I keep forgetting that Wyatt is not Lia’s first husband. “That must suck.”
“You’re procrastinating.”
“Come on.” Andi pulls me out of my chair. “If you want, I’ll be in there with you.”
I shake my head. “There’s instructions. I think I can manage to pee on a stick.”
I finish my ginger ale and make my way back to the bathroom. The instructions are easy to follow. You’d think finding out about such a life changing event would be a little more… complex. I do what it says, and I put the stick on the sink counter while I wash my hands and check my watch. Three minutes. I decide not to watch it. It’s going to say what it says whether I stare at it, or not.
“You okay in there?” Andi is right outside the door.
“You’d think with the advances in medicine they’d find a way to make this instant.”
I open it and stand next to her. We stand in silence for a while. “How much longer.
I check my watch. “Another minute.”
We wait it out. A noise downstairs gets our attention and Lia goes to check. Wyatt is probably back from his meeting. I’m not worried about him seeing anything. Andi could be here for any reason.
And then the worst thing happens.
“Andi, what are you doing here?”
“Justin!”
I grab the test and clutch it to my chest just as Justin moves into the doorway. He looks from Andi to me. Then he spots the test in my hand. He does another once over. For a moment his expression changes from a scowl to something else. It’s fleeting. I can’t get a bead on it. And then nothing. His face is blank. “Okay, now we know why you’re here,” he says to Andi.” Then to me. “What does it say?”
I look at the test. The strangest mix of emotions run through me. This is supposed to be a good thing. Hurt. That was the look on his face. How the hell do I fix this? And why did my stomach drop when I only saw one line. I show him the test. “It’s negative.”
He doesn’t walk to me. Doesn’t react at all. “Then I suggest you go and see a doctor. There’s definitely something wrong if you’ve been getting sick so often.”
And with that he turns around and walks back downstairs.
I wait for him to process everything. To show some kind of reaction. Anything. But I don’t hear that. Instead I hear him greeting Wyatt and Lia and the front door slamming shut.
My shoulders slump and I lean against the door frame. “I’m not having a baby.”
Andi does the thing I needed from Justin. She takes me in her arms and holds me close. “I know, sweetie. But he’s right about one thing. You need to get to a doctor.”
Justin
How does she keep doing this? And how do I keep seeing that she doesn’t want me included in her life. The one thing you’d think affects me just as much as her, she still ends up calling someone else. But I get it now.
I’m not her person. Whoever the most important person in her life is, it’s not me. Not under any circumstances.
Shaking my empty bottle at the bartender, I turn around and look across the bar. It’s an Irish pub, actually. Outside of the city limits, I was pretty sure no one would find me here. Although, that’s only temporary. I drove out here, and at some point, I’m going to have to call someone to come get me.
The barman places another beer next to me. I take it and watch the people dancing on the small dance floor. I wonder when I became such a cliché. I have an argument with my girl and end up at a pub, drowning my sorrows. Though, I’m not sure if she’s still my girl.
Seeing that test in her hand, and my cousin holding the other, did something to me. I won’t pretend that it didn’t hurt. But it’s more than that. It’s like we haven’t had this argument before. And when she said it was negative, I had to admit that she doesn’t need anything from me.
For a few moments while I saw that test clutched to her chest, I was hopeful. Not for me and her. Because it’s obvious she didn’t think I needed to be included in that experience. But the idea of Angela having my baby? Yeah, I could get on board with that. Of course, if we weren’t together, it could be a challenge. But we could figure that out.
I lift my beer to my mouth, and nothing comes out. I look at the bottle. Jeez, I don’t remember drinking it. How many have I had? The barman took my keys away somewhere around the third beer. Or was it the fourth? Either way, that was a while ago.
“Hey man.” The bartender’s thick accent couldn’t be missed. “Do you need me to call you a taxi?”
Definitely Irish. I wonder if it’s family owned. It seems like the kind of place that would be.
I shake my head. “Nah. I’ll get someone to pick me up.”
I pull out my phone, debating who to text. My first instinct is to call Angela, but that’s not how our relationship… or whatever this is, works. I’m not calling Andi either. Traitorous cousin. I suppose I could call Dylan, my cousin and Andi’s brother. He’d drive out to get me. And the bonus is he won’t ask too many questions.
I bring up his contact and dial. It goes straight to voicemail, no ringing at all. Denver is my next choice, though I’m not really in the mood for all his chatter. No doubt by now he knows what happened. Or didn’t happen. I dial his number anyway. It’s not like I have a choice anyway.
“Hey, asshole.” He doesn’t sound happy to hear from me. “Where
