Friends with Consequences Ch. 30

***

A couple of weeks later, Linda found herself having a hard time getting out of bed one morning. Normally, on Saturdays, she liked to get up when Max did. Since Saturdays were his biggest days for showing houses, she liked to make him breakfast and coffee in the mornings.

On this particular day, she was feeling unusually tired, and even a bit nauseous. "I'm sorry," she said, as Max came back in to give her a kiss goodbye.

"It's okay," he whispered, before kissing his girlfriend on the forehead. "Are you sure you don't need me to stay?"

"I'm sure... I think I just need some rest. By the time you get home, I'll be back to normal."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do."

"It should pass quickly. I almost never get sick."

"Okay, I love you," Max whispered before giving his girlfriend another kiss and making his way out.

"I love you too!" Linda responded with a cute smile. Even though it had been a few weeks since they first said those words to each other, it still gave her that same giddy feeling it did the first time.

Unfortunately for the sweet brunette, after an hour of tossing and turning, she gave up on falling back asleep. This is so weird, she thought, forcing herself out of bed. I actually felt like this yesterday, but I thought it would pass. Today I feel even worse...

Grabbing a blanket from the closet, she walked out to the living room, where she and Duke took a seat together on the couch. With one hand already petting her dog, she used her other hand to scroll through her phone and check her symptoms.

Food poison... No, I still have my appetite. Flu... No, I don't have a fever or anything. Stomach ulcers... God, I hope not... Pregnancy... No... No... Wait... No...

Suddenly, Linda came to a pause as she tried to convince herself her symptoms weren't from the last possibility she read. I've been taking my birth control so it can't be... But most of these symptoms... No, I've been on birth control... Did I miss a day? Wait... what day is it?

With her eyes growing big, Linda ran to the nightstand, where she kept her pills. After pulling them out, she started to count them, hoping she didn't accidentally skip a day. Wait... did I miss a day? she asked herself, with a panicked look on her face. But what day?! Wait... let me recount... This doesn't make sense... Oh, shit...

***

"Oh, shit! Oh, shit! Oh, shit..." Linda muttered, trembling as she grabbed her phone. "I have to call Jesse. Her fingers were shaking violently, but she eventually made the call.

"Hey, Linda! What's up?"

"Jesse... Are you free right now? It's urgent!"

"Um, yeah... What's wrong, Babe?"

"Jesse... don't tell anyone... but I just took a pregnancy test..."

"Oh... I know where this is going..."

"Jesse... the test came back positive... it says I'm pregnant..."

"Okay, calm down," Jesse said, trying not to freak out, herself. Knowing a million thoughts were flowing through her best friend's mind, she tried to come up with anything that would help her in that moment. "Did you just take one test? Because I heard sometimes you can get a false positive."

"I've taken three different tests, Jesse!" Linda responded in an even more panicked voice. "Why do they all keep coming back positive?! Tell me there's a way I'm not actually pregnant!"

"Well... aren't you on birth control?"

"Yeah, I'm taking the pill and I might have missed a day or two this month, but I looked it up and that doesn't mean you have to get pregnant! It was just once or twice that I missed and it was a complete accident... Maybe I missed one last month too, but that doesn't mean..."

"I'm sorry if this is personal, but... has Max been... finishing... inside you?"

There was that one time the other night, after his company's party, Linda thought to herself, going completely quiet as guilt started to creep inside her. Come to think of it, he cums inside me almost every time I play with his balls...

There was also that time I stuck my finger in his ass... and the time he stuck his finger in mine... and the time I just asked him not to pull out because it felt so good... and that other time he just couldn't stop... and I didn't want him to...

"Linda? Did you hear my question?" Jesse asked, interrupting her best friend's frantic trip down memory lane.

"Oh, um... I guess there were a few times he wasn't able to pull out... because he didn't want to... and I didn't want him to either..."

"Oh, God...."

"I know... It's my fault..." the defeated brunette admitted, finally facing reality of the situation. "Just please... tell me what to do..."

"I guess I've never asked you," Jesse started, thinking back on her entire friendship with Linda. "Have you ever wanted kids?"

After taking a moment to think about it, Linda started to feel warm inside. "I guess it would be kind of cool to be a mom... and I think Max would be a great dad..."

"Then what are you afraid of?!"

"Jesse, it's not that simple... I literally just got back with him. Now I have to tell him how irresponsible I was with my birth control? He'll never trust me again! Or even worse, what if he thinks I got pregnant just to trap him?"

"Linda... why would he think you're trapping him? He loves you and he knows you love him."

"Because deep down inside, I guess I'm still that same fucked up girl who ruined everything... Max gave me a second chance and I couldn't even be trusted with taking my birth control... This might ruin everything. We're not ready for a kid!"

"You are not the same girl you used to be!" Jesse argued, going teary-eyed. "I've been there for you my entire life and I got to witness you transition into the most amazing woman ever! Don't you dare compare yourself to that girl I found with a bottle of pills in her hand. All you've done since that moment is make everyone else's life better, so how could you dare say you're the same woman?!"

"Jesse... I... I didn't mean to compare..."

"Just stop it!" Jesse interrupted, still fueled by the passion raging in her bones. "Look, I don't know how Max is going to handle this, but let's say worst-case scenario; things don't work out... You still have me! We'll figure this out, Linda!"

"I... I... I know but..."

"And you have Patricia and her mom! Remember when you stepped up and saved them from losing their business?!"

"I remember that, but..."

"Remember how proud your parents said they were? You remember how amazed Michelle was with your progress? Do you remember how Max's parents thanked you for saving their son?!"

"I remember..."

With a deep breath, Jesse finished her thought in a calmer tone. "My point is... you have all of us... And no matter what you say, we are always going to be there for you."

After a moment of silence, the teary-eyed brunette let out a big exhale. "Thank you, Jesse... I love you."

"I love you too."

***

"Oh, you're out of bed!" Max pointed out when he got home from his day of showing houses. After worrying about his girlfriend all day, it brought a smile to his face to see her sitting in the living room like she wasn't sick. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I'm feeling okay..." Linda responded as her heart began to race.

"Do you want me to get you any medicine?"

"No, I'm doing better than I was this morning... I think..."

"Yeah, you were pretty out of it," Max said, almost chuckling to himself. "I've almost never seen you that tired. I wonder what it was..."

"Max... can we talk?"

"Yeah... What is it?"

Twiddling her fingers, Linda stood up and approached Max with her head down. Then, taking a deep breath, she looked up into his eyes and started the speech she had been reciting in her head all day long. "Max... I love you... and I never want to make your life any harder than it already is..."

"Okay...?" the confused man responded, raising his eyebrows.

"I, umm... Woo, this is hard... I must have accidentally missed a day for my birth control... because I took a pregnancy test... Well, I took three tests actually... Four if you count the one I just took..."

"Wait, wait..." Max said, looking around as his eyes went big. "Are you pregnant?!"

"Well, not officially... I should still see a physician... but I promise I didn't do this on purpose! I don't know how I forgot to take my pill! And I shouldn't have asked you to finish inside me. Ugh, I'm so stupid! I should have just..."

"Linda!" Max yelled, interrupting the frantic woman's constant blabbering. As their eyes connected and they looked into each other's souls, a little smile came over his face. "I'm going to be a father?" he asked, as his lip began to quiver.

Now, noticing the smile on his face getting even bigger, Linda could feel her heart melting as she was suddenly overcome with joy. With a tear running down her cheek, she nodded her head and responded, "I guess so..."

With tears of his own, Max asked, "And you're going to be the mother?"

"Well, yeah!" the sweet woman answered, chuckling through her sudden downpour of tears. "It's in my stomach after all..."

Doing everything he could not to cry, Max grabbed Linda and hugged her with all his strength. "We're having a baby..."

"Yeah! Is that okay with you?"

"Of course... You'll make such a great mother!"

Nodding her head profusely from the confirmation of receiving the best response she could have ever hoped for, Linda responded, "Okay... let's have a baby, then!"

"Yeah, let's have a baby..."

"I was so scared!" she cried, burying her head in Max's shoulder.

"What were you afraid of?!"

"I just didn't know if you wanted a kid... I mean... we just got together... and I didn't know if you were ready... and what would our parents even say?!"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know... I guess I was afraid they would think it's not right because we're not even married..."

Suddenly, Max's eyes got big as those words echoed in his brain. As he was holding on to the woman he loved, now bearing his child, he realized he had everything he could ever want. Releasing her from the hug, he grabbed both of her shoulders and stared into her eyes. "Let's get married then!" he said, feeling as confident as ever.

Linda was suddenly wide-eyed as she stared at the man she loved. "What did you say?" she asked with her trembling voice.

"Let's just get married..."

After several heavy breaths, Linda's entire body started to shake. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah..." Max answered, trying to gain his composure. "Do you want to marry me?"

Just when Linda thought she couldn't cry any harder, tears of joy came gushing from her face. With nothing but pure happiness flowing from her heart, she cried out, "Yes, Max! I will marry you!" before grabbing a hold and squeezing onto him like there was nothing else in the world she would ever need.

"We're going to get married and start a family, Linda!"

"Yes, we are, Max!"

"Linda... I love you!"

"I love you too, Max!"

***

Epilogue

Days later, after formulating a strategy with his former roommate, Lee, Max ended up buying a ring. He took Linda's best friend, Jesse, with him, and despite not knowing anything about her preferences, they picked out the perfect one for her.

Max didn't take long to give it to Linda. While sitting by a lighted fountain after a night out at their favorite restaurant, Max got down on one knee and re-proposed to Linda with the ring. Even though they were already engaged, Linda cried just as hard as she did the first time, before accepting the ring and his hand in marriage.

Linda never needed the ring, or any other material possessions. The "when" and "how" didn't matter to her; all that mattered was that she was with Max and they were going to start a family together.

The "when" and "how" were important to Max, though. Linda was just so special to him that he wanted to make everything perfect for her. And from that moment in his life, she and their future child served as his purpose in life. Everything he did, he did for them.

Instead of having a wedding, the young couple decided to get eloped. Linda didn't see any purpose in waiting. She just wanted to hold the title of being Max's wife as soon as possible.

About eight months later, Linda gave birth to their first child, a beautiful baby girl they named Christa. Neither Max nor Linda had ever experienced a love like they did when they first saw their baby girl. It wasn't just a love for Christa; it was a new perspective on life, and a further bond and appreciation for each other.

Professionally, the married couple would go on to have successful careers. Max became one of the top real estate agents in the company, and eventually, Linda accepted a job there, scheduling appointments for the newer agents.

Much to Linda's delight, she was able to work from home, allowing her the freedom to take care of Christa and Duke. Although she loved her new job, it was being a wife and a mother that truly brought her happiness and fulfillment.

From that moment on, they were a happy, drama free family, who lived a beautiful and fulfilling life together.

The end