Tiana sat on the closed toilet lid, elbows on her knees, head in her hands.
The tiny white stick trembled between her fingers. She didn't need to look again. She already had—twice.
Two pink lines.
The kind of lines that change lives.
From the hallway, Jasmine's voice cut through the thick silence. "Tee? You okay in there? You've been quiet for, like, five minutes?—and that's weird of you."
Tiana took a shaky breath and opened the door.
Jasmine's eyes dropped to the stick in Tiana's hand. Her expression morphed from confusion to shock, and then—just like that—she wrapped Tiana in a hug.
"Damn," Jasmine whispered. "Okay. Okay, we're breathing. Deep breaths. Do you want to scream or cry first?"
"I don't even know," Tiana said, her voice barely a whisper.
They collapsed onto the couch, the test now resting on the coffee table like it was some kind of alien artifact. Tiana stared at it, trying to make it make sense.
"I mean… it was one night," she said finally. "Just one night. How does this even happen?"
Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "You want the scientific breakdown or the sarcastic version?"
Tiana cracked a small smile. "I'll take the sarcastic."
"Well," Jasmine said, kicking her feet up. "When a girl meets a fine-ass stranger at a club, and tequila is involved, and neither of them is thinking long-term—"
"Okay, okay," Tiana cut in, laughing dryly. "I get it."
They were quiet for a beat.
"Do you even know his last name?" Jasmine asked carefully.
Tiana shook her head. "Just Leo. No number. No social media. Just… Leo."
Jasmine blew out a low whistle. "Girl, you really went full rom-com disaster."
Tiana leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "It doesn't feel real, does it? I haven't even figured out my own life yet, Jazz. My job is a glorified internship.
My apartment is basically a shoebox with heat. I eat cereal for dinner almost every nights and now this. How the hell am I supposed to raise a whole human?" This is all that liers fault. Tiana is talking about her ex boyfriend.
Clam down baby girl "You're not alone,"Jasmine said, her tone fierce. "You've got me. Whatever you decide to do… I'm in.
"Tiana felt the burn of tears she didn't want to cry. "What if I want to keep it?"
Jasmine didn't hesitate. "Then we figure it out. Together."
The next morning, the sun rose over Chicago like any other day—but Tiana knew her world had changed. She wasn't just living for herself anymore.
Now the question was: who was Leo? And could she even find him… before the bump started showing?