Love is a Two Way Street

“Well?” Edwin called from behind the bathroom door. “What does it say?”

“Negative,” I told him, walking out and tossing the pregnancy test into the trashcan. I pretended to be sullen, but I was beaming on the inside. I didn’t want to get pregnant now. Maybe he’d give up soon. I mean, we’d tried and failed each test around five times in the past two weeks.

His face fell. “Damn it. Jade, I don’t get it. Why can’t you get pregnant?” he asked, acting as though it was my fault I couldn’t conceive a child I didn’t want.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry,” I whispered. I normally would have told him off, but he had gotten me to try to do something only he wanted, so I figured he owned me anyway.

“It’s alright,” he murmured, holding me. “It’s not your fault. We’ll just keep trying. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He let go of the hold he had of my body and let his hand drop to mine. He gently raised my hand to his lips and kissed it softly, smiling slightly. Maybe he knew that things were getting so strained between us. Or maybe he was too sad about my inability to give him a baby. Either way his smile didn’t convince me at all that he was happy.

“So I’m thinking our wedding will be in about a month if that’s okay with you,” he murmured, pulling me to him once more. He didn’t seem to be asking for my approval: it seemed like he was mostly just trying to fill the empty silence.

“Of course. The sooner I’m with you forever, the better,” I whispered softly, telling him what he wanted to hear.

“Just wait until the honeymoon, my love. It’ll be perfect, I swear.” He was talking in that seductive tone he seemed to be using all the time. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me.

“I know it will.” Yeah, that was an absolute lie. Nevertheless he bought it and kissed my forehead quickly.

“Of course. Okay, so I’m going to go get some more tests. Will you be okay for a few minutes?” I nodded softly and he glanced around. “Just remember: no Jayden. Got it?”

“I know,” I mumbled, forcing a smile. We kissed quickly before he vanished. There was a soft rapping on the door soon after and I opened it to see Quinn. She looked sad. Or worried, but I’m not sure which. “Hi, Quinn.”

“Jade, what’s going on? Edwin’s bouncing off the walls and you’re just watching him. It’s usually the other way around!” she told me, the words jumbling together as she spoke them quicker than I could understand them. I managed to understand the gist of what she had said.

“We’re trying to have a baby,” I told her softly. She gawked at me.

“Oh my God! Are you serious?” The mood suddenly brightened. “That’s so cute! What happened to the girl who couldn’t stand little children?”

“She grew up and decided to make her fiancé happy,” I told her, smiling, I think.

“Well, you want a baby, too, don’t you?” There was some skepticism in her voice.

“Of course I do.” Oh God, I had just lied to my best friend. Yeah, I’m so going to Hell.

“But you can’t seem to get pregnant, huh? Well, I’ll help!” she cried, hugging me quickly.

“Uh, how?” Oh, Quinn, you moron!

“I’ll tell Edwin everything I know about this stuff. After all, I did take health for a semester in high school,” she bragged, vanishing out of thin air before I could take another breath.

Since when did she start telling Edwin things instead of me? Getting married is more complicated than I thought...