she’d placed the peed-on stick, hoping for a revelation to take hold of her, but there was nothing. Sticking to facts, she was pregnant with the baby of a man she loved, who unfortunately had made it publicly known that if she was pregnant, he’d have aheart attack, i.e., a euphemism for shock.
Suddenly, an epiphany. That was Justin’s problem, not hers. He was the one who would have to deal with any backlash from the wild horse people regarding his unfortunate choice of words.
There was a knock on the door. “You okay?”
Maggie opened the door.
“I am.” She told Katrina her thoughts. “I’m still not going to tell him right away. I want to see the doctor first.”
“Do you even have one?”
“No. But I know who Annie goes to, here in Saint John’s Parish. I’ll need you to take me since Uber doesn’t pick up at the dock.”
They roared laughing, strolling through Walmart. After a per person couple-hundred-dollar purchase of items neither woman really needed, they walked out to the car in contemplative silence.
“I’ll be next,” Katrina said.
“Really?”
“Yes. Since you trust me, I’ll tellyoumy plan. I’m going to do it on purpose. I don’t want to wait too much longer. I have some big things happening at work, and I’d like to have a pregnancy out of the way before they take place.”
Maggie grabbed her hand. “Are you getting the promotion?”
“I am! But once I have it, it’s no holds barred. I really will have my nose to the grindstone for a while. I want to have a kid and a nanny in place.”
“Do you have the time?”
“I do, almost to the minute. I want a baby, and Alphé is the perfect donor. You see how perfect his children are. If he decides he doesn’t want me, I still want his kid, so it’s a win-win solution.”
“How did you get so normal?”
“Ha! You think that’s normal? If my mother were alive, she’d be furious. First, tricking a guy into a pregnancy isn’t normal.”
“Just tell him, then.”
“He doesn’t want more kids. He’s all for doing the act to get me in that condition, but having to pay for more children? No. Trust me.”
“I don’t think you can do that and not have backlash, Katrina. It’s betrayal. I’m sorry I can’t support you. Just say Alphé, I’m getting pregnant.”
“He’ll use condoms.”
“Tear it off. Ha!”
