I was babbling, and I knew it, so I clamped my lips together to prevent myself from further embarrassment.
“How was it?”
I blinked. “What?”
“How was the kiss?”
I looked from Damien to Bronagh and back. “Fine.”
“Better than fine,” Bronagh corrected. “It was sexy.”
It really wasn’t, but I let her tease the lads.
“I wish I could have seen that.”
“Me too,” the brothers agreed with Alec
I focused on Nico.
“Someone else kissin’ Bee turns you on?”
“No, no,” Nico said. “The thought of another hot female kissing her turns me on. It’s purely fantasy, though, because if it came down to the wire and Bronagh offered me a threesome with a woman, even a woman as hot as you, Lana, I’d say no. I want no woman other than my lady.”
Even a woman as hot as me?
“Shut up, Nico.”
I hated when he categorised me as hot because I knew he was just being polite because I was Bronagh’s best friend. I was in no way ever fishing for compliments when I told him off for it either. I truly hated when he said it.
“What?”
Alec sighed. “She thinks you’re full of it when you call her hot.”
“You are hot, though,” Nico concluded.
I scowled at him, and he winked in response.
“I think you’re hot.”
“I know you think I’m hot,” I said to my better half. “Ye’ can’t keep your bloody hands off me.”
Damien grinned. “I plan to keep my hands on you for a very long time, freckles.”
Oh, I was counting on it.
Code red.
That was what I texted my best friend twenty minutes ago as I sat on the lid of my toilet and stared at the unopened box of tampons. They should have been opened and used by now but weren’t. After Damien left for work, I followed my normal morning routine. I took care of Barbara, then got showered and changed into work clothes before I spent a few hours in my studio. When I took a break for lunch, I went into the toilet, and the second my eyes landed on my unopened box of tampons, my heart stopped.
I checked my personal calendar and determined my period was due exactly fourteen days ago, which was more than I originally thought. Normally, I wouldn’t panic, but there were at least five of my birth control pills left in the package from last month, which told me I didn’t take them on at least five days. Damien didn’t use condoms when he had sex because I was on birth control. Birth control I wasn’t taking correctly.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
The front door to my apartment opened and closed.
“I’m ‘ere!”
“Bathroom,” I called out.
Bronagh barrelled into the room with a small pharmacy bag in her hand.
“I never thought you would text me code red.” She panted. “You think you’re pregnant?”
I nodded. “I’m two weeks late.”
“Lana.” She blinked. “Holy shite.”
She quickly removed the contents of the bag, opened the pregnancy test box, and even though she had taken the tests before, she read the leaflet from top to bottom. She told me what to do and handed me a test. I wasn’t shy as I lifted the lid of the toilet, pulled down my leggings and underwear, and peed on the stick. When I was finished, I capped the test, flushed the toilet, and washed my hands as I put it on the counter.
“You’re shakin’,” Bronagh commented.
I was. My entire body was.
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be,” Bronagh replied. “Ye’ want this and so does Damien.”
“But what if it ruins everythin’?” I asked, my heart pounding. “What if it’s too much for Damien after everythin’ we’ve gone through to become a couple? We’re together five minutes, Bronagh.”
She smiled warmly.
“Ye’ both want this.”
I inhaled and exhaled.
“I do … We do. Jesus, I’m still terrified.”
My friend laughed. “That never goes away, trust me.”
I bobbed my knee up and down.
“How long do we have to wait?”
“A few more minutes.”
I put my head in my hands. “Where’s Georgie?”
“With Dominic,” she answered. “He saw your text first, and he knows what code red means … He said I told ‘im ages ago.”
I jerked my head up. “Bronagh.”
“Relax,” she said. “He isn’t gonna phone Damien. He just said to phone ‘im after Alannah talks to Damien so he knows if you’re pregnant or not.”
I nodded and put my head back in my hands.
“Ye’ can check it now.” Bronagh cleared her throat.
I couldn’t move.
“Do it for me. Please.”
I looked down as Bronagh lifted the test from the counter and peered down at it.
“What does it say, Bee?”
When she didn’t respond, I looked up and found her smiling at me.
“Your eggo is preggo, mama.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re jokin’!”
Bronagh moved to my side and showed me the digital test.
Pregnant
2-3 weeks
“I’m pregnant,” I whispered, then looked at Bronagh. “Bronagh, I’m gonna have a baby!”
She hugged me and promptly burst into tears. I didn’t cry. I only hugged her and stared at myself through the mirror over her shoulder. I looked at the test again, just to make sure it wasn’t faulty, then with Bronagh’s encouragement, I took the other test that came in the box. It wasn’t a digital test like the first one, but the two pink lines it revealed meant I was definitely pregnant.