Pink or Blue

Krista kept the knob turned as she shut the door to the bathroom. There was no sound except for the click of the knob as she let go and the drumming of her heartbeat in her ears. She didn’t want to be near it. She didn’t want to be near the little stick that would tell her her future in 3-to-5 minutes. Her lower lip was raw from where she had been chewing on it for the past hour or so.

Even her foot steps were silent as she crossed the room to her bed. The springs of the mattress screamed under her weight when she finally sat down. Krista looked down as her hands and noticed they were shaking violently. Trying to choke back a sob, she shoved them under her armpits. Her ebony hair fell in a thick curtain around her face, hiding her tears from the world.

God, what was she going to do? If she was…you know...her parents were going to kill her. If not that, they were going to at least disown her. Junior in college or not, she was still their baby and they thought of her as being as innocent as she was when she was ten. The fact that they hated Darius did not help. It didn’t matter that he’d made it through a childhood dramatic enough to be a Hallmark movie, he was smart and made good grades, or even the simple fact that he made her happy and treated her right. Her parents just couldn’t get over their princess falling in love with someone that was black. The stares they had given Darius when he came over for the first time were embarrassing. He still got antsy at the mention of her parents and refused to have anything to do with them. She couldn’t blame him.

How was she supposed to tell him? What would he do? Krista fell back onto her bed and curled up into a ball. Would Darius be the kind of guy that would leave her? She didn’t think so but there was no way to be one-hundred-percent sure. The though of being abandoned was horrifying. There was no way she could do this by herself. She could go on with her parents being upset with her, they would get over it eventually, but she didn’t want to see if she could make it without Darius. She loved him so much it hurt to imagine him not in her life.

BZZT! BZZT!

The vibrations of her phone pulsed through the mattress, shocking her out of her thoughts. She crawled over to the corner of the bed where her phone lay charging. The screen glowed and showed the words ‘1 New Message From: Wynter’. She pressed the button that would let her read the text message.

‘Have you told him yet?’

‘I don’t even know.’

‘How much longer?’

‘I don’t know…I’m scared.’

‘Darius is a good guy. He’ll d the right thing. If he doesn’t I’ll kick his butt. :P’

Krista couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. She smiled through her tears, knowing that there was at least one person that would be on her side throughout all of this.

‘I’m going to check now.’

Willing herself out of the bed, Krista made her way back to the bathroom door. She took a deep breath to try and calm her somersaulting stomach. Her right hand reached out to turn the knob while the other pushed lightly door. It glided open like some ethereal being. Her feet carried her to the sink counter where her destiny lay waiting. She couldn’t look. Eyes closed tight, Krista just stood there afraid. Afraid to face her future. Afraid of the disappointment and joy she might feel at either answer. A single drop of water fell from the faucet continuously, urging her to get it over with. “Look. Look. Look.” It chanted.

“I have to do this,” She thought, “I can’t just stand here forever,” Eyes still shut, she picked up the test and held it. She opened her eyes just a crack. Her eyes looked right past it, refusing to focus. “I can do this. I just have to look.” She did.

It was pink. It was positive. She was pregnant.

The feelings of despair and joy hit hard, making her feel dizzy. Her knees turned to mush and Krista had to kneel on the counter to keep from falling to the floor. She wanted to scream, to cry, to smile, but she couldn’t do anything. Her body was frozen against the marble. It was like her whole body just stopped. Her lungs and heart were just as confused as her brain and had forgotten how to function. The obnoxious tune of her cell phone ring-tone flipped her brain back on. She jerked up and stared at her bed through the doorway. Who was it? Should she answer it? Would they call back if she just let it ring? What if it was Darius? Would she be able to talk to him?

Her body seemed to think so since she had somehow managed to walk into the room without noticing. She was really out of it. Looking down she saw that it was her mother. There was no way Krista was going to talk to her right now. After a few more rings her phone went silent, the last few notes still echoing in her ears.

Once she was sure that there was no way her mother could over hear her, Krista picked up her phone and dialed Darius’ number. Lifting the phone to her ear, she tried to not hang up with each ring. Her throat went dry and she was considering saying she dialed his number on accident but he would know.

“Talk dirty to me,”

Krista rolled her eyes. This was the wrong time for Lance, Darius’ roommate, to decide to be funny. “Lance, give Darius his phone back.”

“Say the magic word,”

“Now,” Krista growled, her patience shortening with each second.

“Alright fine.” he huffed, “Dude, your girlfriend’s on the phone, and she sounds pissy.”

Krista could hear Darius in the background and her heart started to flutter in that familiar way that only he could make her feel. She could imagine the smile that was on his face right now, that goofy smile that he always had, his green eyes lighting up because she had called him. “Hey, Kris,”

“H-hey,” her voice was shaky and she cursed herself for it. Now he would know. There was no way he wouldn’t pick up on the distress that laced that one little word.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, the worry in his voice making her feel guilty. When she didn’t answer right away the panic in his tone increased, “Are you alright? What’s going on?”

“I-I’m fine.” Krista choked out, “I just…c-can you just come over I really need to talk to you.”

“Sure. I’ll be over there in a few. Love you,”

“Love you too. Bye”

“Bye,”

Krista pressed the end-call button on her phone and waited. Time passed by her but she didn’t notice. She sat in comatose state on her bed as it hit her. She might be about to ruin the life of the man she loved forever. Their love was strong but was it strong enough?

There was a knock at her front door and she jumped up. She flung open the door. Darius stood there, the top of his head barely missing the top of the doorway and a worried look on his face. Krista stepped back so that he could enter. She closed the door as silently as she could. There were no words spoken between them. Krista pressed her forehead to the door but she could feel his gaze at the back of her neck. When she turned around she found herself in his arms and unable to hold back her tears any longer. He lead her to the couch and let her cry until she couldn’t anymore. Her hand slipped into his. It looked tiny compared to his. The pale, milky hue of her hand contrasted greatly against the rich, caramel color of his. It was comforting being next to him. The stress she had been feeling earlier had lifted and she relaxed as he stroked her hair.

“I have something really important to tell you. I hope you don’t hate me for it.” Darius squeezed her hand softly, wanting to comfort her and reassure her that he could never hate her. “How would you feel about an addition to our relation ship?” She lifted her head from its resting spot on his chest.

The puzzled look on Darius’ face was no surprise. She felt him tense up as he tried to process what she had just said, “What?”

“There’s going to be somebody else and they’re going to be here soon,”

“Now waita second,”

“In about nine months or so,”

All the color in Darius’ face flushed away. The silence between them was so thick Krista could hear the clock ticking next door. She laced her fingers between his and when he didn’t respond back she panicked. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have told you yet. This is all a big mistake.”

Krista moved to get up but Darius wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her to him. He rested his chin on the top of her head. He never did let go of her hand.

“Don’t say your sorry,” he whispered, “It’s not your fault. We did this together. Besides…” Krista looked up at him and was surprised to see that he was smiling down at her. goofy grin and all. “It’s not like I wasn’t hoping it would happen. I was just thinking later instead of sooner.”

Krista just stared at him. She was overwhelmed by the relief and love she felt at that moment. She said nothing and just rested her head on his chest. Both of their phones went off but they ignored them. They just wanted to be alone. Just the three of them.