Chapter 7
SADIE
It didn’t hit me until the drive home just how severe my situation was. Not only had I gotten pregnant, but I’d gotten pregnant by my best friend’s father.
I felt like I was on drugs or something as I pulled into the parking lot of my Capitol Hill condo. Each step seemed a great effort.
When I reached the front door, my phone buzzed once again – another text from Cammy.
What’s going on? I’m starting to get really worried…
I sighed, putting my phone back into my pocket as I took out my FOB to open the front door. With a swipe and a buzz, I was inside. Minutes later, I stepped through the front door to my cute, cozy one-bedroom condo, the view looking over the corner park across the street.
A class of kids was there playing, and there was no freaking way I could even begin to wrap my head around the fact that in less than a year I’d have one ofthose.
Another text came in. I hurried to check it and saw that it was Cammy again.
Hey! Come on!
Cammy. How the hell was I going to handle this situation with her? There was no way I could get around telling her I was pregnant.
But the kid belonged to her dad. That meant it’d be her sister or brother. Just the thought was enough to bring me to the verge of nausea.
I had to text her back. With shaking hands, I typed up a response.
Hey! Sorry, was driving. Back from the doctor’s and at my place now. I sent it, then checked the time to see that it was a little after three. I had the rest of the day off, but there was still the matter of what happened earlier at work on top of it all.
How on earth was I going to move up at Lighthouse if I was juggling being a single mom with all of my other responsibilities?
It was too much to process all at once. Phone in hand, I made my way over to my couch and dropped onto it.
On the way out, the nurse had given me a small packet of information about pregnancy. It had all seemed like basic stuff but stapled to the front of the packet was a list of OB/GYNs around the city. I took the paper out and scanned the list.
Sure enough, at the very top was none other than Dr. Noah McMurray himself.
Another text came in from Cammy.
OK, good! Seriously, I was getting really worried! Anyway, I’m coming over! I’m thinking wine and Tasty Thai – you want the usual?
My stomach grumbled. Between the events of the day and the nausea, I’d barely eaten a bite. Tasty Thai was our usual spot, and a little shrimp pad Thai and some dumplings sounded like total heaven. I typed up a response.
Yep! Usual sounds good. See you then!
The text whooshed off and, after Venmo-ing my share of the bill, I was left trying to figure out what to do. For lack of any other ideas, I went to the kitchen and made myself some rooibos tea after checking the list of pregnancy-safe foods the nurse had given me.
Once the tea was ready, I set it on my kitchen counter and started pacing back and forth, trying to decide how I was going to handle this mess. Part of me wanted to keep it hidden from Cammy, but how the hell would I do that?
Her father was, well, the father, and Noah was a stand-up guy. Even if I wanted to lie to her about it, Noah wasn’t at all the sort who’d want to keep a secret like that hidden from his own daughter.
That only brought to mind the matter of telling Noah. Just the idea of sitting across from him at a coffee shop or someplace, his gorgeous, serious eyes on me as I broke the news was enough to make my blood run cold.
Not only would I be telling him that I’d more or less tricked him into sleeping with a woman he’d known since she was a girl, but that he’d gotten me pregnant on top of it.
A gentle rain started to fall as I mulled it all over, and I took the opportunity to change out of my work clothes and into some comfy sweats.
Rain pattered on the window, and I lit some candles around the apartment to take my mind off of my predicament.
I paced and paced. Before I knew it, my tea had gone cold, my finger testing the water as the apartment buzzer went off. My heart skipped a beat as I hurried over to press the button to let her in.