Chapter 114: From Denial to Acceptance in Eight Minutes

"No!" Persephone stated emphatically as she stomped her way to the pregnancy test to look at the results with her own eyes. She grabbed the stick and looked at the screen convinced Chris misread the results.

Once she grabbed the stick, she saw there was no room for doubt. The word "Pregnant" was now solidly displayed on the digital screen that had been flashing before.

She stared at the stick in disbelief. She shook her head, "No, I can't be. This thing has to be wrong." Clutching the plastic test in hand, she spun and walked back to the bedroom and began looking for her cell phone.

"Babe," Chris called out but she ignored him.

As soon as she found the phone she opened an internet app and began poking the screen with hard taps.

"Reasons for a false positive on a pregnancy test," she spoke out as she typed the inquiry quickly clicking on one of the top links. She breathed a sigh of hope as a long paragraph with the reasons were detailed, convinced that surely one of these applied to her. Probably had to do with something rich and fatty that she ate in France, she thought.

She began reading the reasons and one by one, her hopes all dashed.

None of them applied.

"It's an old test," she said to herself as she threw the phone and the test on the bed and walked back to the bathroom to dig the box the test came in from the waste basket.

Without saying a word, Chris followed her.

Persephone frantically looked on all areas of the box until she finally located the expiration date on the back of the box.

The expiration date was two years away.

Slowly, she dropped to her knees. "I am not pregnant," she told herself as she gripped the box with both hands. "I can't be. I just can't. I'm not! I'm not!"

"Baby,"' Chris spoke softly behind her. He knelt next to her in slow movements, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay," he said. "It'll be okay. We're together in this."

Persephone shook her head. "I'm not pregnant, Chris. This is a mistake. I would know, right? It's my body and I don't feel like there's anything in here," she pointed to her abdomen, "other than the horrible Mouse House pizza."

Chris grabbed the hand in front of her abdomen and held it in his own. He nodded, "Everything is fine," he whispered. "This is great," he said reassuringly.

"I am NOT pregnant, Chris!" She said angrily as she gritted her teeth and stood. She threw the empty box with unnecessary force in the waste basket. She walked to the sink to wash her hands, slapping the surface of the marble countertop once she was done and she had shut the water off.

She had plans for her immediate future and a tether to a kid did not fit into them.

"Baby," Chris reached for her again. He tried to pull her into an embrace, but she kept pushing his arms away. "Hey, Persephone, look at me," he insisted in a soft tone that finally convinced her to accept his comfort. His deep blue eyes entranced her. "Just take a deep breath. Relax for a moment. Breathe with me," he spoke softly.

Persephone closed her eyes and was surprised his words and his tone helped.

By the third breath, everything seemed clearer.

"I know," she said as she opened her eyes. "Until I get a confirmation from the doctor, I'm not pregnant," she shrugged. "Simple as that." She slid out of Chris's arms and walked toward the door. "Out of sight, out of mind."

"Persephone," Chris called as she walked out of the ensuite and into the bedroom where she found Micaela standing by the bed with the test in hand.

"Oh, darling," the older woman said in such a caring tone that it hit Persephone right in the feelings and made her start crying on the spot.

"I'm pregnant," Persephone announced as she bawled.

Micaela opened her arms, wrapping them around her friend when Persephone walked into them. "I know, honey, I know."

Persephone was crying all over Micaela's shoulder when she heard her friend say, "Chris, darling, buckle up nice and tight because you're in for the emotional ride of your life."