Once Tony and Bonnie were together a month, they had settled into a somewhat "normal" routine. After Tony had left Daytona, he was on the West Coast for two weeks. The first week was Phoenix, the next was Las Vegas. It wasn’t feasible for Tony to fly home, so they depended on their phones and web cams to stay in touch. They Skyped in bed every night…which usually turned into blatant naughtiness! Tony had been non stop since Daytona, but he made every effort to stay in touch with her. He’d send her silly texts when he was in meetings, complaining about how bored he was. She’d sent him her dirty thoughts when she knew it would fluster him most.
The weekend Tony was in Los Vegas, Bonnie was hit with a ferocious stomach bug. She woke up one morning with a sick stomach and barely made it to the bathroom. She was barely able to keep water down. She was miserable.
"Hey Mom, you OK?" Lexie asked, concerned. She was thankful it was Saturday. She’d be able to keep an eye on her.
"I’m so sick! I can’t remember the last time I felt this rotten. This is awful." She said, leaning back against the wall.
"Go back to bed Mom. I’ll take care of you today. Don’t worry about a thing." Lexie said.
Bonnie did as she was told and climbed back in bed. With the exception of her belly, she felt fine. Well, not totally fine. She was exhausted, but she figured it was from the sixty hour week she had work as well as the sinus infection she was getting over.
Wait a second. Oh shit. Bonnie sat straight up in bed.
"Lexie! Come here, bring your laptop!" She yelled to her daughter.
Lexie ran into her bedroom. "What’s up? What’s wrong?"
"Look up medicines that affect birth control pills!" Bonnie was trying hard not to freak out.
"Wait? What? Never mind. What did you take for your sinuses?" Lexie asked.
"Amoxicillin. Please say it’s not one of them." Bonnie said nervously.
"Wait here’s something." Lexie quickly scanned the page. "Amoxicillin can make birth control pills less effective. Ask your doctor about using a non-hormone method of birth control to prevent pregnancy while taking amoxicillin."
"Did you and Tony…?" she looked at her mom questioningly.
"Yes, we did. Don’t look at me like that! It’s been awhile!" She said.
"Did you get your period this month?" Lexie asked.
"I did, but it wasn’t as bad as it normally is. Maybe it’s nothing. I’m forty one. And viruses are all over the place now." Bonnie said with forced optimism.
"When was your last period?" Lexie asked ticking away at some site.
"Why? Where are you?" She asked frowning.
"A pregnancy calculator. When did your period start?" She asked again.
Bonnie flopped back on her pillow, covering her eyes with her arm. "February sixth. I don’t want to know this Alexia!"
"Here we go. Date of conception would have been February twentieth, due date would be November twelfth. Mom?" She looked at her.
"Oh fuck, that’s the week before Homestead! " She groaned.
"And I’m leaving for college in August. Let’s take a ride to the drug store. Get dressed. No need to fret about this. Let’s find out!" Lexie said cheerfully.
Bonnie scowled at her. "How can you be so upbeat about this?" She said as she pulled her jeans on. "And again, when the hell did you grow up on me?
Lexie drove her to a drug store the next town over. The last thing Bonnie needed was people speculating about her…or God forbid Lexie. If word got out she was with Tony and he found out anything before she could tell him? Never. She was fiercely private.
They parked the car, going directly to the home planning section. Bonnie was overwhelmed by the number of choices she had. Back when she was pregnant with Lexie there were like three. She picked a digital test that screamed "99.9% accurate!" and paid for it at the register.
The ride home was quiet, both Bonnie and Lexie lost in thought. Bonnie was a nervous wreck. What if she was pregnant? What would she do with a baby on the way? Where would she put it? And Tony. How in the hell would he react? That scared her. She didn’t want him to run away again.
They pulled into the driveway. Lexie cut the engine, looking over at her very nervous mom.
"Ready?" she asked, placing her hand on her arm.
Bonnie sighed. "Let’s get this over with."
They walked into the house, heading directly to the bathroom. Bonnie unwrapped the test, looking at the instructions. The same as it always was…pee on stick, wait three minutes. Easy enough.
"Go pee. I’ll wait out here. Go!" Lexie said excitedly, closing the door behind her.
Bonnie stood there, staring at the stick, as if giving it a dirty look would change the outcome. She did what she needed to do, placing the test upside down on the counter. She didn’t want to see the results. Not yet. She opened the door, Lexie was standing there bouncing.
"Now we wait." They paced the hallway for the longest three minutes of their lives.
"It’s time! Come on Mom, let’s see if I’m getting a baby brother or sister!" Lexie said.
"Wait, you WANT me to be pregnant?" She looked at her daughter skeptically.
"Yes. Yes I do! I never wanted to be an only child! This would be awesome!" Lexie said with a grin.
"Well, don’t get your hopes up kid, let’s go see. It’s now or never."
They walked into the bathroom holding hands. They looked at each other nervously.
"OK, on three I flip it." Bonnie said softly.
"1…2…3!"
