I walk down Main Street enjoying the festive feeling in the air. The streetlights are wrapped in Christmas decorations, the giant tree stands in the middle of the square next to the gazebo, all decorated, and every shop has red, green and white adorning almost every surface.

Christmas season is the third largest after Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.

The door of the Mad Batter is steamed up and when I step in, the smell of sugar makes my stomach rumble. Not stopping, I head to the back where Ava is taking out Santa Claus cookies from the oven. Some already decorated ones sit on a wire rack on the other side of the room.

“You need some help?” I grab an apron from the back wall and tie it around me.

“Thank you for coming. I have so many special orders.” There's flour in her hair and dried cake batter on her apron that says, ‘Let me lead you down the rabbit hole.’ I have no idea how a parent hasn't reported her yet.

“Nice apron.”

She looks down like she forgot what she was wearing it. “A gift from Dane.” She quirks up her right eyebrow.

“I'm here. I'm here,” Cat says rushing to the back with Lily not far behind. Cat rushes to put her apron on and then bends over to talk to Lily. “Lily, go out front and hand out some samples.” Cat goes ahead and arranges some of the Santa cookies on a tray, handing it to Lily.

“Sydney will be here shortly. She can help too.”

“Oh, great.” Ava wipes her forehead with her forearm. “Toby is with Dane, but they're both coming later.”

“What do you need?” Cat asks as Ava slides a rolling pin her way.

“Roll, cut, and bake. I'll decorate.”

The three of us get to work and soon Sydney comes in to help out front with Lily. Toby and Dane stop by, but then head right back out to grab dinner for everyone.

“I'm in shock, Charlie. You haven't sampled one item.” Ava laughs and they both look at me.

Actually, I’m in just as much awe as them.

“Well, you need all you can get, right?” I joke, although for the first time in forever something sugary doesn't sound good to me.

As Cat and I move onto Christmas tree cookies, my mind starts working. I think about how I've been with Garrett since before Thanksgiving and we've had sex almost every day. Okay, maybe several times a day if we saw each other.

“I'll be right back, I have to pee.” I go to the bathroom and pull out my phone. I pull up my period tracking app. Hmm...October eighteenth. No way. I must have forgotten.

I count twenty-eight days from October eighteenth, that would mean I should have gotten it on November fifteenth, but I was already hooking up with Garrett by that time. And I haven't had it since I've been with him.

Two months late?

I bite the inside of my cheek, my eyes fixated on today's date, December twenty-first. Two whole months without a period. My hand falls to my stomach. No. He’s had a vasectomy.

I stand up, pocket my cell phone and walk out of the bathroom. As I walk to the sink I shake off the idea of being pregnant. There's absolutely no way. Vasectomies are more effective than the pill. They're a sure thing.

Turning around, I dry my hands with a paper towel.

“Have you girls ever been late?”

Cat shrugs while she continues to stir the batter in the bowl. “Sure, I try my best to always be on time but it’s even harder now with Lily. Now I have to make sure she’s ready to go, too, and God forbid the socks she wants to wear that day aren’t in her drawer. What a fiasco that is. I’m telling you—”

She stops when she looks up at me. I guess she can tell I’m freaked out or something.

“Charlie?” Cat's voice is one of concern.

“I mean late getting your period…from stress or something? Like you just skipped a month.” I shrug, trying to play it off and grab a spatula then start taking cookies off one of the trays.

“Oh,” Cat says.

“No,” Ava adds.

I shoo away the notion. “He had a vasectomy, so I'm not pregnant. It's just weird. I've always been on time.”

Ava sits down at the stool that's positioned right at her ass. “Is Garrett the only one you've been with?” I whip my head in her direction and she holds up her hands. “I'm asking because if you're not usually late and you are now then you’re most likely pregnant.”

“It could be stress, right? That affects your period.” Again, my hand wants to fall to my stomach, but I deny the urge.

“Sure. Stress can affect your period, but a whole two months? I think you should take a test,” Ava says. She shrugs her shoulders in a better safe than sorry act.

“Why? I'm not pregnant. I haven't been with anyone else and Garrett got snipped, so that's it. I'll call my doctor. There has to be something else going on. It must be a mistake.”

Ava sits up, piping little black belts onto Santa. “Yeah, I'm sure it's nothing.”

I catch her eye Cat and they both share let’s-just-go-along-with-it look.

* * *

The next day, it's eight-o-one, and I'm waiting for my doctor to answer the phone.

“Dr. Chang's office.”

“Hi. This is Charlotte Rose.”

“Hi, Charlie. It's Lana. What can we do for you?”

Lana is my third cousin and the last thing I need is her to go spreading rumors. The gossip mill will get back to Garrett before I do if it's something bad.

“Hey, Lana.”

“I heard you snagged Garrett Shaw. Nice catch.”

“Oh...thanks. Um...”

“I don't show you being due for an exam until next July. Is something wrong?”

When did she get this job anyway?

“No. I was just wondering if I could schedule a meeting with Dr. Chang.”

I hear her typing away.

“Oh, I get yah. You need to get on birth control. Hold on and maybe I can find a cancellation.”

Again, her long fingernails type on the keys, the echo sounding into the receiver.

“Yeah, that's it.”

Sure, we'll go with that. Prenatal vitamins or birth control. One or the other, right?

“Oh, score. I got you at three today, but make sure you're on time. I'm squeezing you in really quick.”

“Okay, I'll be there. Thanks, Lana.”

I hang up and immediately start pacing the floor, my teeth gnawing on the inside of my cheek.

No way. But what other reason could I be so late?

I dial up Dane because I'm supposed to work at the bar with the holiday rush coming in and school being out for break.

“What's up, buttercup?” he answers and I hear the clinking of pots and pans.

“What are you doing?”

“I'm at the bakery with Ava. We've been here all night.”

Oh, this is going to make things that much worse. He was probably going to go home to bed. When I left them last night, Ava still had some specialty cakes to make for today.

“I'm sorry. I have some bad news.”

“I don’t want to hear it if it's about your shift tonight.” I hear what I now know is the baking sheets hitting one another in the sink.

“I'm going to be late.”

“Charlie. I really need you tonight,” he whines and I'm sure it's because he's half tired. Chad's been doing well since I got the counseling job, but I’m his steady Eddy.

“And I'll be there. I'm just going to be late. That's all.”

“I need you to be on time.”

“Well, deal with it. I'll be there by four.” I hang up, unable to hear anymore of his bitching. I do more for that man than anyone else at that tavern. I have my own problems.

A text comes through a few seconds later.

* * *

Three o'clock comes and I walk through Dr. Chang's office hoping I look normal. There’s nothing about me that screams, I might be pregnant, right?

I’m here for birth control.

“Charlie!” Lana screams and a few heads turn my way.

“Hey, Lana. I'm here for my appointment.”

She leans forward and whispers. “She's almost done with someone and then you're next.”

I sign the papers and take care of my co-pay, then sit back down in front of a fan of parenting magazines on the table in front of me.

Don't need those.

The woman across from me doesn't look familiar and I wonder how far she comes from. Dr. Chang is the best OB in three counties and everyone in those three counties delivers at Wet Rock, the closest hospital.

She rubs her belly and there's a child seat next to her with two feet peeking out. She must have a great sex life, having those two so close together. Either that or she’s never heard of birth control.

I inwardly cringe at my own thought. Who the hell am I to judge?

If I’d been on the pill I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. But it’s always made my hormones go crazy and made me feel overly emotional and unstable and since I’ve been single for so long I didn’t think it was necessary. I’m rethinking that now. Like the boy scouts say, always be prepared.

I pull my phone out trying to distract myself from thinking about how I could very well find myself in the same position as she is.

No. You can't. Garrett had a vasectomy.

I grab my cell from my purse intent on playing some mindless game to make the time pass faster and realize I’ve missed a text from Garrett.

Garrett: I missed you last night. I even had a present for you.

Included in the text is a picture of him in his boxers with the dick pouch presented like a present with a ribbon to open it.

I smile, fully distracted about sitting in the obstetrics and gynecologists office, hoping I'm not here for the obstetrics part.

“Miss Rose,” the nurse announces and I startle in my chair.

“Must have been some great texts.” The lady next to me says with a smirk that shows she knows exactly what I was doing.

I give her a small smile and feel the heat rise in my cheeks. “Hi.” I stand and greet the nurse who looks like she’s even younger than me.

“Afternoon. Third door on your right.”

Once we’re in the room the nurse takes my blood pressure, weighs me, and tells me to sit down on the bed and Dr. Chang will be right in.

The walls are filled with various posters about birthing—a chart showing how the baby grows month to month, another slew of parenting and prenatal pamphlets. Shouldn't there be separate rooms for obstetrics and gynecology? I need the literature on possible reasons why I haven't had my period, not the three trimesters of pregnancy.

Dr. Chang walks in before I get desperate enough to read one of the pregnancy magazines.

“Hi, Charlie,” she says, putting her hand out for me to shake.

“Hi, Dr. Chang.”

She takes a seat on the rolling stool. “So, your chart says you're looking for birth control?”

“No. Well, I said that because my cousin is your secretary and I didn't want anyone else to know why I’m really here. Our conversation is confidential, right? Like you can't tell anyone what we discuss?”

Dr. Chang chuckles at my rambling. “Yes. This is just between us. Now, tell me what’s wrong?”

“I'm late. Two months late.”

She types something into her computer. “Have you taken a pregnancy test?”

“I'm not pregnant.”

She quirks an eyebrow. “You haven't been sexually active?” she asks, clearly thinking I'm an idiot.

“I have, but my partner had a vasectomy twelve years ago.”

She jots down more notes on her computer.

“And he's your only partner?”

“Yes.” God, I'm tired of that question. “Could it be anything else?”

“You're a healthy female, your pap came back normal just a few months ago. I really think the first thing we should do is a pregnancy test.” She stands up, taking a cup down from the cabinet.

“Okay, but I think it's a waste of time.”

She smiles at me over her shoulder and I get the feeling she's biting her tongue.

“Take this to the bathroom and then place it in the cabinet right next to the mirror after you’re done.”

I take the plastic cup and walk out of the office and to the bathroom. I sit on the toilet for at least five minutes, wishing I'd drank a gallon of water before coming here. Finally, I’m able to do as she asked and I stick the cup in the cabinet, wash my hands, and go back to my assigned room.

I sit and wait for the doctor to come and tell me I was right and that we'll have to explore some more tests.

Dr. Chang walks in with no expression on her face, which makes me nervous that maybe this is more serious than I first thought. She leans her back on the counter.

My gut twists and churns. This is worse than I thought.

“Charlie. Thank you for taking the test. It's good to always eliminate things when it only means a collection of urine.” She pauses. “The reason you haven't had your period is because you're pregnant.”

That twisting and churning in my stomach hardens and it drops down to the depths of my stomach.

“No. How?”

“Well, as I’m sure you know, only abstinence is one hundred percent effective at preventing pregnancy. Do you know if your partner sent a sample in after the procedure to make sure it was successful?” She crosses her arms over her chest and waits for me to respond.

I can’t though. I can barely form a coherent thought in my mind because she just told me that I’m PREGNANT.

“You always have to go back and make sure you aren't producing any more sperm,” she continues on when she realizes I’m not going to respond. “It’s not uncommon for men not to follow through with submitting a sample. Happens more than you think.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “It all happened before I was in his life.”

The nurse knocks on the door and enters with a bag and hands it to the doctor.

“Well, what's done is done. If he's your only partner than he's in the very small percentage where his vasectomy was not effective. In the bag are some brochures about different things like cord blood storage and other promotional things. Also, there's a prescription for prenatal vitamins. I'd like you to book an appointment for next week and maybe bring in the father so we can get an ultrasound to date the pregnancy.”

She pushes herself off the counter and places her hand on my shoulder.

“Congratulations, Charlie.” Her smile does nothing to warm my body that is suddenly ice cold and shaking.

I know Garrett and I have been moving fast, but I don't think either of us is ready for this.