Cooking With The QB ✔️

B O N U S C H A P T E R 2

Eight weeks pregnant

My stomach rolled around like a snake was trying to escape. Axel's usually reassuring arm around my waist suddenly felt like a dead weight, pushing into me. A quiet groan escapes my lips as my dry mouth draws me to the conclusion of what my nausea is leading to. It only took twenty seconds of being awake before I was running out of the bed and landing on my knees in front of the toilet.

Throwing up for a solid two minutes, I'm relieved when I feel familiar hands dragging my hair away from my face. I groan and lean back onto my heels when my stomach begins to settle. At least I hope it is, god knows I can't stand throwing up.

"Are you okay?" Axel asks when silence descends over the bathroom, thoughts mulling over in my head.

"Yeah, must've been that Indian last night." I shrug, reaching for my toothbrush. I refuse to face Axel after throwing up without brushing my teeth - four years of a relationship or not.

"I'm not sick," Axel hums. "Maybe it's my inner strength saving me from food poisoning."

With a foamy mouth, I brush off his comment as dates begin to line up in my head. I should be bleeding right now, cramping and cursing being a woman. I should be on my period. Instead I'm blissfully blood free but slowly cracking on the inside.

I stopped taking birth control a month ago after Axel and I agreed it was time to extend our family. The knowledge of my vulnerable body has me putting a hand on my stomach in apprehension.

"C'mon, that was funny," Axel jokes, wrapping his arms around my waist as he hugs me from behind. He rests his head on my shoulder once I put my toothbrush away and I lean back into him, mild shock mingling with curiosity and excitement. "Are you okay? You look like you're thinking of a plan."

"I'm just thinking about my period." I answer bluntly, wondering if I'm going crazy. If Axel doesn't connect the dots then maybe I'm overthinking. He always figures these things out, he'll put my mind to rest.

"That's random...Wait. Are you-"

Fuck me. Never mind.

I push out of his arms and turn to face him instead. His blue eyes bore into mine as I stare back. Unspoken words dangle between us, forming a question mark over our future. He walks out of the bathroom abruptly and I follow behind him, chasing him down the stairs as fast as my weak legs can manage. 

"Where are you going?" I shout down the stairs, his long legs carrying him down faster than me, not that I would ever admit to that.

"I'm getting you a test, Sky. You can't put these ideas in my mind and then just expect us to make omelettes." Axel stresses as he faces me at the bottom of the stairs.

"But that's what we always do." I shrug. Seeing Axel freak out has served as a distraction from my own questions in my mind, queries that are bringing strong emotions forward that I'm not quite ready to face yet. The question, however, remains at the forefront of my head and screams out in red.

Am I pregnant?

The thought causes mixed emotions within me - fear, excitement, apprehension - but love remains at the centre of it. I feel my heart stutter as I watch Axel get his keys before walking back over to me with purposeful strides. Taking my face into his strong hands, he places his lips onto mine in his usual passionate kisses that still make my head spin.

"I'll be back soon." He whispers before disappearing out of the door.

I do my part whilst he's gone and drink as much water as I can. He arrives back in about fifteen minutes with ten pregnancy tests and instructs me to do them all. I scoff at his urgent actions and grab three out of his hands before making my way into the bathroom.