Four weeks later, Samantha woke up in Brian's bed alone. She heard the shower running, so she guessed he was in the bathroom. She still felt tired and a bit queasy, reminding her of the hangovers she'd sometimes had when she'd been Samuel. Samantha didn't drink, still she'd felt like that several times in the past few days. She wasn't sure if it was the first signs of pregnancy or if she was imagining things, subconsciously wanting to "feel" pregnant when it was actually too early for that. She yawned and closed her eyes, trying to go back to sleep, but her thoughts kept her awake. She'd still not told Brian, she was much too afraid of his reaction, afraid she might lose the boy she'd had a crush on since junior high - an old diary she'd found in her room was full of entries about him and how at the time she thought she'd never have a chance to be with him. She genuinely loved him and was sure he felt the same about her, but still wasn't sure he wanted to have a baby with her while still at the university - she couldn't really expect him to have that much commitment to their relationship, could she? She hadn't even managed to figure out how he felt about kids at all or if they'd talked about it before. They'd been having sex all month without using a single condom, but what if he thought she had an IUD or something? She'd been waiting for an opportunity to bring up contraception, pregnancy or children in conversation without being too obvious, but there hadn't been any and she felt she was running out of time. If she waited another month, he'd wonder why she hadn't told him earlier and it would be super awkward at best.
"Good morning! Fancy some breakfast?" Brian came in with a big tray with scrambled eggs, coffee and chocolate milk on it.
"Wow, did I forget my own birthday?" Samantha smiled at the unusually romantic gesture. The appetizing smell of eggs and coffee hit her nose, and suddenly her queasiness turned into serious nausea.
She jumped out of bed and hurried for the bathroom, just to find the door locked - of course, the person in the shower had been Mike, not Brian, and he was still in there. But she couldn't wait, she already had the foul taste of bile in her mouth and needed something to throw up into right now. So she ran for the kitchen sink and arrived there just in time to empty her stomach over used plates and cups. "Whoa, are you okay?" she heard Mike ask. He was looking at her through the open kitchen door and she suddenly became aware she was completely nude. "Go away!" she managed to shout between two waves of vomit and heard him retreating, stammering excuses. Brian came into the kitchen just as she was done.
"Aw shit, poor babe. I'll clean this up and you can go back to bed, okay?" he said with concern in his voice.
"Thanks. I'm really sorry, I... suddenly felt really bad." she stammered on her way out of the room.
Brushing her teeth to get rid of the horrible taste, she knew he'd ask her what was wrong in a few minutes. She wondered what she'd tell him. Was it finally time to tell the truth? How would he react?