Emma Winsor stared at the white plastic stick, her brown eyes wide, her face pale. How was it possible that two parallel pink lines could completely change her life?

She leaned her head against the bathroom wall, her legs curled underneath her. She refused to touch the stick. Refused to make it real to her. She closed her eyes, thinking back to when this could have possibly happened. She was always so careful. He was always so careful. When they were in Vegas, they messed around, got tipsy, and now, she couldn't remember if Kyle had actually used a condom or if they said fuck it.

She shook her head.

This was not her. She was careful. She planned for things. She always made sure her actions were reflections of carefully crafted choices that would help her future, that would assist her in reaching her goals that she wanted since she was a child. 

She closed her eyes, slowly exhaling through her nose. She was on the edge of the closed toilet seat, in her adjacent bathroom. Her father was still at work but they would be meeting at the Sea Side Ice Palace due to the fact that tonight was the game clincher that decided whether or not they were guaranteed the fourth seed in the Pacific Division. It was an incredibly important game. Afterward, she planned to go out with Kyle and the rest of the team to celebrate because naturally, the team expected to make playoffs and the fourth seed would be amazing. It meant they would be playing Las Vegas and that, by itself, would make an excellent first series.

Plus, the team would make history. The Newport Beach Seagulls had yet to make a playoff run in the entirety of the twenty years that they'd been an official national hockey team. They had been a mediocre team, started by Ken Brown, a native Californian with a passionate love for hockey even though he never played it. He was a billionaire and took losses the first seven years the team was part of the NHL. But then he started drafting young talent, started acquiring trades worthy of an established franchise. The team became a challenge to beat. It was a team that got into a lot of scrums. They never made playoffs while Ken was alive but dammit if they didn't make the other teams work.

And then, one day, Ken was murdered by his accountant. Seraphina Hanson, his youngest granddaughter, inherited the team. And that year, they absolutely were terrible. Seraphina knew nothing about the business of hockey.

But she learned.

And she started making some noteworthy trades. She managed to acquire Zachary Ryan, James Negan, and veteran defenseman, Duncan Jackman. She picked up some young kids in the past draft that were doing well in the minor league team, located out of Irvine. She did have a couple of misfires - like bringing Matt Peterson back after he demanded to be traded after Ken's murder (he also happened to be dating Katella Hanson, Seraphina older sister at the time), but Matt was a solid third-line center. So, Emma supposed, it seemed to work out. For now.

And this year, the team was outstanding. More Canadian news channels gave them time on air rather than dismiss them as nothing but a bunch of goons - or worse - ignore them completely. But the Gulls forced them to talk about the team. And after tonight, they'll be part of playoffs and have earned their stripes, so to speak.

A thousand thoughts swam through her head, each one more fire than the last. Her dreams were gone. She didn't realize how quickly dreams could simply disappear before her very eyes. It was as though she had blinked and they were gone. That was how bad it was.

Tears blurred her vision but she blinked them away. Emma refused to allow herself to play the victim. She was a willing participant in the sexual activity that had produced the growing child inside of her. She wasn't allowed to feel sorry for herself. What she needed to do now was weigh her options. 

First, she could keep it. She had money and she knew that her father would support her, even if he was disappointed in her decision-making - which he had every right to be. Secondly, she could carry the child to term and then give the child up for adoption. This seemed like the last option she would ever consider due to the fact that she knew what it felt like being abandoned by her mother and there was no way she was planning on doing that to her own child. Her last option was to get an abortion and while she was always pro-women should be allowed to do whatever the hell they wanted with their bodies, she wasn't sure why her personal feelings were now that getting pregnant accidentally had happened to her.

She had two extremes to pick from. Her head was swimming with choices and it was too overwhelming for her to stop and consider this rationally.

But she didn't have to decide right now. And maybe she should talk to Kyle about this before any of the decisions were actually made. He was the father, after all, and even though the decision ultimately rested with her, she felt it was only fair to give him some kind of head's up about the situation.

Maybe serious discussion was the more apt phrase for a matter such as this one.

She groaned. She couldn't even imagine having this conversation with Kyle just yet. He already had enough on his plate - making playoffs, playing a good game. Despite the fact that they were serious about each other, Emma knew he wasn't ready to get married and have children just yet. Not when there was always that possibility he could be traded - she nearly snorted at this thought; not likely, considering what an asset he was to the team. Not when he was still young and wanted to go out after wins to celebrate with the guys rather than come home to a crying baby.

And what about her? New York was a distant memory. She wouldn't be able to work as hard when she got into her second and third trimesters. Her entire career had to be out on hold do she could have this baby.

How had this happened?

It had to have been in Vegas a few weeks ago. She had gotten to the hotel late. They had all gone out. They had gotten tipsy. 

Emma never drank but she had also never been to Vegas and she wanted to experience it the way she should - with the man of her dreams, completely drunk. And honestly, it was one of the best nights of her life. She had fun with Kyle. She loved being wrapped up in him, smelling his musky aftershave mixed in with a masculine hint of his sweat. Loved watching those crystal blue eyes turn dark as his desire for her wrote itself on his face. Loved the way his tongue teased every inch of her skin.

She shivered just thinking about it.

However, Emma was certain he had a condom that night. He had to. He was just as careful as she was, if not more so.

It wasn't as though he wanted to be a young unwed father. He was still in the prime of his life, having his fun with his friends. The fact that he settled down and was in a serious monotonous relationship with her was a big deal. 

So either she totally forgot that they didn't have a condom or they did have a condom and it was somehow defective. Because regardless of what did or didn't happen between them that night, she was pregnant. Although... maybe she should take a second test just to be sure. She furrowed her brow. Wasn't it more common to get a false negative than a false positive? And it wasn't like she was squinting, trying to decipher if the second line was an evaporation line or a legitimate line. It was pink and bold, staring at her with mocking certainty from the little window. There was no denying that this test was positive.

She huffed a sigh. She needed to talk to someone about this. Someone she could trust. Someone who wasn't her father and wasn't Kyle. Seraphina and Katella were probably too busy, what with the team probably making playoffs. Emma reached up and grabbed her cell phone, currently sitting on the counter if the bathroom sink.

She quickly unlocked and dialed her only other friend she wanted to share this with. Harper Crawford.

--

Harper showed up fifteen minutes later with sandwiches from C'est Si Bon, a sandwich place on PCH. 

"I got you egg salad," she told Emma after Emma showed her in and the two walked to the kitchen. "You're not supposed to eat deli meats. And fish. And if you can cut out caffeine, that's awesome, but if not, cut back."

Emma shot Harper a look. "How do you know all of these things?" She murmured, taking a seat at the bar island, across from Harper as she started passing out the sandwiches.

"I read a lot," she replied. "Zach and I are talking about having kids. Eventually."

Emma shot her friend a look consisting of narrowed, suspicious eyes and lips pressed tightly together. "Are you serious?" she asked. She hadn't meant to sound so judgmental but she couldn't take the words back once they were out in the open.

"I wouldn't joke about something as serious as kids, Emma," Harper told her and Emma felt rightly reprimanded. "Zach and I talk about everything. We're planning to spend the rest of our lives together so of course we would talk about kids and that sort of thing. We want three, in case you were wondering."

"But you're my age," Emma said, still confused. Still flabbergasted. "How can you know Zach is the one when you haven't even been dating a year?"

"I knew a month into it," she said. "And he knew even sooner than that." She shrugged her shoulders and took a bite out of her tuna melt. "The thing is, when you know, you know. And that's not something to be scared of." She cocked her head to the side. "Are you doubting Kyle's feelings for you?"

"This has nothing to do with Kyle's feelings and everything to do with mine," Emma said. She hadn't even touched her food, even though it was her favorite type of sandwich.

Harper cut her a look that told Emma she didn't believe her. "Okay," she said, relenting. "Tell me about your feelings then." Emma stared blankly back at her friend and Harper grunted with impatience. "Come on, Emma. What do you feel? It's not that hard!"

"I feel fucking terrified!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. The swear word was foreign in her mouth and she couldn't look at Harper as she said it. But Harper wanted the truth and Emma was going to give that to her. Emma was going to give it to herself. "I have no idea what I'm going to do, Harper. I have no idea if I want to keep it. My dreams of New York and Broadway are gone. They're gone all within the three minutes it took for the stupid second line to appear. I have no idea how Kyle is going to respond to this. We haven't even talked about kids yet, Harper, let alone marriage. I'm so lost and confused and scared."

Harper took Emma's rant in silently, her lips pressed together. She picked her eyes up from her sandwich so she could look at Emma, trying to figure out what she should say and how she should say it.

"Em," Harper said slowly. "Do you know if you ever want kids?"

Emma opened her mouth to respond before closing it and cocking her head to the side. "You mean, like in the future?" she asked slowly.

Harper nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Do you know if you want kids in the future at any point in your life?"

Emma was silent for another moment. "Honestly," she began but then paused and shook her head. "Honestly, I've never really thought about that part of my future. I know what I want out of my life, career-wise, but I never really thought about having kids or getting married."

Harper pressed her brows together and tilted her head to the left. "Why?" she asked. "You're in a serious relationship with a man. You've been together for over a year. Don't you care about where your relationship is going?"

Emma clenched her jaw. "I never really thought about it," she admitted, her voice still coming out defensive. "I just always assumed..."

"That Kyle would be there," Harper finished, her voice quiet as she looked at her friend with an intense stare. "Let me ask you: I know you applied to all of these places in New York to go to school for dance. I know your dream is to dance in Broadway. Does Kyle know these things?"

"He knows I love dancing," Emma told her but Harper shot her a look that interrupted her. "Okay, no, I don't think I've ever told him these things."

"Why not?" Harper asked.

"Because he's focused on his dreams, I'm focused on mine," Emma replied, running her fingers through her hair and dropping her eyes down to her sandwich. "I don't want to bombard him with my issues when he has his own issues he has to worry about."

"Emma, that's what partners do for each other," Harper said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're there for each other. You notice when something is wrong and ask. You talk about your dreams and your goals and you figure out how to incorporate each other so his dreams are yours and vice versa." She pressed her lips together. "Okay, well, I gotta go get ready for tonight. Emma, I'm here for you always. I'm not going to tell you what to do. But consider figuring out what you want out of your future with Kyle. I think you guys could be even better together than you already are."

She squeezed Emma's shoulder before seeing herself out, leaving Emma alone in her kitchen with a delicious egg salad sandwich she couldn't bring herself to eat.