Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121210 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“Is there something wrong?”
“You’ve got a positive pregnancy test, Josie, and it’s not a faint positive either.”
“What?” My head jerks back in surprise. “I’m pregnant?”
“We can run a blood test to be sure, but yes, I’d say there’s a good chance you are. Which, honey, would explain a lot of your exhaustion and hormonal imbalance, too. The early stages of pregnancy are a tough time both mentally and physically, and combining that with grief would be a lot for anyone.”
“I’m really pregnant?” I ask, a million and one happinesses and heartbreaks running through my mind at once.
Dr. Masterson nods, her smile gentle. “I feel confident saying yes. False positives are a rarity with the tests these days, but we’ll definitely take some blood to confirm before you leave.”
“Will it take a long time to get the results?”
She shakes her head. “We have a rapid test we can do if you’d prefer. That way, we get the results while you’re here. If it’s positive, I’ll just refer you for a follow-up with an OB.”
“Yes.” I bob my chin up and down several times. “Please.” I can’t leave here without knowing for sure.
“Of course,” Dr. Masterson agrees. Getting up from the stool, she peeks her head out the door and calls for Lindsey. “Hey, Linds. Grab a rapid HCG blood panel for me, would you?”
“Sure!” I hear Lindsey chirp, and in what seems like no time at all, she’s knocking on the door with it in her hand. She takes a couple of gloves from the box by the sink and dons them before stepping over to me with a small, sharp device.
“This just takes a finger prick,” she assures, taking my hand and flipping it over to poke it into the pad of my index finger. It stings a little, but with the way I’ve been feeling emotionally lately, it’s almost a welcome release. She pools the blood and feeds it onto the test, and then sets it on the counter with the rest of the strips from my urine. “Should be ready shortly.”
As time ticks, so do I through my catalog of memories. Of childhood with Jezzy and Norah, of arriving back to Red Bridge as a young and naïve woman, of cherished dinners and heartfelt conversations with Grandma Rose, and catching cheaters in my spare time. Of Clay’s larger-than-life love and of water towers and stolen kisses. Of late nights at the bar teasing and laughing while he works and of community in a town I love more than I ever thought it was possible to love a place. Of days and nights with Bennett and Summer and of the amazing feeling I know comes from loving something so much you’ll literally give up your whole life for it.
Bennett knows the feeling. My grandma and my dad. And if this really is happening, soon, so will Clay and I.
Dr. Masterson’s voice is soft and confident and matches the smile I know is already on my face. “Congratulations, Josie. It looks like you’re going to be a mama.”
My mind races and zooms and turns over on itself with elation and consideration and fear and joy.
I’m pregnant.
Now, I just have to figure out how to tell Clay.
After The Moment: Part 4
The Last Day of Summer
32
Josie
Tuesday, August 31st
My legs churn as Norah carries forward at a jog ahead of me, my mind racing with a million and one thoughts about parallel universes and the possibility that I’m a part of one.
The life I almost had versus the one I’m living now, and if today would look the same either way, hangs in every corner of the town square decorations while memories of Clay and me dance front and center in my mind.
When Norah woke me up this morning, demanding my help with final touches on the big—but fake—wedding she’s planned for Summer to witness as a part of her wish-granting mission, an overwhelming feeling of coincidence and coordination entered my mind and took root.
During Bennett’s first year here, I fell in love with Summer in a way that still haunts me despite the rift between us. During Norah’s first months here, Bennett and Summer fell in love with her, bringing them sweeping back into my life at a time that will no doubt trouble me forever. It feels like kismet, even if it’s torture.
Over the past several days, as Summer’s body has grown weaker and the doctor’s prognosis has her time here on earth calculated in weeks and days instead of months and years, Norah is doing everything in her power to make the special little girl’s final days the best days.
And this wedding, fake or not, is something Summer told Norah that she really wanted to see. Norah set out to make it happen.
But Norah’s always been like that. The type of person who never meets a stranger. The type of person whose heart is pure, and her intentions are always good. She’s so much like our father it’s not even funny, and sometimes I wish she would’ve been old enough when he was alive to really remember him.