Chasing Cars

Later that night, Chris called me just like he promised he would. I was still in bed and had been sleeping off and on throughout the afternoon.

“Are you okay?” he asked after I answered.

“I’m alright. Just—had a rough day,” I said.

“How so?”

“I passed out again.”

“You forgot to eat?”

“Yeah, but it was different this time. I barely even realized I was hungry. The paramedics came, but they said I was alright. Larry gave me a ride home. I’ve just been in bed all day.” He sighed heavily.

“Maybe you should see a doctor.”

“Yeah—I’ve been thinking about it.”

“Make the appointment. I’m going to annoy you until you do it.” I smiled to myself.

“First thing in the morning, I promise.”

“You sound tired,” he noted.

“I’m exhausted,” I admitted.

“I’ll let you get some sleep.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“I love you, Marley.”

“I love you too, Chris.”

“You better take care of yourself.”

“I will.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.” I hung up and went back to sleep.

The following day I decided not to try and stuff myself into some jeans like I had been. Instead, I tied a rubber band through the buttonhole to hold them up. Then I threw a jacket over myself and went outside to wait for Larry. When he pulled to a stop out front of our apartment building, I rushed over to his car and climbed in.

“How are you doing?” he asked as I buckled my seatbelt and got settled in.

“I’m good,” I told him.

“Did you get a test?”

“Yeah.”

“So?”

“So it was positive. But I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s fine. I just wanted to know.”

“I don’t really want to tell anyone either.” He looked at me as he drove.

“It’s going to be pretty obvious here soon,” he reminded me.

“I know. Just don’t say anything. I’d rather tell everyone when I’m ready or let them figure it out on their own.”

“Fine. Have it your way.”

We stopped at the shop, and I jumped out of the car to get ready for work. All three guys were in, but Albert had managed to keep his mouth shut. Thankfully I called him the night before and asked him not to say anything. If there was one thing I was really good at, it was procrastination. And that’s exactly what I planned to do in this situation. But there were a few things I had to do that I couldn’t ignore.

I asked Larry to extend my lunch break to get a few things done. He said to take all the time I needed. So first, I drove to the free clinic a few blocks away from work. I didn’t have to wait very long. So I ate my lunch in the waiting room. They did a few official tests on me, confirmed my pregnancy, and then set me up with an appointment. When I was done there, I dropped my car off at work and walked up the street to visit some stores.

I looked around the pants for a long time before someone approached me. I didn’t know what size I was looking for. The rest of my legs hadn’t really gotten bigger except for my butt and hips. So I didn’t know if I should get a bigger size or just get it over with and go for the maternity clothes. But that made everything seem official, and I didn’t want to tread in that territory.

“Excuse me, miss? Do you need some help?” the sales lady asked me.

“I’m looking for jeans,” I said as if that explained everything.

“What kind of jeans?”

“I don’t know. Regular ones? I just—I’m a bit confused about size.”

“What size are you wearing right now?”

“Well, that’s kind of the problem.” I lifted my jacket to show that they were being held together by a rubber band. She smiled sympathetically.

“You need maternity jeans?” she asked.

“I guess. I don’t know. I’ve never done this before,” I admitted.

“Well, we don’t really have any maternity clothes here. But the store across the street sells these things you wear under your shirt and over the top of your regular jeans. They’re like bands that keep your pants up while they are unbuttoned. That way you can wear them longer. They just look like an extra layer or shirt under your regular ones. And they come in all sorts of colors. I wish they had them when I was pregnant.”

“Really? And I can keep wearing my regular pants for a while?” She nodded.

“Mm-hmm. I got a few of them for my sister, and she loved them.”

“Thank you so much. You’ve been really helpful.”

“No problem, honey.”

I left the store and headed across the street to buy the bands she told me about. They worked really well, and I could even take my hoodie off at work. But the only problem with that is that as soon as I did, it looked kind of obvious. Thankfully no one pointed it out.