The CEO's Secret

Chapter Sixteen - Oh No

“Hello? Taylor? Are you listening?” Ashley asked me.

“I wasn't, sorry.” I admitted. I felt awful. I sat with my head down at the island counter, more exhausted than I'd been in my life.

“Do you need anything from the store?” Ashley asked. “Shampoo? Tampons?”

“Let me go check.” I said.

I hopped off the stool and went into my bathroom to check out the toiletries. My shower was pretty well stocked, and I looked under my sink to see an unopened package of tampons. I was doing some mental math when I realized I hadn't gotten my period that month. I counted back and realized the only plausible time I could've gotten pregnant was on the trip with Shane. “Oh no.” I whispered to myself. I pulled out my phone to look at the calendar. I counted back. I started at the date of my last period and counted days. I Googled. The only explanation was pregnancy, and it could only be Shane's baby. I said a silent prayer that stress was taking a toll on my body and that was all.

I returned to the kitchen. “Uh, I need a pregnancy test.” I quietly admitted, my face paling. “Maybe a couple.”

“Oh my god.” Megan gasped. “Did you talk to Colt?”

I was confused. Then I remembered they had no idea that I'd had s*x with Shane. I realized quickly that as far as they knew, Colt was the only person I'd had s*x with, and being pregnant meant that they baby was Colt's. That would be a good cover story, at least for now.

“No.” I snapped. “And no one says anything to him – okay? He is out of my life for good and I would never want him to know about the baby.”

“You'd keep it?” Ashley said with a look of shock. Once again, I was confused by her comment. I hadn't considered other options for a pregnancy I wasn't sure existed yet. We'd had this conversation before that none of us could ever have a child in the near future. The comment had always been that if we were to get pregnant, of course we'd have an abortion – now was no time for a child. Now, I couldn't really fathom actually doing that.

“Maybe. I'm not worrying until there's need to worry. Can you just go to the store?” I whined. She realized I was probably in a hurry to find out, and quietly grabbed her keys to rush out.

I talked to Megan while Ashley was out. She asked me a ton of questions about my relationship with Colt and if he'd really done something worthy of being excluded from the baby's life should it exist. I ensured she knew I wasn't sure but would appreciate it if my life was kept a secret from anyone else until I felt I could tell them.

When Ashley got back, she immediately dug a box out of the bag to hand to me. I held it for a second and felt a jolt of nerves in my stomach before going to my bathroom for some privacy. I grabbed a disposable shot glass from a party we'd had, peed into it, and then unboxed the test. I followed the directions to dip it into the cup and wait three minutes.

“Do you want us in here when you read it?” Megan yelled from outside of the door.

I pondered that for a moment. I hadn't made any decisions on if or what I would tell Shane, but I knew that if I was pregnant, it would take a while for me to decide what was the best plan of action. I knew I'd be handling this mostly alone, being far away from my family, and I'd need to have someone in my corner.

“Yeah, come in.” I said. I opened the bathroom door to let them come in. We waited together in silence sitting on the floor until my phone timer went off, telling me the time was up.

I took a big deep breath before reaching up to the counter and pulling the test down to eye level. I kept my eyes closed until I was ready a few seconds later – as ready as I ever would be.

I couldn't misread the test. Pregnant. I sucked in a deep breath.

“How do you feel?” Ashley asked.

“I'm not sure how to feel.” I admitted.

“That's okay.” Megan encouraged.

“Please say absolutely nothing to anyone else. Seriously no one.” I said.

“Of course.” Ashley said. “We won't.”

“We won't.” Megan agreed. “We're here for you.”

“You have options. We can talk about whatever you're thinking.” Ashley said.

“Thank you guys.” I said, my voice finally breaking.

I didn't know what I was thinking or what I should think. I didn't want to consider options. Everything felt overwhelming. I didn't want to make a decision, about anything, not right now. I cried for a while with Megan and Ashley who tried to be supportive, and we eventually did what felt right – had ice cream and went to bed to start brainstorming with a fresh day.