Nineteen seconds.
Yet, here she was, alone in the bathroom of her crummy apartment with a pee stick in her hand. How romantic. Not only that but if a little plus sign appeared, well, her life which wasn’t complicated enough already just cranked up by another thousand percent or so.
Thirty two seconds.
How could she have been so stupid? What was she thinking? If it was true, she didn’t have any idea what to do. Whom could she even tell? Tricia knew, of course, and she could trust her with the secret but if her mom or Jett found out… Well, Marilyn would probably threaten to strangle her at first but she’d come around before long. After all, it was hard to imagine her mom not being thrilled to have a grandchild.
Or was it a grandbear?
Daniella groaned in confusion.
Fifty two seconds.
But Jett… Daniella felt ill. She didn’t have the slightest clue what it would mean to carry his child. The only thing she knew was his own mother died giving birth to him. How was she supposed to wrap her mind around that? Daniella wasn’t a selfish person by any means but the thought of that terrified her. If she was pregnant and did keep it, would it mean the same for her? Would Jett even let her think about doing it or would he insist that she get rid of…
One minute, twelve seconds.
“Daniella?” Tricia said as she knocked on the bathroom door. “What’s going on?”
“Um, just waiting for this thing to tell me whether I’m pregnant or not.”
“Oh,” Tricia replied. “Well, can I come in?”
“Yeah, hang on.” Daniella replied. She walked over to the bathroom door and opened it. “Sorry, I didn’t know it was locked.”
“That’s okay.” Tricia said. “Well, anything yet?”
“Not yet, it takes a few minutes for the results to come back.”
“How long’s it been now?”
Daniella picked up her phone. “One minute, thirty five seconds.”
Tricia rubbed Daniella’s shoulder. “How… are you? Are you okay?”
“No, I’m freaked out.” She replied. “God, you’d think with all the technology in the world, they could make these things work quicker. The anticipation is killing me.”
“Where are the instructions?”
“Over on the toilet seat.”
When Tricia passed by her, Daniella leaned back against the bathroom sink. As she did, her palm hit the edge of the test stick. She felt the impact of her hand against it and turned her head towards it right away. To her horror, she watched as it hurtled towards the toilet bowl.
“Shit!” She screamed.
Tricia’s head turned on a swivel to see what the commotion was about. As she looked back towards Daniella, the stick hit the toilet seat at just the right angle and flipped up in the air. If one of them didn’t act fast, the next time it came to rest would be in six inches of water.
“Grab it!” Daniella yelled.
Tricia reached for it and as she did, she lost her footing. The bath mat slid out from under her and she collapsed on top of the toilet bowl. Her left hand fell inside of it and as it did a plume of water splashed her in the face. She shook her head and looked to her right hand. In it, she clutched the test stick. For the moment at least, it was safe.
“Oh my God, Tricia!” Daniella said as she stifled a laugh. It was totally wrong, and not at all amusing but… it kinda was. Tricia on her knees with one hand in the toilet and the other grasping onto the test stick, hilarious.
“Not funny!” Tricia growled. “Here,” she continued. “Take this thing before I flush it!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh.” Daniella replied. She took the test stick from Tricia’s hand and placed it on the bathroom sink once again. Afterward, she helped Tricia get up and clean herself off. As Tricia toweled herself dry, she turned towards Daniella.
“Well?” She said. “Anything yet? I didn’t go through all of that for nothing you know.”
With those words, the seriousness of the moment returned to the forefront of Daniella’s mind. She reached for her cell phone and looked at the timer.
Three minutes, five seconds.
“I can’t look.” Daniella said.
Tricia put the toilet seat down. “Okay, you want me to do it?”
Daniella nodded.
Tricia picked up the test stick and studied it for a few seconds.
“Well?” Daniella said. The last several minutes were like an eternity. Tricia made it a hundred times worse as she sat there and studied it in silence.
“Just give me a second. Would you?”
Daniella exhaled and looked up towards the ceiling.
“Hmm…” Tricia said.
“What?”
“Well, I can’t tell if it’s positive or not.”
“What do you mean? If it’s plus sign, it’s positive, if it’s a minus, it isn’t.”
“Right but…” she began. She held the stick upwards and tried to get a better view. “It looks like there could be a plus sign but it’s really faint.”
Daniella couldn’t stand it any longer.
“Just give it to me.” She said.
Tricia handed it to her. “Alright, tell me what you see.”
Daniella looked at the stick for a few seconds. Tricia was right. It looked like there could be a plus sign but it was faint.
“What do the directions say?” Daniella asked.
Tricia looked to her left and grabbed them off the sink.
“Okay,” she began as she read them. “It says here if you see anything other than a minus sign, you’re pregnant.”
“Anything other than a minus…” Daniella muttered.
While she examined it once more, Tricia folded the directions and stood next to her. For another second or two, they looked at together and then turned to one another.
“Daniella…” she began. “Holy shit! You are pregnant!”
***
When Daniella next awoke, Tricia knelt over her with a bag of frozen peas in her hand.
“Oh… what happened?” Daniella moaned.
“You fainted… Are you okay?”
“Yes, except… ow, my head…” she said. Daniella reached around behind her and felt a rather large bump near the base of her skull.
“You hit the freakin’ sink.” Tricia replied. “I tried to catch you but you went down like a sack of rocks. Here… put this behind your head.”
Daniella winced as she took the peas from Tricia and placed them on the site of the bump.
“How long have I been out?”
“Just a few minutes… It was a nasty fall though. Are you sure you are okay?”
“I think so.” Daniella replied. “Let me try and get up.”
“No, no… no.” Tricia said. “Just relax for a second. Someone in your condition really needs to take it easy.”
“Shit…” Daniella whispered as the meaning of her ‘condition’ flashed back into the front of her mind.
“Yeah, shit is right.” Tricia said as she knelt down next to Daniella on the bathroom floor. “Honey, what are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… what are you going to tell Jett?”
Daniella already knew the answer to that question. There was no way she would tell him, not right now. He… hell, they, were in the middle of so much at the moment this was the last thing they needed. Besides, there would be time. Once they straightened this mess out, they would find a way to make it work. They had to since her life depended on it but for now, it would stay between her and Tricia.
There wasn’t any other choice.
Daniella’s face turned to one side. She felt the sharp, dull pain of the ice against her flesh.
“I’m not telling him anything.” She whispered.
“What?!” Tricia exclaimed. “Why not?”
“I have my reasons.” She began. “And while we’re at it, you aren’t telling anyone else either.”
“Oh no…
no way, Daniella…” Tricia said as she leaned away from her. She wagged her finger and said, “You are not putting this on me. That’s not fair!”
Daniella groaned, sat forward and propped herself up on her elbows.
“Please, Tricia. I never ask you for anything…”
“Well, this is not just any little thing!” Tricia exclaimed. “Uh, Daniella… I don’t understand why you are acting this way. Why don’t you want anyone to know? Especially Jett of all people!”
“I can’t explain it right now.” Daniella replied. “Please, trust me. Just this once.”
“I am very uncomfortable with this, Daniella. Very, very uncomfortable…”
Daniella exhaled. Tricia was right. It wasn’t fair to ask her to keep it a secret. Still, what other choice did she have? If Tricia, or heaven forbid her mom, knew how much she was at risk… well, it would be a full on crisis. And managing a yet one more dramatic event was not something she wanted to do.
“Okay,” Daniella began. “You’re right. I know it. I’m sorry that I asked you to do this but I’m out of options right now. Try to see it from my perspective for a second. What would you do if you were me?”
Tricia frowned and leaned back against the bathroom sink.
“Yeah, I don’t know…” Tricia replied. “I understand what you are saying and everything but… ugh. I really don’t know what I would do. I’m just worried about you having to deal with this all by yourself. How are you going to explain stuff like the morning sickness to Jett?”
Daniella shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ll figure something out. With any luck, it will get better as time goes by.”
“Uhhh…” Tricia groaned as she rubbed her temples.
“Tricia, please…” Daniella begged.
Tricia raised her arms in mock surrender. “Man, I know I am going to totally regret this but okay, I’ll keep it to myself for now. Still, I’m telling you… if a-n-ything happens to you because of this child, I won’t hesitate to tell everyone if it means keeping you safe and healthy. Agreed?” As she finished speaking, she extended her right hand towards Daniella and waited.
That was the best Daniella could have hoped for under the circumstances. Without a second thought, she shook Tricia’s hand.
“Deal.”
***
Dateless, Daniella arrived at the fundraiser about fifteen minutes early. She’d mentioned the event to Jett mostly because he would be curious about where she was that night. He’d offered to come with her but she’d told him not to worry about it. She made it sound as if it would be duller than dull. That seemed to do the trick. He hadn’t brought it up again so at least she wouldn’t have to worry about explaining his presence there with her to her nosy co-workers.
Speaking of which…
As she walked into the banquet hall, she saw Candi and Victoria across the room talking with a couple of guys she assumed were their dates. The women waved for Daniella to come over. As she walked up to them, Candi and Victoria stepped towards her.
“Hey,” Victoria said as she looked past Daniella and scanned the room. “Where’s your date? Harold?”
“Yeah,” Candi replied. “What gives?”
“Oh,” Daniella began. “He, um, had some last minute stuff come up at work. He’ll be coming by later.”
“Oh, well, that’s okay I guess.” Victoria said with an uncertain tone in her voice.
Daniella smiled and changed the subject as fast as she could. She gestured towards the men. “Are those your dates? I’d love to meet them if they are.”
Candi and Victoria took the bait and before long, they introduced Daniella to them. For about fifteen minutes or so, they chatted and got to know each other a bit until Eric, Victoria’s date, offered to make a run to the bar. He got a couple of requests and then turned to Daniella.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked.
Daniella really needed a drink. It was going to be a long night and something to take the edge off sounded great.
“Yeah, I’ll have a glass of wine.”
“Okay,” Eric nodded. “Red or white?”
“Red, please…”
“You got it.” He said as he smiled and walked over towards the bar.
After he left, the group chatted for several more minutes. About five minutes later, he returned with everyone’s drinks and handed them out.
“Thanks.” Daniella replied as she took the wine glass from him.
“A toast…” Candi said. “To Daniella and Victoria… A job well done! Here’s hoping tonight is a success!”
Without thinking, Daniella smiled and raised her glass along with everyone else but at the last second, she remembered… While the others drank their beverages, Daniella lowered her glass without so much as taking a single sip.
“Daniella?” Victoria asked. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want your wine?”
What? Me? No thanks. I’m pregnant and really shouldn’t drink…
Or at least that’s what she wanted to say.
Everyone stared at her in silence unable to understand why she didn’t participate. Each second that passed without a word from her just made things more awkward. She needed to come up with something quick and it had better be believable.
“Uh, it’s the damndest thing…” she said as she chuckled. “I completely forgot that I bleached my teeth. I’m not supposed to have anything that would stain them for at least twenty-four hours.”
The group nodded in collective understanding.
“Well,” Eric chimed in. “I could get you something else. A martini perhaps? That’s clear. It wouldn’t stain your teeth.”
“No, thank you though…” Daniella replied. “I’ll, um, just have a glass of water for now. Maybe later…”
Everyone seemed content to drop it at that point. Daniella was relieved she dodged a small bullet with a little white lie. As much as she hated to do it, the consequences for revealing the truth would be far worse.
Over the next couple of hours, the evening’s events went off without a hitch. There was a silent auction before dinner that went much better than planned. After the meal, the guests mingled with one another and started to relax and loosen up a bit. As Daniella chatted with a donor to the cause, Kim approached.
“Daniella, can I speak to you when you’re done?”
“Yes,” Daniella replied. “I’ll be right there.”
Kim nodded and walked over to the bar where Daniella met her a minute or so later.
“Did you need something?” Daniella asked.
“No, I just wanted to talk to you about the event.”
“Oh,” Daniella said as she looked around. “Is something wrong? What’s happened?”
“No, Daniella. Relax, it’s nothing like that.” Kim replied as she patted her on the arm. “The evening came together perfectly and I wanted to congratulate you on doing such a good job.”
“Oh good,” Daniella replied with relief. “For a second there, I thought for sure something went haywire.”
“No, no…” Kim chuckled. “I couldn’t be happier. But, I’m sure it goes without saying I had some concerns about it.”
“Yes,” Daniella began. “I know. I’m sorry. I promise things like that won’t happen again.”
“Good, I’m glad to hear it. I…” Kim began but as she did, her eyes widened. At the same time, Daniella felt a large, warm hand wrap itself around her waist. Kim’s eyebrows raised as the palm made its way around the front of Daniella’s dress. Startled, she spun in place to see Jett before her.
“What…” she said. “Jett, what… what are you doing here?”
Jett smiled. “I wanted to come by, see how things were going and congratulate you.” With his hand still on her waist, he leaned away from her with an expression of surprise on his face. “I hope that’s okay.”
Before Daniella could reply, from behind she heard Kim clear her throat.
Daniella shook her head and turned back to face her boss. “Kim, this
is…”
Jett stepped forward between the women and extended his hand toward her. “Hey, I’m Jett.”
Kim smiled. “Nice to meet you.” She cocked her head to the side and brought her finger up to her chin. “Do I… I feel like I know you from somewhere. Have we met before?”
“No,” Jett replied. “I don’t think so.”
“Yes,” Kim said as she nodded. “I’m sure of it but damn if I can’t think of it right now. Maybe it will come to me. Will you both excuse me for a moment? I need to use the ladies’ room.”
After Kim walked away, Daniella turned to Jett.
“What are you doing here?” She said in a frustrated tone.
“What do you mean? Why are you upset?”
“Jett,” she said. “You shouldn’t have come here. Someone will recognize you.”
“What are you talking about? Recognize me? From where?”
“Uh!” Daniella said in a loud whisper. She paused for a moment and looked around to see if anyone took notice of her upset state. She collected herself and leaned in towards him. “Jett, your face was all over the news for a couple of weeks. That’s why Kim is acting so weird. Oh man…”
“What?” He said. “Daniella, you need to relax. Everything is fine. No one will recognize me…”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Now what?”
“Victoria and Candi…” Daniella groaned.
“What? Who are they?”
“My coworkers… They are coming this way.” She turned away from him back towards the bar. “Great…”
“Daniella!” Victoria called out.
“Here we go…” Daniella sighed as she turned back around to face them.
The women closed on her and Jett with blazing speed. By the time they reached Daniella they were practically jogging. With huge smiles on their faces, they stopped right in front of the couple.
“Hey Daniella,” Candi began. Her eyes boggled as she leered at Jett. “Who… is… this?”
“Yeah,” Victoria drooled. “Is this Harold? He sure doesn’t look like a Harold to me.”
Poor Jett. However mad Daniella might be at him for keeping her at arm’s length over Fesser’s Grove, this wasn’t something anyone should suffer through. And, it would get much worse if she didn’t do something about it. Jett smiled at them and leaned in towards Daniella’s ear.
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