Just as the genius idea pops in my head for making an apple-chutney-stuffed soufflé to add to my presentation tomorrow, another scream breaks through my concentration. With a huff, I yank my earbuds out and quietly make my way across the hall to the bathroom, gently turning the handle and slowly peeking my head inside. Sure, I probably could’ve stomped across the hall and angrily flung the door open so that it banged against the opposite wall, but that’s not my style. Remember, queen of stealth. It’s much more productive to sneak up on someone. There isn’t all that wasted time of asking things like, “Are you okay?” or “What’s wrong?” Standing silently behind them for a few seconds usually gives you all of the information you need. Like right now, for instance. Charlotte is standing in front of the sink staring in horror at a pregnancy test in her hand.

“Look at you, with a bun in the oven,” I tell her, pushing the door open wider and leaning my shoulder against the doorframe.

She jumps and turns to face me, then lets out another God-awful scream. I wince and shake my head at her. “I think the screaming part comes at the end when you’re trying to push that thing out of you.”

Charlotte starts shaking her head back and forth and begins muttering to herself. “This can’t be happening. I’m getting married in four weeks. Oh, my God, what am I going to do?”

“Well, clearly we’re going to have to take you into town for a back alley abortion since only trollops and floozies get in the family way before marriage,” I deadpan as I step further into the bathroom.

She opens her mouth to scream again and I quickly smack my hand over her lips. “It’s not 1912. Who cares if you’re pregnant? Your fiancé was the product of a one-night stand at a frat party. Do you really think anyone in this family is going to judge you?”

Charlotte grabs onto my wrist and pulls my hand down. “I don’t care about that shit! It’s Gavin! He doesn’t want kids. We’ve talked about this and we both decided it wasn’t something we wanted. He’s not going to want to marry me now. I’m going to be pregnant and alone and no one will ever want me! I smell bread. Were you baking bread? Does my stomach look fat to you?”

The speed with which she changes subjects makes my head spin, and all I can do is stare at her as she pulls up her shirt and touches her perfectly flat stomach.

“Yes, you look like a heifer and you’ll never fit your fat ass into that wedding dress. You should just call it off.”

She nods her head in agreement. “I have to call it off. This whole wedding is a sham now.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, stop being so dramatic. How about you just act like an adult and tell Gavin. Clearly it was an accident, and I do believe it was his dick that did this to you,” I remind her.

“I’m going to wind up on MTV’s Real Life: I’m a Crack Whore in Love With a Brony,” she mutters to herself.

“Um, what?”

She looks up at me and pulls her shirt back down. “Well, you know, I’ll be alone and I’ll be so depressed without Gavin that I’ll turn to crack to take the pain away. At that point I’m sure Tyler will start looking pretty good to me so I’ll most likely steal him away from Ava and then she’ll kill me. I’ll wind up a crack whore dead in an alley. It’s what I deserve!”

This, right here, is why Charlotte and I have never been close. She’s certifiably insane.

“HON! ARE YOU UPSTAIRS?”

Gavin’s shout from downstairs immediately throws Charlotte into more of a panic than she’s already in. Her eyes grow so wide I’m surprised they don’t pop right out of her head. I hear stomping up the stairs and I know it’s only seconds before Gavin walks in here and sees Charlotte holding the positive pregnancy test in her hands.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God!” Charlotte whispers frantically. “I’m not ready! I can’t do this! OH, MY GOD!”

Gavin is at the top of the stairs now and the thump of his shoes echo on the hardwood floors.

“Char? You in the bathroom?” he calls.

Her eyes immediately fill with tears, and I sort of feel bad for her until she thrusts the pregnancy stick towards me.

“Take it!” she insists in a hushed voice.

I throw my hands up in the air and take a step back. “Eeeew, you peed on that!”

“TAKE IT!” she snarls through clenched teeth as she presses the purple and white stick up against my stomach.

“Get your pee stick away from me!” I whisper back in horror.

Her bottom lip starts to quiver and her eyes fill with tears as she looks over my shoulder.

“Hey! What are you guys doing in here?” Gavin asks from behind me.

Without giving it a second thought, I grab the test from her and quickly twist around to face him, hiding the thing behind my back and trying not to think about the fact that my sister’s pee is most likely touching my hand.

“Oh, you know. Just girl stuff,” I reply with a nonchalant shrug.

Gavin looks back and forth between us and then cranes his neck to try and look around me. “What’s behind your back?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Charlotte tells him in the guiltiest voice imaginable.

I silently curse her and her inability to lie in a believable fashion. Every time she lies, her voice goes up at least twenty octaves until she sounds like a mouse being stepped on by someone wearing stilettos.

Gavin laughs. “Nice try. Seriously, what’s going on?”

He keeps trying to get a look behind my back and I keep turning my body in the opposite direction. Too late, I realize we’re standing in front of a fucking mirror. Gavin looks up into it and his jaw drops open.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“I don’t know. Do you think it’s a hot new shade of lipstick that Charlotte was just about to put on me?” I ask innocently.

“No, no I don’t. That’s a fucking pregnancy test,” he replies in a low, slightly angry voice.

In that moment, I see now why Charlotte was freaking out. Gavin does NOT look happy about the possibility that she could be pregnant. I love this guy like a brother. I’ve known him since birth and in four weeks he WILL be my brother through marriage, and I’ve never wanted to punch him straight in the mouth more than I do right now.

I always think before I speak. Always. I carefully process every word to make sure I get the desired outcome.

Until now.

“I’m pregnant!” I blurt out.

Charlotte starts to cry loudly and Gavin’s eyebrows rise up into his hairline.

“Yep, I’m knocked up. With child. In the maternal condition. Preggers. Can I get a woohoo?!”

I raise my arms in the air and shake them around, wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Who the hell says woohoo?

“Why is Charlotte crying? Hon, why are you crying?” Gavin asks gently.

She sniffles and wraps her arms around my waist from behind. “I just love Molly so much.”

I lower my arms and shrug, trying not to roll my eyes.

“Charlotte is just overcome with excitement about the love child in my womb.”

I pat my stomach for added emphasis, figuring I might as well make this a stellar performance for Charlotte’s sake. She is seriously going to owe me for this shit. Like, name her damn kid after me or something.

Gavin sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what to say. I mean, are you happy about this? I didn’t even know you were dating anyone. Shit, ARE you dating someone? Who is he? I’ll kick his fucking ass.”

Gavin goes back to being pissed and now I don’t know what the hell to do. I didn’t exactly think this whole thing through when I blurted out I was pregnant to save Charlotte. Everyone is going to see right through this charade. Shit. Everyone is going to KNOW. There’s no way Gavin is going to keep his mouth shut. Oh, my God, my parents are going to kill me.

“It’s horrible, Gavin! He’s a horrible man! He got her pregnant and now he doesn’t want anything to do with her!” Charlotte wails dramatically.