CODY
“Come on, Blair Bear, you’re killing me with the anticipation.”
“Just give me a second. I’m reading the directions.”
“No, you’re stalling. You already read the directions on the drive home and we both know that you know how to take a piss test. Come on, baby, you don’t need to be scared.”
“I’m not scared,” she scoffs.
I suppress my laugh and take a seat back on the air mattress sitting in our new primary bedroom. We’re going to finish moving furniture today, but this was more important to handle. Blair and I were up bright and early, off to the grocery store to pick up a few things. The pastries and coffee creamer made since, but the pregnancy test not so much. I think we’re both still in a state of shock at the revolution we had last night.
Hayes was downstairs eating the donuts we bought before he headed off to his classes for the day and I was upstairs waiting for Blair to pee on a stick to find out if we had another unexpected child on the way. This was a strange, odd feeling. I knew deep in my soul that she was pregnant. I didn’t need her to take a test to confirm that, but she did and so here we are.
We were in a very different place all those years ago when she got pregnant with Hayes and yet there is a very familiar feeling in my chest. I remember sitting on her bed while she peed on a stick, thinking about what it would mean for our future. We had to make a big choice then and another will need to be made now. We never talked about having any more kids. Clearly, we aren’t out of our babymaking years and plenty of people our age are right in the middle of starting or growing their families, Angela and Harrison a perfect case in point. We aren’t new lovers just finding each other for the first time though. We already raised a child from newborn to a few days shy of his 18th birthday. This would be starting over in the most dramatic way.
The bathroom door finally opened and Blair took a seat beside me on the air mattress, leaning her head onto my shoulder. “We have to wait three minutes now.”
“Okay.” I reach over and take her hand, holding it tight in mine. I’m trying to gauge her feelings right now, but I’m thinking it might be better for me to just keep my mouth shut instead.
Three minutes took more like three hours. When Blair’s timer on her phone finally went off, we just jumped to our feet. She was the first through the bathroom door, but quickly turned and buried her face into my chest. ‘I can’t look, Cody. I need you to tell me what it says.”
“Okay, I can do that. Before I look, just look at me, Blair.” She slightly tilted her neck until our eyes met. “We’re going to get through this together. Everything is going to be okay.”
“I know it will be okay, I just need to know the truth.”
“Alright, I’m looking.” I reach past her and flip the test over to show the window. Just as I expected, it says “pregnant” clear as day.
“Cody, tell me.”
“It says you’re pregnant.” Her grip on me gets a little tighter and I can hear the sniffles that she’s trying to hide. I don’t know what else to say, so I just hold her closer.
Blair needs some time to process the news that we just received. I get her tucked back into bed and then head downstairs to make sure Hayes gets off to his classes like he needs to. We’ll have to tell him he’s going to be a big brother, I wonder how he’s going to take the news. He was just grabbing his backpack when I got down there. “Can you take my car to school so we can use your mom’s for moving, it has a bigger backseat?”
“Uh, yeah sure.” He grabs my keys from the counter instead of his mom's. “Is everything okay, Dad?”
“Of course, why do you ask?”
“It’s just that Mom was acting kind of weird when she came back from the store today and the two of you have been upstairs.”
“She’s just tired from the move yesterday. Don’t worry about anything, okay?” I might be telling him a bit of a fib, but she’ll be okay so maybe it isn’t that much of a lie. I clap him on the back to say goodbye and then call Blair’s dad to see what time he’s planning on coming over with his truck. It’ll take some time without Dalton’s help, but we’ll get it figured out. When I hung up the phone, Blair was downstairs and looked a little better.
“Hey, you. I was just talking to your dad. He’s going to borrow his neighbor’s truck too so we can have two trucks to load up.”
“Oh, that’s good. Did Hayes leave already?”
“He did. Just so you know, he was asking about you. I told him you were just tired from the move yesterday.”
“Ugh,” she falls down into one of the dining room chairs. “We’re going to have to tell him sooner than later.”
“Whenever you want to, I’m right there with you.” I slide her a donut, knowing that she’s probably starving. “Does this mean that you want to keep it?”
She nods her head, “Yeah, it’s a surprise, that is for sure, but I do want to keep it. I always figured that I’d have more kids, I just didn’t think one would be eighteen before that happened.”
I smile at her, “It’ll be like starting all over again, huh?”
“Oh gosh, yes. Things are so different too. I see all this new baby equipment and hear on TV or see on social media about new rules and laws.”
“I feel like I need to pick up a book or something,” I laugh.
“Yeah,” she giggles too. “Maybe it is a good thing we’ll go through this with Harrison and Angela. We can divide and conquer.”
“Speaking of, when do you think we should start sharing the news?”
“I don’t even know how far along I am right now, so definitely wait a bit. Hayes should really be the first to know. Besides the two of us, it is going to affect him the most.” She pauses for a moment and looks nervous once again, “You don’t think he’s going to be mad at us, right?”
I move around the table and hug her, “No, Bear. He’ll be shocked, but we were worried about how he was going to react to us being back together and that ended up being such a non-issue for him. In fact, I’d go so far to say that he’s ecstatic about it.”
“No, you’re right. Why am I the one freaking out about everything and you’re always over there cool as a cucumber?”
“Ha!” I laugh, “I’m hardly cool as a cucumber, Blair. I think I’m just better at hiding my actual emotions. On the inside, I’m freaking out too.”
“Well, I can’t handle two of us out of control, so I’m going to need you to continue to keep yourself in check,” she says with a smirk.
“I can do that, baby.”
Blair finishes up her donut and gets up from the kitchen island, “I better take a shower and get ready for my parents. My mom is super suspicious over everything, so make sure you don’t make it obvious that something is going on with me.”
“I’ll try my best, but you need to make sure you’re not overdoing it today. I know you’re still you and you’re not going to want me to baby you, but you’re carrying a child, Blair. Just take it easy and let your dad and I take care of the heavy lifting.”
She nods and kisses my cheek, “I can do that, maybe. I love you, Cody. Thanks for being the calm to my storm.”
“Whenever you need me, Blair. That’s what I’m here for.”
YOU ARE READING
Strawberry Wine (Strawberry Inn Book #2)
RomanceAt just 17, Blair and Cody were high school sweethearts with big dreams. They were both headed to university on athletic scholarships when a positive pregnancy test changes everything. Coming from two traditional families, they get married right aft...
