Chapter 2
The second line appeared almost immediately.
I stood in the bathroom staring at the two pink lines for nearly thirty seconds.
Then I opened another test.
Same result.
My hand settled against the edge of the sink.
Pregnant.
The word entered my mind, and I smiled before I could stop myself.
Not a big smile. Just the kind that pulled at the corners of my mouth without permission.
My first instinct was to call Grant.
My thumb hovered over his name before I pulled it back.
No.
I wanted to tell him in person.
That evening, I left work early and bought a small box of his favorite lemon cake on the way home.
For a few minutes, I considered putting the pregnancy test inside a gift box.
Then I decided it felt too staged.
I slipped one of the tests back into its box and tucked it into the drawer beside the dining table.
Grant came home a little after seven.
"You're early."
He kissed me and draped his coat over a chair.
"So are you."
"I should feel special."
"You should."
I was about to speak when his phone rang on the counter.
Grant glanced at the screen and frowned.
"Hospital?"
He answered.
I stayed beside the table, one hand resting against the edge of the drawer.
"Yes, this is Grant Whitmore."
He listened.
"How is she?"
I looked up.
His expression did not turn panicked, but his posture changed immediately.
"Okay. She can be discharged?"
Another pause.
"I'll come get her."
He ended the call.
"Camille?"
I asked.
Grant was already reaching for his coat.
"She needed a few stitches in her hand. Nothing serious, but they don't want her driving herself home."
"Why did the hospital call you?"
He paused.
"I'm her emergency contact."
For a second, I thought I had misunderstood.
"You're still her emergency contact?"
Grant looked at me as if the word still was the strange part.
"She probably filled that form out years ago."
"We've been married for years."
He exhaled.
"Audrey, she probably just never changed it."
"Did you know you were still listed?"
Grant frowned.
"No. I figured it was old information she never updated."
"And hearing it now doesn't seem strange to you?"
"Audrey, I'm just picking her up from the hospital."
"Doesn't she have someone else she could call?"
Grant rubbed a hand over his forehead.
"Her family isn't here. I'm just taking her home. That's all."
He turned toward the door.
"I won't be late."
After he left, the apartment went quiet.
The lemon cake was still unopened on the counter.
I stood there for a moment.
I did not think Grant was wrong for picking up an old friend from the hospital.
If someone I had known for years needed help, I probably would have gone too.
But the hospital had not called a coworker.
It had not called another friend.
It had called my husband.
Years ago, Camille had put his name in that space.
And somehow, after all this time, neither of them had ever thought that space might need to change.
I walked back to the table and opened the drawer.
The box with the pregnancy test was still there.
A few hours earlier, I had been imagining Grant's face when I showed him.
I rested my hand on the box for a few seconds.
Then I left it where it was.
And closed the drawer.