“Okay, you’re going to have to run that by me all again,” Ashley said as her jaw almost hit the floor.

The two girls were sitting in the middle of the salon and Kady had just thrown up again for the third time. She was red hot and afraid, but more than anything, she was excited.

Could this really mean what she thought it did?

“I’m probably being completely paranoid,” she said as she sipped her water and fanned her face. “But it just occurred to me about being late.”

“Fucking hell,” Ashley sighed. “Well, then you definitely need to take a pregnancy test.”

Kady nodded her head and then put it in her hands. How the hell had she ended up here? Only twelve hours earlier she had been on top of the world, dating a guy she really liked and having the time of her life. And now, something major had possibly been thrown into the mix. She knew she had to take a test but she was too nervous. But could she really spend even one more day not knowing? It had only crossed her mind an hour before and she was already so frustrated she felt like she could burst.

“I’ll go to the drug store,” Ashley said as she got to her feet. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Kady watched as Ashley barged out the front door of the salon and she bit her lip, got to her feet and began to pace. Ashley was being such a good friend to her, but Kady really did feel the need to think this through. If Ashley was there when she took the test she may feel obliged to tell Breaker. And Kady didn’t even know how she felt about telling Flash. If it was positive and Ashley knew, would she be putting her in an awkward position?

Kady thought on it a moment and she knew that even though she didn’t want to, if it was positive, she was going to have to tell a white lie to her friend until she had figured everything out.

She fought back tears and paced even harder from one side of the salon to the other. Could this really be happening? Surely, she was just being paranoid?

She paused as she heard the familiar clatter of heels coming back down the street and she knew Ashley was almost there. The pharmacy was only two doors down, and it would have been deserted so early on in the day.

Ashley appeared at the door with a small white paper bag and a look of nerves.

“Come on,” she said. “You’ve had plenty to drink there, there’s no time like the present.”

Kady took the bag from her reluctantly and closed her eyes. She really didn’t think she had the nerve to do this.

“Thank you,” she said. “You’re such a good friend.”

Ashley rubbed her shoulder reassuringly and Kady turned and disappeared into the back room and into the bathroom. She locked the door behind her and closed the toilet seat before she sat down on it and thought for a moment. She really didn’t want to be taking the test right there in the bathroom, but she also wished now that she was alone. The pressure felt too much for her to go and tell Ashley what was happening, one way or the other, and now, she was working herself up into a frenzy.

“It’s going to be fine,” she told herself. “You’re just getting yourself worked up, as usual. It’s not even going to be positive.”

She smiled to herself and began to calm down. And then she opened the paper bag and looked inside. The box was small and blue, and when she ripped into it and read the instructions, she knew she would have an answer to her burning question and anxiety within three minutes.

Three minutes.

That was all it was going to take.

She opened the toilet seat and took a deep breath. Whatever was going to happen, she would be strong enough to cope. She had faith in herself for that.

She sat on the floor and looked up at the sink. It had gone way past three minutes and Ashley had already knocked on the door once to see if she was all right, but she still didn’t have the nerve to go out and face her. She reached up and pulled the white stick back into focus, hoping that, in some way, the result would have changed since the last time she had looked at it a few moments before.

But it had not.

Two very prominent pink lines were visible in the results window.

Kady was pregnant.

She put her head in her hands and breathed in and out deeply.

How the hell had this happened? She had always been such a good girl and now she was sitting in the floor of her salon bathroom finding out she was pregnant from a biker she had only technically had one official date with.

Holy shit, she thought. This is like something out of a soap opera.

Ashley knocked on the door again and Kady jumped and slowly got to her feet. She wrapped the test up in some toilet paper and slipped it back into the box and threw the box and white paper bag into the trash.

“You okay in there?” Ashley called through. “You’ve been in there a while…”

“Sorry,” Kady shouted back. “I felt sick again.”

She didn’t want to lie to her friend but she had to get her head straight. There was no way she could just waltz out of that bathroom and tell Flash’s best friend’s girlfriend that she was pregnant with his baby. She had to tell him first, if she could even tell him. And then they would have to decide what to do together.

She took one more deep breath and looked back at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was white and she looked terrified, so she quickly pinched her cheeks to bring some color into them and flipped her hair and put on her widest smile.

She flung open the door and stood there grinning and started to laugh.

“Sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m such a goddam drama queen.”

Ashley eyeballed her suspiciously and then she waited for her to speak again.

“I’m just being paranoid,” she said with a sigh of fake relief. “The test was obviously negative… I must have just eaten something funny or be overworked and stressed. Who knows.”

“You sure?” Ashley asked with a look of concern.

“Sorry, Ash,” she said with half embarrassment and half shame. “I got you up and out of bed and I was just panicking. I’m an idiot.”

“It’s okay,” Ashley smiled. “I know you’d do the same for me.”

She was looking at Kady in a strange way and she could tell Ashley didn’t quite believe her. But, for now, she was going to have to grit her teeth and see the lie through. There was no other way. The information was all too new and she hadn’t even processed it herself.

“Okay, good,” Ashley smiled warmly. “Why don’t you sit down and I’ll go and get us some coffee or something? When’s your first appointment of the day? Do you want me to stick around and try and reschedule them for you if you’re not feeling great?”

Kady shook her head.

“Thanks so much, Ash, but honestly, I think I’m just going to close up and get myself home to bed. I could do with a lie down. It was foolish of me to think I could get up and come in today, but you know what I’m like.”

“Okay, hon,” Ash smiled. “You sure?”

Kady nodded enthusiastically and gave Ashley a quick hug before she walked to the back of the room and began to turn off all the lights.

“I’ll call you later to see if you’re feeling better,” Ash said. “And you can fill me in about your date then too!”

Kady nodded and smiled and waved her out the door. As soon as Ashley was out of sight, she exhaled and sat down in the chair and looked blankly into space.

Was this really happening? Was she really in this position?

And what the hell was she going to do next?

She tidied up the last of her belongings, grabbed her work diary and headed for the door. She had to get home, and for the second time in two days, she was going to be shutting up shop with no notice.

You’re losing it, Kady, she told herself. Your easy life just checked right out…

Later than evening, she was still looking at various test results and they all still said the same. On her way home from the salon, she had gone into the drug store and bought five more tests, all of different makes and sizes, and they all told her the same thing.

She was most certainly, one hundred percent pregnant.

She chewed the inside of her lip and lined them all up on the side of the tub. She looked at them all and half of her felt hysteria, while the other half wanted to cry.

She was worried.

She knew she was strong enough to have a baby on her own, but she was afraid of what Flash may say. And not only that, how would she even get on the subject of telling him?

They had another date in less than twenty-four hours, what was she supposed to do? Run outside, jump on his bike, wrap her arms around his waist and whisper into his ear “Oh, by the way, before we go anywhere, I better let you know a car may be more advisable from now on because I’m pregnant with your baby.”

She cringed and put her head in her hands again.

It was all such a mess.

A beautiful mess. But a mess nonetheless.

She touched her stomach and smiled. Inside of her, a child was growing and she was no longer on her own. After a full life of living just for Kady, suddenly, she had someone alongside her. Someone with her always, and even though she had just learned of their existence, she knew, deep down, there was no way she would have it any other way.

Whatever happened with Flash, she was keeping the baby.

She got to her feet and walked slowly into her bedroom and climbed into bed. She pulled the covers up around her and looked at her cellphone. She had a ton of messages, most of them from Ashley but there was one from Flash hidden amongst them. She felt the butterflies rage in her belly and she didn’t even know if she dared open it.

Her finger hovered over the button and finally she pressed open…

F: I hope today wasn’t too hectic for you… Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. Good night, babe, F xx

Kady beamed and held the phone to her chest. If only he knew how hectic her day had been. He really did have no idea how things were about to change for them both. She didn’t know what to reply, and she didn’t want to go back to him with something cryptic or with something cold, so instead she wrote…

K: And I hope yours wasn’t too crazy either ;) I’m looking forward to seeing you too. Good night, Flash, K xx

She put her phone down and rolled onto her back. She was going to have to try and sleep and let this all sink in, but she had the feeling it was going to be another restless night.

She had once heard a saying that life could completely change within a day, and she had never truly believed it until now.

And it really had.

From this moment on, nothing was ever going to be the same again.