Darker The Forbidden Berry

Chapter 7

“What should I pick up for dinner?” Finn asked, shrugging on his suit jacket as he went for the door.

He’d gotten a late start that morning, mostly because he’d been sitting with Aja since five in the morning, rubbing her back as she violently threw up. This was the fifth day of this and she was starting to think it was not just a stomach bug.

The two of them had been back home for about a month now and both had managed to settle into domestic bliss to absolutely no one’s surprise. It had been going really well until about a week ago when Aja started to feel odd. She’d chalked it up to being sick, but that clearly was not the case.

“You’re going to the doctor today, right?”

“Yes. You don’t need to worry. I’m sure it’s just something small.”

He set his lips in a thin line and went over to her curled up form, leaning over and kissing her cheek. She had her arms wrapped around her belly and her knees pulled up. She was clearly uncomfortable and Finn did not like seeing her like this.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

She sighed and rolled onto her back, offering a shaky smile.

“I’m sure I’m fine. I’ll update you as soon as I leave the doctor’s office, okay? And Jaleeyah is driving me, so don’t worry about it.”

The look on his face told her he was definitely going to worry about it and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it, but he nodded anyway.

“You never answered my question. About dinner?”

Aja groaned and sat up, supporting herself on shaky arms.

“Food is the last thing I want to think about right now. Figure out what you want and bring it home. You know what I like.”

Finn nodded and kissed her forehead one more time before he swung the door open and left. As usual, the house was almost eerily quiet without Finn, but she did not really mind today. She pulled the blankets over her head and dozed in and out until Jaleeyah finally came to pick her up.

Aja slumped into the car and rested her head against the headrest, eyes closed. The light made her head throb and her stomach did another Olympic worthy flip.

“Girl, you practically look green. Are you okay?”

“This is the worst stomach bug I’ve ever had, Jaleeyah,” she grumbled.

“Hopefully it’s just food poisoning.”

“Whatever it is, I hope I can get it taken care of quickly. This has been my whole morning and most of my day for the last week.”

Jaleeyah reached over and patted Aja’s knee gently.

“Oh! Killian sends his well wishes.”

“Oh? You two really hit it off, huh?” Aja asked with a pleased smile.

“Girl…He has spent the night like three times this week. He keeps coming back for more so I must be doing something right.”

“Are you two dating yet?” She asked as Jaleeyah parked the car.

“We’re not making it official yet. Just keeping it casual. No one wants to mess up something good with labels.”

Aja could not disagree more. She’d been over the moon when Finn started calling her his girlfriend. It made her heart leap every time she heard it. She reached over and took Jaleeyah’s hand, offering a gentle squeeze.

“I’m happy for you.”

Jaleeyah put her hand over Aja’s before stepping out of the car and helping her out. Aja accepted the help but rolled her eyes. She did not want Jaleeyah to know that she actually did feel a little weak.

They walked into the doctor’s office and waited for what seemed like an obscene amount of time, though that was probably just the nerves. Aja did not like going to the doctors when she actually knew what was wrong with her, but she especially did not like it when she had absolutely no clue what was going on.

They eventually brought her to the little room and did everything they normally did. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until one of the nurses came back with a clipboard and looked at her with a grin.

“Congratulations Ma’am! You’re pregnant!”

Aja’s eyes shot open wide and she stared at the woman, her world spinning for a moment. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She started to waver, but Jaleeyah grabbed her shoulders and steadied her.

“I’m what?”

“You’re pregnant! About five weeks along.”

“F-Five weeks?”

She started doing the math in her head, but she could not quite pin down when it had happened. She and Finn had not been able to keep their hands off each other since this whole thing started three months ago. The pregnancy news probably should not have been a huge shock to her.

Aja covered her mouth with her hand and just nodded slowly, not saying anything. The nurse seemed to pick up on the panic and pulled a few brochures off her clipboard, handing them over. The brochures discussed different options on how to move forward. She was not sure how to feel about any of the options right now. She needed to talk to Finn… Now.

The paper on the cool table ripped as Aja slid off of it. She stumbled and took Jaleeyah’s hand, heading for the door. The nurse gasped and went after her with the paperwork.

“Do you need to talk about any of your options?”

“Not with you,” Aja squeaked out.

She checked out, paid her bill and all but collapsed in the passenger seat of Jaleeyah’s car. Jaleeyah had followed her, looking just as stunned as Aja. They both knew how bad this was. This was the exact thing Aja was supposed to keep from happening.

“Aja?”

“What?” She whispered.

“What… What do we do?”

“Take me home, and then you go home. I-I’ll wait for Finn to come home.”

“Absolutely not,” Jaleeyah said firmly. “I am not going to do that! I am not going to leave you alone to deal with this until Finn comes home! That’s going to drive you crazy!”