92

92
HAYLEY’S P.O.V

I wanted to take the test as soon as possible but I couldn’t.

I had to wait until the morning because I needed accurate results.

It felt like torture to just wait. I hid the tests in my bag but it was an ever present worry at the back of my mind. I could barely go a minute without thinking  about it to the point that even Jake realized that something was bothering me.

“Are you alright?” he asked and I nodded slowly. “You don’t look okay.”

I just shrugged and turned away from him. He sighed and made his way over to me. He was still in his outfit from work but he had ditched the tie and the jacket. I was slacking off on my work terribly, I knew that for a fact and it was my day to plan the team building exercise tomorrow. I still had no idea what to do.

“Hayley,” he crouched down in front of me, both hands on my thighs as he stroked my knee gently. “Talk to me, baby. Did something happen to Kate?”

“No, Kate is fine. She’s having fun in school. She’s good, this isn’t about her.”

“Then tell me.”

“The team building exercise,” I lied. “I don’t know what to do.”

It was clear he didn’t believe me but even he knew that was the best he was going to get out of me so he sighed. “Tell me what you have planned and I’ll help you.”

“Do you mean that?”

He nodded. “You’re not going to tell me what the real problem is tonight. The least I can do is help you figure this one out. What do you need?”

“A room.”

We stayed up for the next hour discussing everything and I had never been more grateful to have a boyfriend who knew everyone and everything because in mere minutes, I was able to get everything I needed.

I called it an early night in the hopes to avoid discussing with Jake anymore or else I knew I would blurt it out. I knew it was hurting him that I was avoiding him but I needed the space, I needed to think and make sure I handled this with the utmost care.

He let me hide from him and sometime during the night, I heard him come in and wrap his arms around me. He placed a kiss to my shoulder and whispered how much he loved me before pulling me closer to him. I could have sworn that he knew the moment a stray tear landed on his arm but he didn’t say a word, merely pulled me in closer.

I left for home early the next morning. There was something uncomfortable about doing the test in his home. It felt more like ours now but still, I wanted to be alone when I did. I didn’t wake him when I left and I knew he would be pissed about it later but staring at the two pink lines on the test, I knew I had made the right choice.

“Fuck,” I whispered hoping that it was a mistake but considering the fact that I had taken four and all came back positive, this was more than a fluke.

“Hayley, are you in there?”

I tried to shove the tests aside but I had underestimated how close Alana was to the bathroom. She pushed the door open and her eyes fell on the strip sitting on the bathroom counter. The two pink lines were right there for her to see.

“Oh dear,” her voice dropped to a whisper. “Does he know?”

I shook my head. “I just found out. Please don’t say anything.”

“I won’t,” she assured me. “What are you going to do?”

“Right now, I’m going to work. I will handle this later. Could you help me get rid of them please? I don’t want my dad finding out like this.”

She nodded and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Everything will be fine. Jake is a good man.”

“I know,” I swallowed deeply. “I have to go, thank you.”

I couldn’t focus all day. It didn’t matter what I did, my thoughts were jumbled in my mind. All I could think about was the fact that I was going to be a mother.

It was almost laughable considering that I almost bolted when I thought Jake was going to have a son and now, I was pregnant. I wanted a kid with him, I wanted children, I just didn’t know how to feel. A part of me was excited but another was terrified and scared.

Jake sent me flowers and lunch but I couldn’t bring myself to touch either. I just sat there looking at it. I didn’t speak to anyone all day except Sienna and even with her, all I did was to give her the location for the day.

By the end of work, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to crawl up in bed but I was forced to go home and change and make my way over to the little hall that I had picked out. I was the first person there and I made sure that everything was perfect.

It wasn’t anything spectacular, there was just a table with food and chairs- that was it.

I waited until the first person arrived- Sienna. I could see the confusion on her face but she said nothing as she took a seat.

Slowly but surely, everyone else started showing up too, each one more confused than the last. I waited until the last person arrived and the door was shut behind them before I spoke.

“Thank you for coming,” I said finally. “I’m glad you could all make it.”

“What is this?” Greg asked. “How is this meant to be a team bonding experience? Are we just going to sit here?”

“No, we are going to talk because those exercises are not helping anyone. We put on a smile and pretend to be fine when really we hate each other’s guts. We’re all adults here, you can choose to sit here in silence for the next hour or you can say what you want. I’ll start.”

I turned to Jennie. “You need to grow a backbone. You crouch around like a mouse scared to hurt anyone and you let everyone speak to you however they want. Grow a pair or you’ll be a doormat for the rest of your career.”

“You’re mean,” she told me, her cheeks tinged pink and all I did was shrug.

“Glad to hear it, next person.”

It took a moment before the next person spoke but as soon as it was out there, the words just kept flowing. I was shocked at the number of people that had issues with others and had kept it buried for so long.

We ended up spending more than an hour but then again, that was the entire point.

Sometime in the midst of it all, we started to serve ourselves and soon we were eating and talking.

“This was a good thing,” Greg said as he walked up to me.

“I’m glad you agree.’

“I still don’t like you.”

“I don’t like you either,” I turned to him. “But as long as you stay out of my way then we don’t have a problem.”

He pursed his lips but nodded and that was it.

The rest of the night went by smoothly and I waited until the last person left before I did as well. My feet were killing me, my head was pounding and I wanted to get into my bed. It was a miracle I managed to not crash into anything.

I walked into the house, expecting some peace and quiet but was met with Jake in my living room. His suit jacket was on the chair and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows. His hair was a mess as if he had run his fingers through it one too many times but as soon as his eyes landed on me, they were filled with relief.

“What are you doing here?” I looked around for my dad but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Your dad stepped out. I decided to wait.”

“For what?”

“For you, you have been acting weird since yesterday and I thought I could give you the space to get through it but I can’t. We’re a team, Hayley and that means telling me when something is wrong.”

“Can we do this another day, please?”

“No,” he stepped closer to me. “Tell me what’s wrong, baby. I want to help.”

“You can’t. I just want to go to bed. I don’t want to talk about this.”

I made to brush past him but he was faster, his fingers wrapped around my waist, pulling me to a stop. “Hayley.”

“You don’t have to do everything on your own. I’m right here and I am not going anywhere. I can help, I want to help and if you would just let me-”

“I’m pregnant.”