Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Tomorrow we’ll have coffee, and I’ll apologize, then it’ll be over, I decide. I turn the water off and step out, grabbing a towel. “Hopefully, at the end of it all, we can be friends.”
CHAPTER FIVE
COLLINS
The soft bells of the alarm chime, and my eyes flicker open, blinded by the hot sun filtering into the room through see-through shades. My hand comes out from under the cover as I reach over and slap the phone to stop the noise. I close my eyes again, exhaustion coming to me right away as I drift back to sleep. I’m almost at the deep part of my sleep when the alarm goes off again. I groan, shutting it off, but this time I turn over on my back, throwing one leg out from under the blanket. My hand goes to the bottom of my stomach, placing it palm down on it.
“Good morning, nugget.” The nausea creeps up on me, and my mouth fills with saliva as I exhale through my mouth, trying to push it away. “Why are we starting off the day angry?” It usually works, but this morning it does not. I fly off the bed and barely make it to the toilet before I’m throwing up. My head rests on my arm as I wait for my stomach to get under control. I spit one more time before flushing and falling onto my ass. “I’m going to need you to be a bit kinder to me.” I put my back against the wall and close my eyes. “All I did was say good morning. There was no reason for you to be rude like that.”
I don’t know how long I sat here, but when I get back to my knees, another wave of nausea hits me. “I get it. You’re hungry. You’re growing. I’m going to feed you, but if you keep making me throw up, it’ll be longer until I get some food into you. Help me help you.”
I turn on the water in the small bathroom, which features a combination bathtub and shower, a toilet, and a small sink. The tiles have seen better days, and it’s on my list of things to get done, but now with this little surprise, it will be a while until I can renovate the house. I put toothpaste on the toothbrush and look down at my stomach. “This is spearmint flavor since you weren’t a fan of peppermint.” I put the toothbrush in my mouth and start to brush my teeth. When I’m done, I rinse my mouth and then check my reflection and the circles under my eyes. “You’ve seen better days, Collins. You need twenty-four hours of straight sleep.”
I walk out of my bathroom and head to the kitchen. “Okay, so what are we going to have today?” Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I talk to the baby as if they were here in the room with me. I know that right now they probably have no idea what I’m saying, but it makes me feel like I’m not alone in this. “Yesterday you weren’t a fan of the scrambled eggs, even though I was very much looking forward to them.” I grab a bagel. “This should be good,” I say, cutting it in half and then placing it in the toaster. “You know what I would love?” I look at the coffee machine. “A nice fat coffee.” The minute I say it, it’s as if the baby knows because I get queasy. “I said I would love it, I didn’t say we would be having it.” I walk to the fridge and open it back up, grabbing the cream cheese and orange juice I’ve come to love and crave. It’s crazy that this little thing is already making me do things I don’t normally do.
I smear cream cheese on the bagel and then pour a glass of orange juice before grabbing the plate and the glass and heading outside. Pushing open the storm door and stepping out to the porch in the back, I sit at the top of the wooden steps, placing the plate on one side and then the glass on the other. Before, I usually had my breakfast curled up on the couch watching television, but ever since I found out I was pregnant, I like to have my breakfast outside, enjoying the fresh air. It would help if I had a table to sit at, but this is good enough.
“It’s going to be a good day,” I announce, taking a bite of my bagel. “We are going to tell Theo I’m having his baby and hope he doesn’t think I did it on purpose. Because we both know this is the last thing I thought I would be getting out of my first-ever one-night stand.” I put the bagel down. “You really were like, Hold my beer, let me show you why you should never do that again.” I laugh at my own joke. “He was really hot.” I take a sip of the orange juice. “I mean, he’s still hot, but he lost a lot of hotness points sneaking out on me.” I take another bite. “I mean, in my defense, I worked almost a double shift and then had the best sex of my life, so I was really sleeping hard.” I shrug. “But who knows, maybe he’s a professional burglar, so he knows how to tiptoe out without anyone catching him. That would be funny, wouldn’t it? If he were a burglar.” I close my eyes as my chest gets tight.