She rubbed her arms feeling the chill seep into her bones. Chase knelt down before her. Mitch was stroking her hair. She’d missed this, the comfort they offered and the ease. He took her hand in his. “I know we’ve been pretending nothing happened, Leah, but I need to ask.” He stopped, licking his lips and looking up into her eyes. “Are you taking birth control?”
Her eyes opened wide as she shook her head.
Mitch cursed.
“I don’t understand.” She couldn’t think. What was wrong with her?
“I’ll go down to the pharmacy and buy one,” Mitch said, leaving the bathroom.
“Buy what?” She watched his retreating back with tears in her eyes.
This was easy logic, and she couldn’t fathom what was going on. Chase held her hands in his firm grip.
“Mitch is going to go and buy you a pregnancy test.”
The colour left her.
“A pregnancy test?”
The door to the apartment closed behind Mitch.
“Yes.”
“That night, you didn’t wear condoms?” she asked.
Chase caught her face between his palms. He looked intently at her. “Leah, you begged us not to.”
“I begged you not to?”
He hung his head, not saying anything.
“Tell me, Chase.”
“We put on the condoms, and you pulled them off, Leah. You told us that you’d waited a lifetime for us and there was no way anything was going to be between us when we took you.”
Leah closed her eyes, slapping her palm to her head. “I never even gave pregnancy a thought,” she said.
“Not even with your other lovers?”
She looked at him. “I’ve not had sex in over a year, Chase. There was no need for birth control.”
Leah stared past his shoulder feeling like a complete and utter fool. What was she going to tell her parents? Her mother had warned her about making choices. She’d never thought the choice would be taken out of her hands.
“I’m taking you into the sitting room.” Chase leaned around her, pulling her up into his arms. “You’ve lost too much weight.”
She chuckled. “I never thought being pregnant would make weight loss so easy.” The chuckle died on her lips. Pregnancy was a big deal. It wasn’t something she could brush under the carpet. “I don’t think I can handle this.”
“It doesn’t matter what you can handle anymore. You’ve got us, and I know I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
Chase sat down next to her. The television played to itself. She put her hand over her stomach wondering if there was a little Chase or Mitch inside her.
“This is going to be a nightmare,” she said.
“How is it?” He covered her hand with his own. His warmth helped to calm her.
“I don’t know who the father is.”
“Does knowing matter?” he asked.
“It would be a good idea to know who put a life inside me.”
“We don’t even know if you’re pregnant, Leah. I think we should do the test that Mitch will bring and make our decisions after that.”
She nodded her head. Chase pulled her into his lap. They sat watching the television together. He stroked her hair as she closed her eyes relishing every touch he gave.
“I’ve missed this,” she said.
“It was never gone. You were the one who started to distance yourself.”
“I didn’t know how to handle it. I knew everything was going to change. Pretending doesn’t change the fact something happened.” She looked into his eyes, seeing the old sparkle back.
“Leah Jones, it doesn’t matter if the grass turned blue or the sky green. No matter what changes happen, nothing will be different between us.”
“How do you know? I begged you to have sex with me,” she said. He pressed a finger against her lips, silencing her.
“Until you remember what happened between us, I don’t think you should speak. Leah, we’ve survived kindergarten and the move to high-school. Not to mention puberty and the first day you got your period. Do you remember that?” he asked.
She chuckled, recalling the screaming from his parents’ back garden. Leah had thought she was dying. Her mother collected her and told her everything. Chase and Mitch didn’t tease her about it. They came and played some video games while she was feeling sorry for herself cooped up in bed.
“So, we have puberty and your woman’s bits developing. Then from high-school exams to college, we survived it all. We also survived the boyfriends and girlfriends we’ve all had. Nothing would ever put our friendship in jeopardy, Leah. We’ve missed you.”
Tears were spilling from her eyes at his words. Mitch walked through the door carrying a bag. He tipped the contents onto the coffee table. “They have too many to choose from. I didn’t know which one would work, and I figured if she used all of them, then we’d feel better.”