The Problem with Emerson

05 | The Problem with Love

THE PROBLEM WITH LOVE was that it could make a person feel all emotions simultaneously. Though, often times, some emotions more than others, which wasn't inherently a bad thing. But that didn't make it a good thing either.

Either way, love could make a person do crazy things.

Which was why Brie woke up to the sound of her bedroom door slamming against the wall and her aunt throwing all the covers off her bed.

Brie had only gotten home a handful of hours prior, after she had watched a couple movies with Emerson. She had fallen asleep on his couch, her head on his shoulder, and had woken up with a post-nap headache, which had only gone away when she fell into her own bed and went back to sleep. Now, she was disoriented as her brain tried to register what exactly was going on.

"Brianna Katharine Reinhardt, what the hell is this?" she seethed.

With bleary eyes, Brie tried to focus on the object in her aunt's firm grasp, but it was no use. "What's what, Kate? Why are you yelling at me?"

"Don't lie to me, Brianna. What is this?"

Kate thrust the object in her hand – a plastic stick – toward Brie, who took it in great confusion. Upon inspection, she realized that it was a pregnancy test. But not just any pregnancy test — a positive one.

There, on the tiny screen, was the word pregnant.

For a moment, Brie panicked internally. She had taken a few pregnancy tests in her day, but had she taken this one? Surely she would remember that.

Brie shook her head. No, it wasn't hers. She hadn't even had sex with a guy in months. Too many months. Recently, she had only been with Savannah, and there was no way that that could result in pregnancy.

"This isn't mine, Kate!"

Kate sent her a sharp look. "Then why was it buried in the garbage in the bathroom? It was at the very bottom when I took out the bag — something that someone would do if they were trying to hide it!"

"Guys," Isla interrupted, rubbing her eyes as she stood in the doorway. She then rubbed her arms, prickled with goosebumps from the early morning chill. "It's way too early for all this yelling. What's going on, Katie?"

Kate crossed her arms, looking between her sister and her niece. "Oh, I don't know. Why don't you ask your daughter?"

Isla's eyes fell on Brie, who was now sitting on the edge of her bed, the pregnancy test in her lap. "What did you do, love?"

Brie gaped. "What do you mean? I didn't do anything!" she cried. She held the plastic test high above her head, outraged that her aunt didn't believe her. "Contrary to popular belief, this does not belong to me."

"Well, it's certainly not mine," Kate said with a scoff.

"That's because it's mine," Isla admitted, crossing her arms.

"Mum, I promise you. It's not— Wait, what?"

By now, all three women had gone rosy — Isla, at the embarrassment of her secret being found out unexpectedly, and Brie and Kate, at the way they had been conducting themselves. They all froze as they looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

Finally, Isla sighed. "I was going to tell you both eventually. I only found out a couple days ago, and I've just been trying to process since then."

Wordlessly, Brie stood and handed the test to her mother.

Her mother who was pregnant.

Kate grimaced, dropping her arms at her sides. "I'm sorry, Isles. I saw the test and just saw red. I automatically thought of Brie — sorry — and my emotions got the best of me."