Page 7 of Buns in the Oven

A smile brightens Stella’s face. She nods, slowly at first and then more vigorously.

“I’d love that, Wes,” she says, rising up on her toes to kiss me. “Absolutely.”

Chapter Five

Stella

Four Weeks Later

Istand in the bathroom at the café staring in disbelief at the white stick in my hands.

Two lines.

Two lines means I’m pregnant.

Oh, God. What is Wes going to think? What are we going to do? The possibility of this happening never crossed my mind. I’m on birth control, after all. But I guess it’s not quite as effective as I thought.

I force myself to draw in a deep breath and let it out. I tell myself that I don’t need answers to all my questions right now. I just need to focus on remaining calm.

But right now it feels like my life has just been flipped upside down.

The last four weeks with Wes have been amazing. We’ve been seeing each other practically every day, either going out on dates around the city or just hanging out at one of our apartments. Every time I’m with him, I find myself thinking about how it feels like Wes and I are meant to be. Even my brother has made a couple of comments about how good of a fit Wes and I are together. Joey has really come around and I’m so relieved for my brother’s support.

But…shit. I can’t even imagine how my brother is going to react when he finds out that I’m pregnant with Wes’s baby. It’s one thing to date his friend, but to get knocked up?

It’s not just the fact that I’m pregnant with a guy I’ve only been with for four weeks that’s making me freak out. How am I going to keep running the café with a baby? It’s just Joey and I running the place. It’s not like I can take maternity leave.

I feel tears well up in my eyes, and instead of fighting them, I let them come. I really wish I hadn’t taken this pregnancy test while I was at work, but it’s too late to do anything about that now. Trying to not make too much noise, I let myself have a short, semi-cathartic cry, then I wash my face, throw the pregnancy test in my purse, and walk out of the bathroom.

The café looks different to me when I step back into the main room. Like it’s all suddenly so much more precious. God, I hope I haven’t just screwed everything up.

My brother is at the register, making cheerful small talk with a customer as he rings them up. After the transaction is finished, he glances at me and waves me over. I walk over and hope that my eyes aren’t red from the little intense cry I just had.

“You see that text from Mom and Dad?” Joey asks.

“No,” I say. I guess I didn’t hear the chime of the text. I’m not surprised I missed it, considering my mind is going a thousand miles an hour right now.

“They’re going to be in town next week. They’ve got a few days off between gigs.”

“Oh,” I say, mustering up as much excitement as I can. “That’s great. It’ll be nice to see them.”

Joey looks at me a little funny. “Everything okay?”

Shit. I force a bigger smile onto my face and nod. “Yep. I’m good.” Then I move my eyes away from my brother’s gaze and look around our café. “I’m really excited for Mom and Dad to see this place.”

“Me too,” says Joey. Then he laughs. “Wonder what they’re going to think when they find out that you’re dating Wes. Bet they’re going to get a kick out of that.”

I laugh, but inside, I’m freaking out even more. How are my parents going to react when they find out I’m pregnant? I mean, they’re both pretty free spirits…but you never know.

I look at my brother again. A part of me wants to tell him right now. Part of me wants to cry and let him hug me and ask him for advice about what to do.

But I know I need to tell Wes first. He and I need to have a conversation about this before anyone else finds out.

I just hope the conversation doesn’t end up being a complete disaster.

I manage to pull myself together for the rest of the day. Thankfully, it’s a pretty busy day, and the constant stream of customers keeps my mind occupied. Later, as Joey and I are cleaning up the café, I send a quick text to Wes asking if I can go over and see him when I’m done. He texts back right away.

Of course. I was just about to invite you over anyway.