I sit up straighter on the stool, setting my coffee mug down. “What do you mean?”
She comes to stand on the other side of the island, bending her tall form to rest her elbows on the countertop and looking me in the eye. “Darling girl, I would bet my entire life savings that you are carrying my first grandbaby right now, as we speak,” she tells me, and I unconsciously back up on the stool, nearly falling off before I catch myself.
“Wh-what? Why would you say that?” My tone is more accusatory than questioning.
She comes around the island and pulls out the stool to my right, taking hold of my knees to swing me around to face her before taking my hands gently in hers. Her face is soft when she points out, “You said earlier that on the way here, you got carsick.”
“Well, yeah. I ate too much at Bo—”
“And Eleazar was picking on you for being emotional when that commercial came on the TV, and asked if it was getting close to… Shark Week, did he call it? Ugh.” She shakes her head.
“I mean, I am close. My periods have never been regular, even on birth control, but I should be starting any day,” I murmur, a little weirded out I’m talking to my boyfriend’s mom about my menstrual cycle on the same day I just met her.
“And then you got super sleepy all of a sudden, when you said you normally don’t take naps during the day. Especially since you slept in this morning,” she adds. “When my best friend Jamie got pregnant, I swear she was narcoleptic. She could practically fall asleep on her feet. During her first trimester, she almost fell asleep driving home! It was quite crazy.”
My eyes move between hers as I put all of these things together. Individually, I could explain them away. But when I look at them as symptoms pointing at one ailment… she’s exactly right.
“Oh, shit,” I breathe, and she grins widely. “Oh… oh, shit!”
She pats my knee, stands, bends to kiss my forehead, and then I watch numbly as she walks back around the island to where her phone is charging next to the stove. I watch, my mouth hanging open, as she dials someone then lifts the phone in front of her as she relaxes back against the counter.
“Hello, my handsomest son.”
She has him on speakerphone, because I can hear his response of “I’m your only son, Ma. What did you forget? We’re still at the store.”
“I think your little kitten might need you to grab something for her while you’re there,” she replies, and winks at me with a soft smile.
“Is she up from her nap? Is she okay? Need some type of medicine?” His voice holds worry, and I feel warmth spread through me, lessening some of my shock.
“Here, I’m handing her the phone,” his mom says, and she does just that.
“Kayan, you okay, baby?” he asks, and I shake my head slightly, forgetting he can’t see me. “You there, kitten?”
“I… I, uh…” I can’t form words.
His voice grows firmer. “Kayan, what’s wrong?”
I jump when Louisa places her hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze in support. “I, uh… Don’t be mad, okay?”
“Baby, have I ever been mad at you?” he prompts, and I shake my head again.
“N-no. But… but we’ve only been together—”
“I won’t be mad. Just tell me what’s the matter,” he urges, and I take a deep breath.
“I, um. Would you mind grabbing a-uh…. Would you mind grabbing—”
“Ah, I get it. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, baby. I know we’ve only been together a short while, but I know how the female body works. I knew you were being extra emotional. Which do you need? Tampons or pads? Or do you use one of those weird cup things? I’m heading to the feminine products aisle now. I got this. You think anyone’s going to look at me cross when I rock up to the register with plugs, chocolate, and wine for my girl? Fuck no,” he carries on, obviously trying to make me laugh and soothe any embarrassment I might’ve had if I started my period and needed girly products. It makes me love him even more, and it’s much easier this time when I speak.
“No. No, that’s not it, Z. I… I need you to grab me… to grab us… a pregnancy test.”
I hear his boot squeak he comes to such a sudden stop. His breath comes out in a whoosh, and then his voice is deep and quiet, way different than his jovial tone only moments ago. “You got my baby in you, kitten?”
It sends chills up my spine and down my arms, raising the hairs there. My face heats. “Your mom seems to think so,” I murmur.
“The nap, the indecision about food this morning, the carsickness. On top of all the crying. Not to mention last night at the club, when your tits were too sens—”