“Do you think we should resume our swim?”
Sadi shook her head, drinking in the smell of ocean salt mingled with their sweat and the scent of their passion. “Not a chance,” she whispered. “I just want to lay here with you.”
A deep laugh rose from Luke’s chest. “I agree. I could stay here with you forever.”
Forever. Sadi never would have believed it possible for them, yet here they were, happy and in love. She owed everything she had now to one of the most horrific events of Luke’s life. The only thing Sadi would change was Connor. She knew Luke had not given up hope his brother was still alive. She only wished that against the odds, that somewhere out there, Connor was alive and well and that he would find his way back to them.
Sadi went to see her doctor a couple weeks after returning home. She feared she had picked up a stomach parasite in the Bahamas, as her stomach had been all over the map. She had been constantly nauseous and worse. Luke had gone back to work and had been away for most of the day so she was able to hide it from him. However, he had caught her being sick to her stomach that morning and had insisted she go in and see her GP. Sadi hated having to run to the bathroom all day so she reluctantly agreed.
She sat in the waiting room, half fearing that she was going to get called in and they were going to have to run all sorts of tests on her and then declare she had some horrible disease. She didn’t know what it was about doctors and hospitals that made her so uncomfortable, and that made her constantly fear the worst.
Her GP was a middle-aged woman who was more the motherly type than the stern doctor type. Sadi had been waiting for half an hour past her appointment time before the woman finally made an appearance, but her smile was so warm Sadi found she couldn’t be angry.
“What’s the trouble Sadi,” Doctor Wendy asked, slipping a plastic glove onto one hand, then the other.
“We were away travelling for over a month and I’ve been sick since we got back. I think I may have picked up a parasite or something in the Bahamas.”
The doctor nodded. She performed the usual exam.
“When was your last period?” Doctor Wendy asked, while checking Sadi’s blood pressure.
Sadi gulped. When indeed? “I don’t remember,” she admitted. “I take birth control and I don’t go on breaks from it. I thought you knew that.”
The doctor smiled. “Oh yes, that’s right. Sorry, it’s been a busy day. All the same, I would still like you to go for a pregnancy test.”
“What?” Sadi asked, her voice coming out as a squeak. “There’s no way I could be pregnant.”
“All the same, it’s just routine. We just need a urine sample.”
“Can I just take a test at home?”
“If you do one here it will be done within minutes.”
“Alright.” Sadi sighed. It sounded simple enough.
As she peed into the glass jar in the privacy of the bathroom, she felt like she was going to be sick from nerves. God, she had said there was no way she could be pregnant but what if she was wrong? She had run out of birth control and just assumed everything would be fine. Oh god, Luke didn’t even want children.
As Sadi handed in her pee test she noticed that her hands shook slightly. She tried to still them and act calm.
Finally she was put back into the exam room and her doctor came back in.
“Well Sadi, I have fantastic news. It seems that you are indeed pregnant.”
Sadi took one look at her doctor and burst into tears. “I don’t understand how that could happen! I ran out of birth control, but it was only a couple weeks. I heard it took a long time to wear off…. I don’t want to have children right now. My husband doesn’t even like kids!”
The doctor handed Sadi a tissue. ‘I’m sure it will be fine, dear. If you need help, come back in and see me. You know that you always have other options.”
Ugh. That sounded so ominous. Sadi thanked the doctor in a haze. As she left, she felt completely numb. How could she have let this happen?
Sadi called Luke as soon as she got home. “You have to come home, Luke,” she pleaded through tears. “Please.”
Luke arrived home twenty minutes later, crazy with worry. He ran to Sadi and gathered her up in his arms as soon as he was in the front door. “What’s wrong Sadi?” Luke pleaded, stroking her back.
Sadi could hear the real fear in Luke’s voice. Suddenly she felt very silly. She knew this must look bad. She had just gone to see her doctor and arrived home in tears. Luke would only naturally assume the worst.
“Luke,” Sadi looked up, wiping away tears with the back of her hand. “I’m pregnant. I’m sorry…” she went on to tell him the whole thing, about running out of birth control and not telling him and how dumb she had been. “I’m sorry,” she finished lamely. “I know you don’t want kids.”