AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“If I really am pregnant, I cannot tell them yet. I have to figure out things on my end first,” Tess said.
“Good luck. The others will figure it out soon. I just see you more often with FaceTime, so I see the changes.” Tasha smiled at her and patted her cheek with her one free hand.
“Thanks. Puffy cheeks.” She touched one herself.
“They are so round and cute, Tessy. What will the daddy say? Will he get a say?” Tasha shifted the baby in her arms.
“No need to rush into telling him if it’s cancer after all, so I need to know for sure before I even think about saying anything. There is for sure no us, and I would assume he will be mad when I tell him about this. I just might not tell him,” Tess admitted. Maybe it was for the best. Math had no real long-term interest in her, so why would he be interested in her baby? He already had three kids. Would he even want another one?
“It’s your call. You have the means to support a baby without a husband. But maybe you want some support anyway,” Tasha said.
The two sat in silence until Alex came and told his wife they had to get home. Since Tess had driven herself, she continued to sit and think that just an hour ago she was dying alone, and now she was maybe carrying someone to love forever in her stomach.
She wondered whether or not to tell Mathias. She assumed he would be mad that it had happened, that she let it happen. He would most likely be mad that he would be saddled with her for a lifetime; he didn’t like her on the best of days. But if she kept it from him, he would hate her if he ever found out.
No matter what she did, he most likely would hate her anyway.
CHAPTER13
The next morning,Tasha had her take a pregnancy test. Positive. Tasha squealed with delight and danced while Tess panicked even more and hid her tears. Now it was more real than before. Maybe it was still cancer.
Weeks before, she had scheduled a job interview in a town during her long drive back to Landstad. It was for a bank president in a town just a few hours from her parent’s house. It was still farther away than they would travel to see her but closer for her to visit. She had felt it went pretty well, and it would be best to get out of Landstad. This way, if she never told Math about the baby, he would never have to know. And if she did tell him, and he didn’t want it, she wouldn’t have to see him afterward.
Now it had been three days since she’d found out she was pregnant, and she couldn’t stop thinking about the baby and everything it meant. Trying to take her mind off the big questions, she headed down to the café for a late lunch. It was a rare treat when she let herself eat at a restaurant. Probably too many years of her parents declaring it was a waste of money. Most of the time, she brought a lunch to work, and today was no different. But with the sun shining and Tess needing some fresh air, she headed to the café.
The air was crisper than it had looked through the bank windows, and Tess wished she had worn her coat, but she was nearly at the door of the café. She finally pushed through the door, happy to feel the warmth surround her.
“Tess Thorn, are you darkening my door during a workday?” Mia asked from a booth by the door with a grin, reminding Tess that she rarely went out to eat in town.
“I can leave if you do not want me here,” Tess said, wishing she had just stayed in her office.
“No, no. Come and have a seat. I was just keeping Hazel company, but now you can.” Mia jumped up from the table and indicated that Tess should take her place.
Tess glanced at Hazel, relieved that maybe she wouldn’t have to sit alone until she realized she had never had a one-on-one with the younger woman. They had always been together in the larger group.
As Tess slid into the booth, she smiled at Hazel. “No John Henry today?”
Hazel’s four-year-old son was almost always with her unless it was book club night, which meant that Tess had seen very little of him up close. All she knew was that he looked a lot like his thin, blonde mother.
“No, there’s a thing at the school for his age group today, so I’m waiting for it to get done.” She lived in the country and probably didn’t want to make the trip into town again.
Tess always liked quiet Hazel; she was one of those shy people until you got a few drinks in her or she got comfortable with you. Then she was a fireball.
“Does he like it?” Tess toyed with the menu as she spoke, not opening it.
“I don’t know; it’s his first one,” Hazel admitted.
Mia came back to them and asked Tess what she wanted. Only then did Tess look at the menu. After she ordered a bowl of soup, Mia made a comment about how cheap Tess was before walking away.
“What is it like being a single mom?” Tess ignored the waitress and turned back to Hazel. She was her only friend in that category, and suddenly, she wanted to know more about it. It was all she had thought about for days now.
“It’s okay.” Hazel’s expression said she was curious as to why Tess was asking.
“Have you always been?”
“Yes. The father was never a part of it.”
Tess nodded slowly. “Did you want him to be?”
