“I’m good,” Amber backed away as the steam poured out when Sash lifted the lid. The stench filled her nostrils until she wanted to vomit. She couldn’t stand the smell. She needed fresh air so she walked outside with Sasha at her heels. “Babe,” she called out, circling around to face her. “What’s wrong with me?” Amber asked, aghast at how odd she felt. Contemplating for a second, her friend crossed her arms. “When was your last period?” she questioned. “I know this is a long shot but you’re demonstrating some of the symptoms of pregnancy all of a sudden.” Amber scoffed. “I doubt that’s what is going on.” She didn’t want to think it was an option, but the longer she thought about it, the more she realized that she wasn’t quite on schedule with her body. She had been so busy she didn’t have time to notice. “When was it?” she kept insisting. “Look, I’m not pregnant. I don’t feel like it so let’s drop the subject.” She didn’t want to have a baby, not yet. She still had to get married. She wanted to fit in her wedding gown all trim and beautiful.
Sasha uncrossed her arms and gave her a hug. “Having a baby isn’t a bad thing. But if you think you’re not then I’ll leave it alone. Just make sure you’re alright.”
Amber waited for Sasha to go back inside before touching her breasts. They were sore but this was normal. The female body was a mystery even to her. It wasn’t unusual for her to be off by a few days once in a while.
She heard footsteps and then Charles voice permeated the night air. “Mm, baby, the way you touch yourself is just…” He walked behind her and gave her a hug, sucking softly on her neck.
She froze with her fingers still clutching her breasts. When she tried to move them, he held them in place.
“Babe please,” she protested, trying to move her hands from his steel grip. “It’s not a good time right now.” Her feet were planted solidly in the ground and she stiffened her body. She didn’t want him to think she was relaxed and comfortable to mess around. Tonight there would be none of that. She couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that she might be pregnant. The idea weighed heavily on her and she hated every second of it. What if she was? What would she do about it?
“I’m tired,” she lied. “I think I’ll go back to bed. Maybe I’ll feel better in the morning.”
Rejected and obviously disappointed, he backed away from her and let her walk back inside. There would be no sleep for her tonight but he didn’t need to know that. Perhaps tomorrow she would feel herself again.
Charles nicely tucked her in bed, kissed her on the forehead, and then went to join her friends who were laughing loudly about something.
Baby Abel began to cry and immediately the other sounds came to a halt. Even though the quiet surrounded her, Amber felt like she needed something to knock her out. Quickly she walked to the bathroom and flipped on the light. She was hoping there’d be a bottle of Nyquil for her to down.
As she rummaged through the cabinet she came across two things. One, obviously someone had placed pregnancy tests conveniently there for her to find. She had a sneaking suspicion of who it might be. And two, there was a bottle of Nyquil just waiting for her.
But as she reached to grab the Nyquil, a sense of guilt overcame her. Shoving it aside she untwisted the cap and filled it up to the little line that marked a usual dose. Lifting it to her lips she could smell the mint cherry scent travel up her nose. Surprisingly she liked the smell of this particular medicine. Everyone at some point in time would look at her crazy, wondering how she could stand it. Seconds passed by as she struggled to drink it down. She let the liquid pour into her mouth without swallowing. She let the tingle of it fill her mouth until the guilt became insurmountable. She couldn’t stand it. Deep inside she knew this was a bad idea. If she were pregnant, then she shouldn’t be taking anything like this. Nothing with a label of alcohol she would let pass her lips if she knew what was good for her.
Sighing, she spit out the deep red syrup in to the sink and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked so sad. Her eyes were puffy and she felt exhausted. The reflection looking back at her was merely a mirror of how she felt. “Great,” she uttered to herself. No one was around to listen. “What should I do..?”
Her hand wandered to the pregnancy test sitting before her, the instructions on the back clear and easy to understand. She picked it up and read them aloud. Sasha most definitely had a hand in this. She was the one with baby experience and perhaps she felt that it was a good idea to keep them around.