I hate this bus. I mean I really hate this bus. I don’t like buses in general, but ever since I got on this morning, I’ve felt queasy. I’m supposed to start my period soon. Maybe that’s it. I don’t know. All I know is that I can barely keep myself from throwing up, and we still have at least an hour to.

“Hey, you okay?” Kara asks. She’s sitting behind me and I think she can see that I’m not exactly looking the best.

“Right now or in general?”

In general, things are going well. Marian chilled out when she realized she was being an idiot, Kara and I love our classes, and Carter and I…

Carter and I are perfect. I practically live at his apartment, which Kara doesn’t mind because it’s like she has her own private room. We still make time for binge-watching and pizza, though. Some time-honored traditions can’t change.

“Right now, smartass,” she says.

“I think I might throw up.” I lean against the window, the coolness of the glass a nice distraction from the roiling in my stomach.

Kara’s hand snakes around and feels my forehead. “Do you think you’re coming down with something?”

“Honestly I don’t know. It could just be the great gift of PMS.”

She snorts. “I don’t think so. I know your PMS symptoms better than my own. You don’t throw up.”

Just hearing her talk about it sends another lurch through my stomach and I groan. “Maybe not, but it seems like a real possibility right now.”

“Hang on. I just saw a sign for a rest stop.”

Kara runs up the aisle of the bus and I faintly hear her ask the driver to pull over. Something about an emergency. I want to tell her it’s not that bad, but the nausea that rolls over me right then tells me otherwise. I feel the bus slowing, and I manage to focus on our surroundings long enough to see that we’re pulling into a rest area. He’s not even stopped before I’m waiting at the door because it’s coming now and I can’t stop it.

Carter sees me and his face is suddenly full of concern. “Are you—”

The rest of his question is cut off because I don’t have time to stop. The doors are open and I’m running to the grass. I barely make it before I’m vomiting my guts up. There’s not much. I haven’t been hungry in days.

Kara’s hand is on my back and she hands me a bottle of water so I can rinse my mouth. “You okay?”

“Better.” I take the time to wash my mouth and lips. Kara’s always thinking about stuff like that.

“I just don’t understand, you like…never get sick.” She has a point. I don’t get sick. Even colds are rare for me, and I can count the number of times I’ve thrown up on one hand. Kara freezes like she’s been turned into a statue, her face filled with a sudden recognition. “Do you think you could be…”

Pregnant.

My mind fills in the blank for her. Oh my god. Is that possible?

The word rings true in my brain, like my body has recognized it before my mind has. That one time in the shower we didn’t use a condom. It felt so amazing I didn’t even think about it until now. And that was the day that Kara walked in on us, and I totally forgot we had done that.

“You are,” she says. “You’re pregnant.”

“I don’t know.”

The look on her face is priceless. “Yeah, you do.”

“April.” Carter’s voice comes from my left and I feel myself go pale. I’m so used to blushing around him, it’s weird. What is he going to say? Did he hear? “Is it true?”

My hand instinctively drops to my stomach. “I think so.”

He closes the distance between us, crushing me against his body and taking my mouth in a powerful kiss. My mind goes blank and my body warms, relaxing into his embrace. This past month has been nothing but perfect with him and I don’t want that to end. But this kiss doesn’t feel like an ending. My brain clicks back on and I realize that he’s kissing me in front of the entire team. In spite of not being a secret anymore, we haven’t flaunted our relationship. Until now.

But more than that, he kissed me after hearing I was pregnant… “You’re not upset?”

He laughs, but his voice is full of an emotion that I can’t name. “Upset. How can I be upset about this? A baby. Our baby.” He sounds in awe.

The words hit me and I tear up. I’m not sure why. Everything is so sudden and I’m not sure how to feel. This wasn’t what we had planned—what I had planned. Does that mean it’s a bad thing? Another wave of nausea hits me and I lean into Carter. “What about the competition? If I feel like this, I’m not sure I’ll be able to compete.”

Carter’s laugh rumbles in my chest. “I know you have like six books in your bag in case you have a chance to read them. You can cheer us on.”

“But—”

Kara cuts me off. “April.” I look at her and see that there are tears streaming down her face. “How can you even care about that right now? You’re having a baby!” She hugs me even though I’m still being held by Carter and the result is a group hug that’s way more comforting than it has any right to be.

Suddenly that joyous feeling in my chest appears, filling me up with love and light and the knowledge that this is perfect. That it’s supposed to happen this way. “Okay,” I say to April, “but everyone better step up their game. I expect you to win even without me.”

“You got it.” Kara runs to the bus, probably to tell everyone the news.

I look up at Carter, who’s still looking at me like I’m the only thing in the world. It’s my favorite of the ways he looks at me.

“I know we haven’t said this yet,” he says, “but it seems like the perfect time. I love you, April.”

My breath disappears, and I feel like just for a second, the earth stops moving.

“You know that, right?”

I think my smile could light up the world. “Yeah, I know that. I love you too.”

* * *

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