Teamwork

Things settle down pretty quickly. Julia kind of has to accept that Melissa is eventually going to leave and she resolves to make the most of the time that they have left together as roommates. She makes sure they don't miss anymore pilates classes and tries to enjoy every second of their girl time at home cooking dinner and even just watching tv stretched out on the sofa. But it's always in the back of her mind that she only gets to do this until July 1st, when Melissa is going to pack up her things and move to Philadelphia and they won't see each other much anymore.

She and Tom also basically agree that they're exclusive even though the conversation doesn't go much further than that. They're still not together, not a couple, but they might as well be. Tom has a giant bouquet of roses delivered to her classroom the Friday before Valentine's Day and all the girls in her class giggle and whisper among themselves until Paige DuPont in the first row finally decides to the bold one and asks. That's embarrassing in itself because Tom is not her boyfriend but she's not about to tell a room of impressionable fourteen year olds 'oh no these are just from some guy i'm fucking exclusively but we're not in a relationship or anything'. He even comes over to take care of her when she's sick all weekend, throwing up every couple of hours for three days straight, and the only time he leaves is when he has to practice or play but he comes right back bearing soup and ginger ale.

Melissa, Mike, even her mother have pointed out to her that it's stupid for them to not just say they're in a relationship because technically they are in fact in a relationship if they are committed to only seeing each other. Mike brings it up to her all the time, and probably to Tom too when she's not around; he's like their biggest supporter and it basically drives him nuts that they're being so ridiculous. Julia wouldn't admit it to any of them, in fact going so far as to profess how totally fine she is with the current arrangement, but she does in fact want it to be more than what it is. She wants to call Tom her boyfriend and introduce him to her family and just be an actual fucking couple. But she's not going to do anything to jeopardize what she currently has so she keeps her mouth shut.

Her mother finally starts making some wedding plans in early March after deciding (heavily influenced by Julia) to have an actual wedding instead of just getting married at the courthouse. It's not going to be a big ridiculous showy thing, just their small families and some friends, but it's going to be a wedding and it's going to be beautiful and her mom deserves that. They don't need a massive amount of time to plan so they set the date for July 10th and Julia has a lot of fun helping her mother book a venue, pick flowers, and find a wedding dress. If she's honest, it only makes her feelings about her situation with Tom more complicated because wedding fever is contagious and it's not like she wants to get married right this second, but they're not even in a relationship.

Getting her class ready for midterms is a thorough distraction from everything else. The material they're going to be tested on is some of the hardest that they've covered all year and all they seem to be focused on is the upcoming week off and where they're going on vacation. Julia spends countless hours going over their essays and trying to provide constructive feedback on how they can further develop points or structure sentences better. She's especially glad that she and Melissa didn't stop going to pilates class because otherwise she'd be in trouble. Even with that outlet, she feels exhausted all the time and her head and shoulders always feel tight and pinched up from the stress.

Spring Break could not be more welcome. Julia plans on doing absolutely nothing during the day except maybe go and visit Gigi Rose or something equally as low key. Her nights are gonna be pretty relaxed too- just hanging out with Melissa once she gets home from work and possibly not even leaving the sofa except to retrieve food from various delivery guys at their door. The guys have a home game one night so she might even go to that since she doesn't have to wake up early for school the next day. The much needed week off is full of possibilities to be lazy and relax.

She spends all of Monday with Tom after he gets out of practice. They spend most of it in bed but she makes sure they're back out in the living room, showered and presentable by the time Melissa gets home. Once she comes in, they order some food and invite Mike over to join and the four of them eat together at the girls' little white dinner table then watch a movie and it's just a really nice night. Tuesday, Tom has his game day routine with morning skate and lunch with the boys and pregame naps so Julia enjoys a laid back day alone. She sleeps in til eleven then makes herself some nice fluffy pancakes from scratch and once she's cleaned up the kitchen, she goes to take a nice hot bubble bath. She actually dries her hair instead of just throwing it into a bun since the game is tonight but waits to put on her makeup until it gets closer to time to leave. She throws on some comfortable clothes and a cozy sweater before settling into the big chair in front of the television, deciding to watch some television until she has to finish getting ready in about three hours.

She paints her nails while she waits, and then her toenails too, in between texting Melissa, her mother, and Bryce. Melissa is talking about some kind of drama happening with one of the interns in her office, her mother is talking about menus for the wedding, and Bryce is talking about his training camp so she's more entertained by what's happening on her phone that what's happening in the rerun of whatever show is playing in the background. Tom texts her as well when he wakes up from his nap to confirm that she's coming to the game because, according to him, some of his teammates' wives and girlfriends want to meet her.

Julia's not quite sure what to do with that. Sure, Tom had introduced her to his teammates after their Winter Classic game, but they weren't anything back then; she was even still also sleeping with Mike at that point. But they're still not really anything now technically. She's not sure why any of these women would actually want to meet her or why Tom would even be talking about her to them in the first place. Instead of delving too far into that with him though text message, she just avoids acknowledging that part to say she'll be there, including her section and seat number.

nah sit in the box with the girls. i'll have gina meet you out front

Gina is Carlson's wife, she's pretty sure just from hearing Tom and Mike talk, but she's never seen this woman in her life so it's going to be very awkward to go meet someone she doesn't know and then go hang out in a room full of even more women she doesn't know, with no Tom or even Mike there to be a buffer. At least they'd been right there when she met their teammates; it'll just be her tonight and she knows that these women are going to be a lot harder to impress than their significant others. She tries to tell him that's not necessary, that she can just sit in the assigned seat she already has and meet the girls after the game (when she'll have him by her side, she thinks but doesn't say), but Tom won't have it.

but Mel isn't coming right?? this way you won't be sitting alone

Unfortunately Melissa has to be up early for work so she decided to skip out on going to the game and Julia curses herself for having told Tom that because now he's using it against her and she has no other option but to agree. Thinking about it too much makes her feel a little nauseous so she tosses her phone away from her after responding and leans back against the cushions, sighing heavily as she grabs the remote to turn the volume up on the television. The show that's on is something she's never seen before and she only really half listens to it for awhile, just kind of zoning out thinking about her and Tom. Despite sleeping in late, Julia feels tired so she decides she'll just take a little nap, maybe twenty minutes since that's about all she has time for. She curls up with the thin blanket from the back of the chair and one of the throw pillows and settles on the couch.

The phone rings almost as soon as she closes her heavy eyes and she groans loudly as she sits back up to grab it. There might be a little bit of annoyance in her tone when she answers but Melissa just laughs it off. "Well somebody's especially crabby."

"I was trying to take a nap, thank you."

"You didn't even wake up til eleven, you lazy ass!"

"I'm on vacation!"

"I think there's something wrong with you. You're tired all the time now. Maybe you've got a thyroid problem."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Julia scoffs.

"Well, we can add a check for irritability," Melissa mumbles, amused, and then she laughs. "Hey maybe you're pregnant!"

"Oh my god, shut up. Don't even joke about that!"

"Just sayin', you've been gettin' lotsa sex lately, as compared to some of us...."

"Well whose fault is that?"

"Ugh, I know, don't even go there."

"So did you call me for an actual reason other than to ruin my nap?"

"Yeah, I need you to check the mail. Tracking info says my package was just delivered."

"You'll be home in like thirty minutes, Mel."

"So?"

"So can't you just check in thirty minutes?"

"Bitch," she laughs, and then, "Shit, I gotta go. Check the mail!"

Melissa hangs up and Julia shakes her head, chuckling to herself as she gets up from the sofa and slips on her moccasins to go out and check the mail. It's not a far walk to the mailboxes but she will fully admit that she feels way too lazy to actually go out there, especially now that she's not going to have time to take a nap. On her way, she replays in her mind what Melissa said about her being tired all the time. She'd initially laughed it off as a joke but the more she thinks about it, the more sense it makes and the more panicky she starts feeling. As scary as it is to admit, it's actually a very logical conclusion for everything that's been going on with her for weeks now.

There was that whole situation at school where she was late to her own classroom because she'd been hiding in the bathroom for almost ten minutes, unable to stop fucking crying for some godawful reason. There was that night last week when she'd gotten an overwhelming headache and some nausea at the smell of the tuna sandwich Melissa was eating. There's the fact that lately she's been ridiculously tired by like ten o'clock in the morning when her day has hardly gotten started. Realizing these things is just adding to the evidence of what she's praying isn't true and it only makes her feel even more hysterical.

"Fuck," she mutters under her breath and as soon as she gets back, she dumps Melissa's package into the chair and grabs her bag off the hook to leave the apartment again, slamming the door shut before she practically sprints to her car. By the time she gets there, her hands are shaking so badly that she can't put the key into the ignition so she quickly gives up and starts walking. It's only a few blocks to the closest pharmacy and the fatigue she was feeling less than ten minutes ago is now replaced with nervous energy as she power walks it down the street as fast as she can without breaking into a run and looking like a lunatic to everyone she passes on the sidewalk.

The 'family planning' aisle is much scarier now than any time she's ever been down it before. She feels like the condom section is mocking her, even though she's never not used one, but she pushes on past them to the tests. The sheer number of different choices is enough to be intimidating but she really doesn't have time to be loitering around that particular aisle so she grabs a few different brands and immediately heads toward the front. The cashier looks only a few years younger than her and Julia can tell the girl is hardcore judging as she rings up each box before putting them into the bag. Julia completely avoids eye contact as she slides her card and snatches the bag off the counter before high-tailing it out of there, stuffing the bag inside her purse for the walk back to the apartment.

Melissa's car is parked in the spot next to hers when she gets back and her roommate pops up from behind the kitchen counter as soon as she walks in the door. "Where were you? I thought you'd be getting ready to go to the Caps game." Julia doesn't even pause, instead wordlessly digging the plastic bag out of her purse on her way to the bathroom. Melissa shrugs and goes on about her business getting a pot of water on the stove to start dinner but when Julia doesn't come back after ten minutes, she follows down the hall, knocking softly on the door. "Is everything okay?"

The door swings open a few seconds later and Julia grabs her arm, yanking her into the bathroom before she goes back to settle herself on the edge of the tub. Melissa gives her a look of concern before something bright pink on the floor catches her eye and when she looks at the boxes more closely, it clicks instantly. She'd only meant it as a joke but obviously it struck a chord and is way more serious than she would've ever imagined. Julia's got three different tests laid out on the counter and her phone next to it, the timer slowly winding down. Melissa says nothing, only goes over to sit down next to her, letting Julia lace her arm through hers and hold on tightly to her hand.

Julia feels like she might be sick at any moment and she half wonders if it's because she's so nervous or if it's just a symptom. She can't stop bouncing her legs and she's sure she has to be gripping Melissa's hand so hard that it hurts, but Mel looks like it doesn't even faze her. It seems like an eternity before her phone goes off, signaling that the time is up, and she's pretty sure that no ringtone has ever been as shrill and annoying as that particular one is at that moment. Melissa tries to loosen Julia's hold on her so that she can get up but Julia finds herself unable to move.

"I can't look," she mumbles, weakly shaking her head.

"C'mon. We'll look together."

Melissa stands up first and pulls Julia up with her then over to the counter where the tests are ready and waiting to be read. She looks at her roommate, waiting for her to make the first move, but Julia just stands there chewing on her bottom lip so she sighs and reaches out to grab the one closest to her, along with the directions so that she can decipher what the lines mean. She looks between the test and the paper for a few moments before she frowns and puts them down, giving her friend a sympathetic look.

Julia's eyes well up with tears because she knows, just from the reaction. She takes a deep breath before she picks them up to look herself. The first one, the one Melissa had looked at, has two pink lines and she even double checks the instructions before resigning herself to the reality that that means it's positive. The second is a more straightforward yes along with a little plus sign. The third is undeniable: the word pregnant is spelled out plainly across the tiny screen. Her throat feels dry and her lungs feel like they're on fire as she drops them back to the counter and hides her face in her hands, letting the tears fall.