I shut the bathroom door and rushed to the toilet to throw up.
Ugh, how embarrassing. It’s bad enough Noah is going to be waiting on the other side of the door while I pee on a stick, but now he got to listen to me vomit as well … There goes the mystery.
If I was pregnant, I knew he’d be witness to a whole lot more, so I tried not to let it bother me too much.
We’re all human, right? And bodily functions are a part of life.
Still, as I rinsed my mouth out in the sink and opened the pregnancy tests and laid them all out on the back of the toilet, I wished we’d had a little bit longer together with the mystery.
With a glance at the door, I sat down and did what I had to do, then placed each stick on top of a box and finished up before opening the door to find Noah pacing the hallway.
“You okay?” I asked, noting the panicked look in his eyes.
“Mm-hm, I’m good. You?” he asked, moving to stand right in front of me. “Want me to go get the crackers?”
I flushed at the knowledge that he’d definitely heard the puking.
“No, thanks, I’m okay right now.”
He nodded profusely, and asked, “So how long do we wait?”
“About three minutes.”
“Okay. Okay. Okay.” Noah muttered, lifting his arm to presumably set a timer on his watch.
I bit my cheek to keep from laughing. It wasn’t a funny situation by any means, but Noah was just so adorable I couldn’t help myself.
“How are finals going?” I asked, hoping to distract him.
“Good, only a couple more this week and we will be wrapping up this semester,” he said absently, his eyes never leaving his watch.
After a few seconds of silence, I felt the need to fill the space and said, “I saw Margo and Whitney earlier. They’re both doing good.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s nice.”
“Noah,” I prompted.
“Huh?” he asked, still not looking up, then said, “Three minutes is a really long time.”
“When you’re watching the clock it is,” I joked, putting my hand on his arm. “Hey.”
Noah glanced at me with unfocused eyes.
“It’s going to be okay … either way.”
His expression cleared and he gave me a small smile as he let out a breath.
“Yeah, it will be.” Then his alarm sounded, and he shouted, “It’s time!” making me jump and press my hand to my heart.
We walked into the bathroom and stood side by side as we both bent slightly to look down at the three tests.
Three plus signs stared back at us.
We both sank down to the floor.
“That’s pretty definitive,” Noah said softly.
“I’d say so,” I agreed. “Of course, tomorrow we will know for sure…”
“But we kind of know for sure right now.”
“Yup.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes and as I really thought about it, about the fact I was pregnant and going to have a baby, something I had wanted for years, excitement started to grow inside of me.
“Oh my gosh,” I said, covering my mouth as I let out a startled laugh. “I’m going to have a baby!”
“Me, too!” Noah exclaimed, and we turned to look at each other.
“Holy Toledo,” I said, which made him laugh.
“A family,” he said.
I let out an exaggerated breath as my mind began to spin.
“Okay … okay. I have money saved for a place, so I can move before the baby comes. I don’t want her to grow up in that apartment. She should have a yard … oh, we can get a dog!”
“Wait,” Noah said, holding up a hand. “I have room here. You should move in with me. I have a yard, and room for a dog. That way we would be together … to raise her together. It’s perfect.”
I blinked and stared at him, because seriously … this man.
“You are so sweet, but we probably shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, right?” I asked gently. “We’re excited, but we do have time to figure this out. Let’s go to the doctor and find out for sure before we worry about what comes next. Okay?”
“Yeah, sure, of course … just putting it out there,” Noah said, running a hand through his hair. “I want you to know it’s an option. That I’m in this, one-thousand percent. I love you and I want us to be a real family.”
“I love you, too,” I said, crawling over to get in his lap.
He bent his head and gave me the sweetest kiss I’ve ever felt. It was full of love and promise, and pure joy.
Pulling back slightly, he whispered against my lips, “I’m really happy.”
“Me, too,” I whispered back, then bridged the gap and kissed him again.
A phone started ringing in the other room and I recognized my ringtone.
“It’s probably Whit or Margo, they knew we were going to take a test and are probably dying to know the results.”
Noah helped me up off the floor and asked, “So, we’re telling people? I’ve got to call my parents.”
I paused and asked, “Should we wait? Is it bad to tell people this early?”
“It’s never bad to share joy with the people you love,” he replied.
I stepped toward him, fisted my hand in his shirt, and urged him down for another kiss.
“I really do love you.”