“Hello,” the tired voice on the other end of the line said.
“Hi mum,” she replied. “Has dad sorted out the flights yet?”
“You’re calling at this time to find out,” her mother complained.
“Sorry,” she replied. “I thought dad might be up.”
She heard the irritated sigh on the other end of the line, but her mother finally went on.
“He arranged your flight last night,” she said. “It’s booked for next Wednesday evening at eight.”
“OK, thanks,” Carla said. “That’s all I wanted to know, so I could arrange travel to the airport. I won’t disturb you any more. Just go back to bed.”
She put the phone down before her mother could say any more. A Wednesday flight meant that she would be leaving in six days and it didn’t really leave her a lot of time. She glanced over her shoulder nervously, but the door of the room was still closed. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and dialed another number.
“What?” a sleepy voice said when the call connected.
“Hi Hannah,” Carla said.
There was a pause before the girl on the other end of the line spoke again and her voice was more alert this time.
“Carla?” she queried.
“It sure is,” she replied.
“Where the hell are you?” Hannah went on. “All we heard were rumors that your parents took you out of college.”
“The rumor was true…” Carla said and hesitated before going on. “…thanks to you and your fucking friend.”
“Oh,” Hannah let out.
“Yes, oh,” Carla repeated in a harsh tone.
“I’m sorry,” Hannah said. ”I really didn’t know she put the scarf in your bag.”
“Maybe so,” Carla replied. “But you didn’t exactly step forward to tell the fucking truth when I got caught.”
There was just silence on the other end of the line.
“I could have dropped you in it by telling the truth about what your bitch friend did,” Carla went on. “But I didn’t, so you owe me and now I need your help.”
“Sure,” Hannah agreed readily and it was obvious that she felt guilty about what happened.
“I need you to send me some college books,” Carla went on.
“What books?” Hannah asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Carla told her. “Just two or three of the older ones that you no longer use.”
“Why do you want them?” Hannah asked.
“I don’t,” Carla replied. “I want what you are going to put in beside them.”
“Huh?” Hannah let out.
Carla looked over her shoulder again to the closed door.
“I need you to get a pregnancy testing kit,” she said.
“Are you serious?” Hannah asked.
“Yes,” Carla answered. “Just get the kit, wrap it up with the books and courier it to me at my aunt’s ranch. Do it next day delivery, so I get it tomorrow.”
“What the hell…” Hannah started to say.
“Look,” Carla cut in. “Just fucking do it, will you. I don’t have time to explain, but I need that testing kit.”
“Yeah, OK sure,” Hannah agreed.
Carla waited for her friend to get a pen and paper then gave her the full address.
“Don’t let me down Hannah,” she said and hung up the call.
She took a few deep breaths then walked out of the living room to go back to the kitchen.
“Well?” he aunt queried.
“The flight is booked for next Wednesday,” Carla replied then carried on speaking. “I called my friend too and asked her to send some college books here, so I can start catching up with what I missed.”
“Is that really necessary?” Katherine asked.
Carla tried to keep her voice composed in the lies she was telling.
“I just thought it would be a good idea to get started straight away,” she replied. “They should arrive here tomorrow by courier.”
Her aunt just nodded her head and Carla said no more. As she left the kitchen that morning to get started with another day’s work, she was hoping that she would get back to the ranch house after work the following day to find an unopened package waiting for her. It meant she was pensive and quiet and it didn’t go unnoticed.
“Are you OK?” Brad asked later in the day.
Carla put a smile on her lips as she looked at him.
“Sure,” she replied.
She couldn’t bring herself to tell them anything about her impending departure from the ranch or the idea that one of them might be on the verge of becoming a father. Considering the sex they shared, there was no way of knowing which one it was and that just made her all the more nervous. It gave them both an out in that they could try and pin the blame for a pregnancy on the other and she wasn’t sure where that left her.
It might come to nothing she tried to convince herself, but until Hannah came through and sent the package there was no way of knowing. The thought of its arrival remained on her mind for the rest of that day and the next. The sense of dread filled her mind when she finished work and headed in the direction of the ranch house.
Her aunt was sitting on the swinging chair on the porch when she approached and she unconsciously screwed up her face. The expectation of an outburst of anger never materialized and she guessed the package never arrived or was sitting inside unopened. She couldn’t stop herself asking, but her words came out hesitantly.
“Umm…, did my books arrive today?”
“They’re inside on the kitchen table,” the answer came back.
The calm reply was a definite sign that her aunt didn’t open the parcel and she tried to keep her pulse from racing. It proved difficult, but she didn’t want to appear overly keen to get inside so she forced herself to sit on the swing as she would normally do to have a chat. It couldn’t end quickly enough for her and when Katherine eventually went silent, Carla made her excuses and walked inside. Her hands were shaking when she picked up the box and hurried along to her bedroom. She closed the door then sat on the bed to rip the covering paper off the box. The books were on top when she opened it and she removed them to the sight of the testing kit.
Her hands shook even more as she picked it out and she was suddenly unsure of whether she wanted to use it. She knew it was a stupid thing to think, but she was all too aware of the disaster it would be if the kit revealed a positive result.
“Get up and use it,” she urged herself.
The words didn’t galvanize her to action and she continued to sit on the bed. Her legs were leaden and it was a few minutes before she finally got to her feet. She listened at the door of the bedroom, but all seemed quiet outside and she made her way along to the bathroom.
Closing the door behind her, she locked it and moved to sit on the toilet. She stared at the small box in her hands for a few seconds before opening it out to take out the instructions. The test procedure was fairly straightforward and she took one of the strips out to go through with it. She didn’t pull her panties and jeans up afterwards and just closed her eyes and sat with the strip in her hand.
Carla counted off the time it needed for the result to show, but even when it did she couldn’t bear to open her eyes and look. She eventually summoned up the courage to do it and her heart sank. The little cross in the window of the strip was the confirmation that she was indeed pregnant. She grabbed the box in the hope that she’d made a mistake, but it only confirmed that a cross was the sign for a positive result. She couldn’t bear to look at it and as anger welled up she opened the lid of the trash can beside the toilet and hurled the strip inside it.
She put her head in her hands as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. The disaster she feared just came true and she didn’t know what she was going to do. The sudden hope that the result was false sprang up in her mind, but after going through the test again with the second strip in the box, she counted down the time and opened her eyes to another cross.
“Fuck,” she cursed quietly through clenched teeth.
The rattle of the door handle caught her attention and the panic flared in her mind when she heard the voice of her aunt.
“Is that you in there Carla?”
“Umm…, yeah,” she replied as she wiped the back of her hand across her face.
“Hurry up will you,” her aunt went on.
Carla shoved the strip she was holding in the box and hurriedly got to her feet.
“Hold on,” she shouted as she straightened her clothes.
She slid the box in the back pocket of her jeans and made sure her t-shirt was hanging over it. Moving to the sink, she splashed water on her face to cover that she’d been crying. Her aunt was standing outside the door when she opened it and Carla did no more than give a quick smile as they passed each other.
She went along to her bedroom and locked herself inside. There was no holding back the tears when she threw herself on the bed and she felt so alone. The situation was now out of control like she couldn’t believe and she didn’t know what she was going to do to get out of the trouble she’d made for herself.
Chapter Seven
The break of dawn ended a restless night of worrying and Carla was still none the wiser about the best course of action when she got out of bed. All she could come up with was that in the meantime she needed to try and carry on as normal, but she wasn’t sure how she was going to manage that. She stood under the shower as her mind went over and over the options available to her. It was only when she heard the knock on the door that she turned off the water and stepped out the cubicle.
She was quick to dry herself then wrapped a towel around her body before moving across the room to open the door. It was to the sight of James with only a towel around his waist and despite the situation she was in she still felt the pang of lust at the sight of his half-naked, toned physique.
“That’s what got you in fucking trouble in the first place,” she muttered quietly as she dropped her gaze.
“What?” James asked.
“Nothing…, just talking to myself,” she said as she moved past him.
She glanced up to see him narrow his eyes as he stared at her, but he said no more and she walked off quickly. After getting dressed, she went to the kitchen and forced herself to eat something although it was the last thing she wanted to do. Her mind was on the changes her body was about to go through. They were changes she didn’t want and she wasn’t even sure how long it would be before they would begin to show. It wasn’t something she would be able to hide and she continued trying to figure out what she should do. It made her especially quiet that day and it was inevitable that the twins would notice.
“Is everything OK?” James eventually asked her.
Her eyes opened wide as she looked at him.
“Yeah, sure,” she lied.
“It doesn’t seem like it,” Brad chipped in as he stopped the work he was doing. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”
Carla looked back and forth between them and couldn’t stop the emotion welling up. She hung her head and tried to get control of herself, but tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. James moved right in front of her and she attempted to resist the touch of his hand under her chin tilting her head back up. She finally relented and there was no hiding the tear that rolled down her cheek.
“Hey, come on,” he said. “It can’t be that bad.”
“It’s worse than bad,” Carla said and turned away from him.
She shrugged away the touch of his hand on her upper arm, but he persisted and made her turn back. Brad was standing beside him.
“What is it?” James asked.
The concern on their faces was what tipped her over the edge and the tears really began to flow.
“My parents want me to go back home on Wednesday,” she admitted as the sobs wracked her chest.
“Well, that’s not so…” Brad started to say.
“And I’m pregnant,” she blurted out to interrupt him.
“Fuck,” James exclaimed without thinking.
“Yeah,” Carla went on in a tearful voice. “That’s what I said when I found out.”
“You’re sure?” Brad asked quietly.
Carla nodded her head as she wiped the back of her hand across her nose.
“I got my friend to send me a home pregnancy testing kit,” she replied. “I checked twice last night and…”
Her words ended abruptly as memories of the previous evening came back to her. She recalled angrily flinging the first test strip in the trash can, but in the alarm of her aunt turning up at the door she knew she hadn’t taken it back out again.
“Oh no, oh no…, oh no,” she chanted as the flare of panic erupted in her mind.
“What?” Brad asked.
“I need to go back to the ranch house,” she exclaimed and without saying any more walked away.
The walk quickly turned to a run and she didn’t even notice that the twins were following her as she raced towards the steps at the front of the property. When she got to them she slowed her pace to act normal as she walked up them and inside the building. She expected to see her aunt in the kitchen, but there was no sign of her so she hurried past it and made her way along to the bathroom. Moving inside, she walked to the trash can and opened it to the sight of a new bag that was empty.
“Don’t panic,” she tried to convince herself as she considered the options.
Her aunt might have simply taken the other bag out, tied it up and threw it away. She might not even have seen the testing strip. That idea was dispelled from her mind as she ran to her bedroom and moved inside. She stopped dead at the sight of her Aunt Katherine sitting on her bed. The testing strip was in full view on the bedcovers beside her and the dark expression on her face revealed a growing rage.
“Where’s the box?” she asked in a tone of controlled anger.
Carla hung her head and said nothing as Katherine picked up the testing strip.
“Is this a positive result?” she demanded to know.
“I…, I....” Carla stammered.
“Tell me the truth,” her aunt shouted.
Carla winced as the anger came through in it. The idea of lying flashed through her mind, but she dismissed it straight away. Her aunt would rip the room apart to find the box for proof of what the result showed.
“It’s…, it’s positive,” she mumbled hesitantly.
Katherine clamped her mouth tightly shut as the anger welled up to more and her fury finally came out.
“You stupid little idiot,” she shouted as she got to her feet. “Is this why your parents sent you here? Because you couldn’t keep your legs shut.”
“Hey,” Carla exclaimed, but she was shouted down.
“You’re nineteen,” Katherine yelled. “You haven’t even finished college yet and how the hell are you going to do that now that you are pregnant? You’ve ruined your life before it’s even started.”
Carla wanted to say it wasn’t true, but she wasn’t so sure that her aunt was wrong. She really didn’t know what she was going to do and the fact that her parents were about to find out likely meant that they would cut her off from their support.
“Do you even know who the father is?” Katherine shouted.
“I…” Carla started, but knew she couldn’t answer.
All she knew was that it was one of the twins, but she wasn’t about to tell her aunt that. Katherine let out a disbelieving laugh.
“You don’t know do you?” she said and shook her head. “This just gets better and better. Do you realize what your parents are going to do when they find out about this? Do you understand just how much trouble you are in?”
Tears rolled down Carla’s cheeks as the sense of anguish came over her. The anger of her aunt was nothing compared to what she could expect from her parents when they found out she was pregnant. She backed away from Katherine when the older woman moved towards her.
“What…, wha
t are you going to do?” Carla asked.
“What we’re going to do is inform your parents of this…, this…”
Katherine couldn’t seem to find the words she wanted. She walked up to Carla and grabbed hold of her upper arm.
“Stop it,” Carla complained as she tried to pull away.
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