Am I Pregnant?

Chapter 1: Am I Pregnant?

""Auntie, please. I want to buy a test for pregnancy," Anna mumbled very quiet, as if saying this in a undertone, not to attract much attention, but she didn't manage to do this though. The attendants at the store were looking questioningly at her. She really was a picture of innocence and beauty, especially her bright, clear eyes that sparkled like springs of pure water.

Anna's face flushed a brilliant red with embarrassment, her hands gripping on to her pants so tightly, shy to look someone in the eyes.

"Beg pardon?" the clerk asked quickly, her body snapping to attention.

"Oh, you mean this?" The clerk reached around behind the counter and pulled out a box of pregnancy tests, handing it to Anna before looking back down at her computer.

Anna glanced at it, making sure it was what she needed, and asked softly, "How much is it?"

"5 dollars."

She fumbled in her pocket, got a 5 dollars note on the counter and then turned away. The clerk hesitated for a moment, then called after her.

"Young lady, wait a second."

Anna turned around nervously.

"Is. is there something else?" Then when he saw that the girl was disturbed, the clerk asked gently, "Do you know how to use one?"

Anna bit her lip, thinking she would seem like a real idiot not knowing how to fill it in and remembered Daisy saying that there was something about there being instructions inside. The clerk lowered her voice and explained.

"This is a part for collecting urine. You come to the toilet, take the urine, and by means of a pipette, you add three to four drops in the sample window. After some time, one red line will show, meaning that everything is okay. However, when there are two lines, then it means. you are pregnant."

Anna felt herself trembling with fear and humiliation, clutching the box of a pregnancy test in her hands.

"Thank you, Auntie."

She left a drugstore with panic because she had never before been afraid of other people's views.

She rushed back home. Her parents were running a roasted chicken shop and were out early until late. Her brothers were still schooling, so the house was void.

Anna rushed into the bathroom, hastily opening the test box and following the clerk's instructions. She collected the urine then dropped it into the sample area with another tube.

Her hands shook during the process, and she bit her lip hard to keep from crying out as she watched the test first and saw no reaction, then the red beginning to climb swiftly.

Holding her breath, Anna looked at it. She silently prayed for not two lines, convinced that it couldn't be true, that she couldn't possibly be pregnant.

As the color encroached, one red stripe gradually began to show through, fully taking form at all edges. Anna just bit her lower lip; she had a vague feeling that everything would be okay, like a miracle. Not pregnant, Anna sighed with relief. But then, there it was: a second red line started to develop. She rubbed her eyes, sure she was seeing things, but the line only became clearer, as if daring her to deny its existence.

Her knees went out from under her, and she found herself on the floor of the bathroom looking even paler than usual.

She was definitely pregnant. Two lines — how could it be two?

The day her mother mentioned to Anna about work, the one that suffocated her, where one had to do it to help pay for the brothers' education and house rent. That's when she and her best friend decided to hit a bar, but certainly not bargaining over the kind of attention they might get. They spiked her drink.

But in the morning after ten hours, she woke up and was completely nude in his bed. At this point, she was greatly frightened and, putting on her clothes, ran to her place.

It's been only a short time that the old lady has started feeling bad, rather giddy and nauseated but had at first blown it off as heatstroke. After further thousands of bottles of herbal remedy and feeling no better, her best friend had joked to her that she must be pregnant or something. Anna laughed with her but couldn't make herself believe that this was just nothing. And now, stark reality with two red lines confirmed her fears.

Panic set in. She could not begin to think how her parents would respond to news of her carrying a child as a freshman in college. Just the thought at her twenty years old made her fearful, and her mother was surely going to be upset.

She accidentally looked at the phone again—in front of her was already past five, and soon the younger one would come from school. Nervously looking at the pregnancy test with its glaring two red lines, Anna felt a surge of fear and uncertainty about the future.

Having packed up everything in a small bag, she hurriedly went to check out if she hadn't left anything in the bathroom.

While she got closer to the fifth floor, she observed from a distance that her younger brother was trying to open the door. "Anna, did you go out today?" he was curious, his twinkling eyes reflected curiosity.

Anna's heart missed a beat. "I just hanged with some friends, that's all," she said in haste.

Her brother opened the door and noticed that Anna wasn't following him inside. He called back, "Are you going out again?"

Anna quickly dashed into the house. "No. no, it's time to start cooking. Mom and Dad will be home soon."

He watched how Anna rushed to the kitchen and felt confused. His sister was being really off today. Then again, as the saying was, his main job was to study and not worry about household matters. So, he didn't go asking around and just waved a goodbye before trudging off towards his room with the backpack hanging onto his back.

The Yans were newcomers in Kentucky. Just twenty years ago, Yan David and Lin Wendy arrived in that city almost immediately after getting married in order to make a living. They started with manual work on construction sites; they lived in basements and later tried many other jobs before starting a roasted chicken restaurant.

The restaurant, well known for the tasty food it served, made some little, sufficient income. They already had enough money and had more when John was born so that they could afford to buy a small 50 square meter house in an old estate. And there is nothing strange about that, because in their city, where every inch of ground is worth its weight in gold, even in the aging complex, their home is a hard-won treasure.

Cheap as their home was, it was a single bedroomed facility with a living room, bathroom, and kitchen. Since the oldest child, Tom, was already in middle school then, the parents converted the kitchen into a make-believe bedroom, and that became Tom's and John's room.

She has been sleeping throughout, on a small bed that her parents had put for her in the living room until today; she never had her own room.

Their mother returned home only after seven and yelled when she saw John's clothes thrown over a chair. As usual, Mom called Anna to bring the food into the house; she was busy making dinner.

"I take notice that the clothing of your brother is not yet washed."

Anna hastily gathers the clothes into a basin; she was in a hurry because her mother rules that John's upper clothing had to be hand-washed.

"I was cooking. I'll wash them after dinner," she hurriedly explained.

David gently pulls Wendy aside, urging her to wash up. "Alright, Anna's already made dinner. We can wash them afterward."

Having quickly cleaned the kitchen, the family reassembled around the small dining table.

Wendy spoke to Anna as she took a place at the table. "You'll start running deliveries to the store tomorrow. Your dad just took on a big catering job for a restaurant and you'll be handling delivery."

Anna now looked up at her mother, Lin Xin, and begged sweetly, "Mom, can't it wait a few days? I'm hoping to be able to hang out with some friends from my class."

Wendy frowned. "Hang out for what? That's just letting college kids strut their stuff in front of each other. What have you got to show?"

Anna hung her head low, blood staining her lower lip where she had bitten hard. She was pregnant now, and it worried her that hard labor might not be good for the baby. Besides, the baby was unplanned, and she truly felt incapable of bringing him or her up all on her own. She harbored deep inside her the fear of letting her parents know about it, as she was not courageous enough to face them.

If she lifted heavy stuff, that would have an adverse effect on the baby? She automatically glanced down at her stomach and then felt great discomfort and guilt once more.

She sniffed. "I. will."

Very early next morning, Wendy woke her up. Having washed, even not having breakfast, she followed her parents to the store to work.