Ten

Two weeks passed quickly, and Autumn was still feeling hung over whenever she felt a strong smell. She was throwing up several times a day, and she couldn't quite understand why.

The first couple of days she figured that she had been food poisoned, but when the 16^th day passed and she threw up again, she was beginning to worry.

After missing her period, one of her co-workers suggested that she'd take a pregnancy test, causing Autumn to turn pale and just nod.

So here she was, in her apartment, waiting for the stick to turn positive or negative. Autumn was shaking when she reached out to look at it. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and opened her eyes again, stick in her hands.

The first thing she saw was a tiny plus shining bright in the center of the stick. She dropped the stick on the floor and sat down on the toilet, her head in her hands. A tear slid down her cheek as she checked the other two tests that she had taken to be on the safe side.

All of them were positive, and Autumn couldn't believe her eyes.

   “I've got pizza!” Sarah announced as she closed the front door behind her. “Autumn?”

Autumn got to her feet, grabbed one of the tests and stepped out into the livingroom.

   “I'm pregnant.” Autumn whispered and held up the stick. Sarah blinked.

   “Are you sure?”

   “I don't think three tests are lying.”

   “Whose is it?”

They were both whispering at this point.

   “Jacob's, I guess.”

   “You guess?”

   “Well... Yeah, it should be... Cause I hadn't had sex in three months before him and I most certainly haven't after...”

Sarah didn't respond. She simply hugged Autumn and patted her back.

   “I'll cancel on Shawn if you want me to stay in with you.” She whispered and Autumn nodded.

   “C-Could you... Could you call Jacob for me? I want to tell him in person.”

   “Of course. Sit down and I'll take care of that for you.” Autumn held on to the test proving that she was pregnant.

   “Hi, Jacob. It's Sarah, Autumn's friend.” She heard Sarah say. “Would you mind coming over as soon as possible? Great, hurry!” Sarah hung up and sat down next to Autumn.

   “He'll be here soon, okay, honey?” She hugged her again and let Autumn rest her head on her shoulder.

After knocking twice, Jacob opened the door and let himself in.

   “Hey, what's up?” He asked, the usual smile on his face.

   “I think I should leave you alone.” Sarah said and tiptoed toward her room.

Jacob sat down next to Autumn in the sofa.

   “Hello?” He said, still smiling.

Autumn didn't say a word, but placed the pregnancy test on Jacob's thigh.

He looked down at the blue plus and his eyes grew larger.

   “Are you kidding?” He said. “Is this a joke?” Autumn didn't say anything. She just shook her head and closed her eyes.

   “Autumn...” Jacob swallowed and looked at her. “Listen, I will help you with this, okay? We'll deal with this together... I promise.

   “A question.” Autumn said, her eyes opening. “When we, you know... Were you, I mean... Did we use a condom?”

Jacob nodded.

   “Yeah, we did...” He sighed. “It must've broken.”

   “Obviously...” Autumn sighed, too, and a few tears escaped her eyes.

Jacob put his arms around her and pulled her close.

   “I'm here for you, Autumn.” he whispered. “I always will be.”

Autumn took several long breaths and leaned against Jacob.

   “I don't think I'm ready for this, Jacob...” She sobbed. “I can barely take care of myself, how am I supposed to take care of a baby?”

Jacob hushed her.

   “Don't worry about it. We have nine months to figure this out, okay?” Autumn threw her arms around Jacob's neck and let the rest of the tears fall down her face.

   “Do you promise?” She gulped. He simply nodded and held her tight.