Free Relinquishing Liberty by Maureen Mayer

first thing in the morning. He caught on pretty quick that I had a slight obsession with Dunkin Donuts’ blueberry coffee, and he now made a habit of bringing it over to the apartment every morning just for me. Clearly he paid attention to what I order because he got my coffee right every time…a little bit of cream and LOTS of sugar. Maddie would bitch every time when she saw that he didn’t bring any for her, but that girl was so full of energy, one drop of caffeine would probably send her into hyper-drive.
    I sat down on the edge of his bed and let out a heavy sigh. My heart sank a little when I thought about the repercussions of what had just happened. Brett surprisingly didn’t seem fazed at all by his actions, but I couldn’t help thinking that things might become a bit awkward between us now. I mean, Brett, who had become one of my best friends and a second brother, practically fondled me in his sleep! That’s not something I could just forget so easily. More than anything, I hoped that this wouldn’t create any problems for us, especially at work. That was one area of my life I prayed would remain drama free.

 
     
    Things went back to normal after that crazy morning waking up in Brett’s bed. He felt so bad about what happened, and I could tell he was making the extra effort to take my mind off of it. He continued to show up at my apartment every morning with fresh coffee, just the way I like it, and now even added in a bagel with strawberry cream cheese. That definitely earned him a few brownie points.
    I had been working a lot of afternoon shifts at “AJ’s”, which didn’t leave me much time to spend with Maddie, since she was back in school and always worked the night shift during the week. I was surprised to see her car was still home when I got home from work, but when I entered our living room, I found her curled up on the couch with tears streaming down her face.
    “Maddie? What’s wrong, hon?” I sat on the floor beside the couch, rubbing circles on her back. She turned her face towards me while wiping the moisture from her cheeks.
    “I’m late.” She barely croaked the words out.
    “Well, that’s okay, I’m sure Bob won’t hassle you too much. Do you want me to call and let them know you’re running late?”
    “No, Liberty, I’m late !” She looked dead serious. I had never seen her this upset about being late for work. I mean come on; she was late all the time. That was nothing new. Wait… oh, shit …
    “Maddie, do you think you’re—”
    “Don’t say it! I don’t even want to think about it!” She buried her face into the couch cushion.
    “Well, do you know for sure? Have you taken a test yet?”
    “No. I don’t want to know. God, this can’t be happening again!” Again? Oh, Maddie…
    “All right, Maddie, we won’t know for sure until you take a test. I know you’re scared, but you have to do this. I’ll go stop by the drug store and pick it up for you, okay?” She looked up at me with red puffy eyes and nodded.
    “I’ll be back in about half an hour. Just try to relax. Will you be all right by yourself?” She laid back down on the couch, hugging a pillow and nodded again.
     

     
    I had never bought a pregnancy test before. Fuck, I had never even had sex! Being in that aisle of the store made me feel so uncomfortable. I looked at all of the different options. One of the results showed two pink lines, one had a blue plus sign, another had a smiley face and the most obvious one straight out said “pregnant”. I had no clue which one to get!
    “Fuck it. I’ll just buy all of them.”
    I exited the aisle, clutching the little boxes to my chest, and ran straight into the one person I did not want to see me making this purchase. The pregnancy tests flew out of my hands and scattered across the floor at his feet.
    “Shayne!” I gasped in surprise.
    “Sorry I didn’t see you there, sweetheart. We seem to be making a habit of crashing into each other.”