Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 161(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
He rustles in one of the drawers of the vanity and pulls out a small box, his thick fingers working the top in an attempt to get at whatever is inside.
“Pants down,” he commands and my belly tumbles. He growls as he fumbles with the little box, finally ripping it in half and two white plastic things about the size of a toothbrush come flying out. One hits the wall, the other Davis catches in midair as he steps my way.
“What is that?”
“Pregnancy test,” he says, like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
I swallow hard. I know they make them, I’ve just never seen one nor imagined I’d be taking one at eighteen after meeting a mountain man in a cabin where my grandfather dumped me for the winter.
Phew. That’s a lot.
Nevertheless, I’ve been a willing participant in Davis’s rather obsessive need to test out the functioning level of my womb, so…
He picks up the pamphlet that fell to the floor, squinting at the microscopic print on a sneer, then tosses it in the trash can on a sniff. “Pants down and sit, but don’t pee until I tell you to.”
This is level twenty-bananas but by the set of his jaw and the way he’s holding the little green and white stick, aimed at me like a gun, he’s as serious as a heart attack.
I wiggle my jeans and panties over my hips and down my legs and Davis drops to his knees in front of me as I sit, tugging the fabric down to my ankles.
“I’m not sure I can pee with an audience. I get stage fright.”
“Well, sooner or later your body will do the right thing and I’ll be ready when it does.” He meets my eyes with a rare smile that turns me into a marshmallow. “Just picture Niagara Falls.” He reaches over and turns the knob on the closest sink to full blast so the sound of the rushing water fills the room.
Then he pops the little top off the test and tosses it over his shoulder. It chitters across the tile floor as he muscles his body between my legs until the insides of my knees brush the sides of his torso.
“Now, pee.” He holds the stick just under where…well, where you’d think it should go but instead of peeing, I burst out laughing.
His forehead tightens as he brushes the back of his other hand over his grimace. “This isn’t funny. I think you are pregnant, and I want to know. I want to know if I’m a father the day I take root inside you. The tests I bought say they can detect pregnancy within a day of conception. I don’t want to miss anything. Now, stop laughing and pee.”
Watching this huge mountain man on his knees, holding the pee stick between my legs, barking orders is more than my little heart can take.
Tears run down my cheeks as I laugh and finally, my body can’t take it anymore and my big mountain man gets his wish.
“I’m going to be a father.” Davis buries his face into my neck as I hold the little stick with two pink lines in my hands, sitting curled on his lap.
After the peeing, Davis rushed us out of the house giving me a piggy back ride all the way to the barn. He wanted privacy and didn’t think the bathroom was quite the right venue for the event.
I bounced along on his back in a daze, the reality that I’m pregnant taking up most of my brain space.
Now I’m sitting on a bale of hay, the horses in their stalls chomping away at their breakfast oblivious to the way my life has just changed.
I think of my mother and the school photos I found that are tucked into my own bible on my bedside table back at my grandfather’s house.
Would she be proud? Ashamed? I’m only a year older than she was when she had me. The barn swallows swoop and chirp as they fly up and down the aisle and the world feels…new.
I have a passing thought of my Grandpa as well. This was exactly what he didn’t want for me. Exactly what he thought he would prevent by leaving me in that cabin.
“Baby.” Davis grips my jaw, turning me to him, his other hand pressed warm and flat on my belly. “You okay? You’re gonna be the best mom. I already know it and I’m going to do everything. I’m going to do all the diapers and the potty training. I’m going to sit up at night when you nurse them. If you don’t sleep, I don’t sleep…”
“It’s just…” I feel floaty and warm. “It’s a lot but I’m happy. I am.” It’s true. Sitting on Davis’s lap here in the barn, I’ve never been happier.