Four

"What are you saying, this is what you have always wanted and looked forward to since you were a child," Steph said, confused about her sister's sudden change of mind.

"That's always been Dad's and Mum's dream, Steph. Not mine. I want to do something else," Anna explained.

"You know I am going to support you in whatever decision you make. I will always be here for you."

"I signed up for this evening's acting classes, I think I am good at this and might even be able to make a living out of it, I love it," Anna said and Steph watched how passionately she spoke about it.

"I am enjoying it," Anna said.

"What will you do?" Steph asked. She wasn't sure what advice to give her sister. She knew how important it was to do what you want but then, her parents.

Anna stayed quiet for a bit. She also didn't "t know how to answer the question.

"Are you going to tell them?"

"I don't know but I don't think so."

"What are you going to do then?" Steph asked. "You should know that I am here for you, regardless of what you choose to do."

"I think I will do both, I should be able to. The acting classes are in the evening, I have time to read and balance both," Anna explained. She seemed to have everything figured out but Steph knew it wasn't going to be easy.

Steph didn't want to support her and she knew that to do that, she had to listen to her decisions and respect them.

"If that is what you want to do, know that I will always be here," Steph said, pulling Anna in for a hug.

"I am planning on getting a place," Steph said. She had been thinking of it for a while but had never dared to say it to anyone.

"That's amazing!! It's about time by the way," Anna said and they both laughed.

Steph knew that after tonight, she had to get her place and nothing was going to stop her.

Steph walked across the pharmacy, looking for a drug that would make her feel better. She wasn't sure what she was looking for and she didn't have a prescription but it's been days now and she hadn't been feeling so good.

Steph glanced to the side and her eye landed on the pregnancy test kit on the counter. She didn't want to think about the possibility, even though her period app was already telling her that she was late by 3 days.

Steph moved forward, grabbed a bar of chocolate and was about to go to the paying area when she decided to go back for the pregnancy kit,

She picked it up and went to pay for it.

She got home and there was no one there as she opened up the door. Her phone beeped for the third time since the pharmacy. It was Mia sending a reminder about the dinner reservation they had.

Anna had gone back to school and her parents

had gone on a trip for the weekend.

Steph dropped what she had gotten from the pharmacy on the bed. She hoped that her intuition was wrong, even though she knew she was always never wrong.

She hoped that she was, this time. Her dinner with Mia was in less than an hour and she still had to find something to wear.

She removed her glasses and dropped them next to her on the bed.

She had had pregnancy scares before but this time was seeming different and she didn't know why that was.

She hoped it was just a scare and would be nothing.

She eventually decided to get the test done before going for dinner, because she knew that she would be thinking about it all night if she didn't.

She picked up the kit and went into the bathroom. She brought it out from the pack, she knew how to use it so she didn't need to read the instructions.

She peed on it and then left it in the bathtub. She sat on the floor in the bathroom, her heart racing faster than it was earlier. She raised her leg, with her knees up near her chest.  She bites on her lips, her heart rate increasing by the second while she twists the loose strand of hair in front of her face.

    She wasn't sure what the result will be this time. She hoped it was going to be just another late period with a negative result.

   She stood from where she was sitting, wishing she didn't have to check the result herself and that someone could help. At least, that would reduce the tension.

When she and Mia were in college, they would check each other's results and were always so happy, when only one line showed on the test strip. The two minutes were over and it was time to check. The time had passed by like it was one second.

    She picked up the test strip which was on the bathtub. She had initially shut her eyes, in other not to see what the result was.

    Stephanie opened her eye to the test strip on her hand and she gazed at the two red lines on the strip.

She picked it up, hoping it was a dream or that she wasn't seeing clearly. She went into the room, picked up her glasses to see better and it was still the same.

The two red lines weren't faded and anyone who saw it would know it was a positive test result.

"No!! No!! No!! This can't be!!" Steph said. She paced around the room with the result in her hand. A tear slipped down her cheek, as she wiped it with the back of her palm.

"This wasn't the plan!!"

Steph's life was perfect the way she had always dreamt of it and she couldn't have hoped for better but now this!! A baby!!.