It had been a week since Rosie had taken the pregnancy test. She'd had an ultrasound which confirmed she was about four weeks pregnant, not that there was any confusion about that though. In terms of possible dates of conception there was only one. One stupid night with a stupid boy, and now her life could change forever. She hadn't seen Marco since that night either. He'd tried to catch her at work but she'd avoided him. She'd put off talking to him, hoping that nature would take care of things. Things like that happened all the time early in a pregnancy, Rosie had heard; a little blood, and then no baby and no reason to tell Marco anything at all. But with every passing day, the secret she carried grew heavier. When she thought about it too much it felt like it was crushing her lungs and she couldn't breathe. So she picked up her phone and texted Marco, asking him to meet her on their break that afternoon.

"So we're talking now?" Marco asked when Rosie joined him out the front of the vans.
"Marco, shut up. I'm pregnant."
She hadn't meant to blurt it out like that but she'd panicked. She sat down on the edge of the garden bed and awkwardly waited for Marco to respond. There was a long pause of shocked silence.
"Well, um, okay… are you sure you took the test right?"
"You pee on a stick, it's idiot-proof" Rosie told him, shrugging her shoulders, a little annoyed at his ignorance.
"No, I know it is. Just… one time," he scratched his head and paced back and forth. Internally he was freaking out and on the outside he wasn't exactly doing a good job at hiding it.
"Yep," Rosie confirmed, wishing Marco would hurry up and say something that helped. She still hadn't decided what she wanted to do. She knew her options, and every single one seemed too overwhelming, so she'd shut them out of her mind without ever really thinking about them. For days she'd clung to the idea that when she told Marco he would have an answer that would solve everything. That he'd say something and suddenly everything would become clear to Rosie, but right now her thoughts were more tangled than ever.
"So, what do you want to do?" Marco asked her at a loss for what else to say.
"I don't know," Rosie admitted truthfully. "What do you want to do?"
Marco sighed and sat down beside her. "Look I- I don't know, I just found out, okay? You're the girl, don't you get to decide?"
"Great, great, then it's all on me?" Rosie snapped at him. The decision was too big for her to make alone, yet because biology determined she carried the baby, the guy got to shake off all responsibility? That was bullshit. She wasn't letting Marco pin this on her. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be in this mess. He was the one who'd made that stupid bet meaning she had to have drinks with him.
"No I, no I didn't mean…" Marco paused for a second, completely clueless as to how to fix the situation. "Shit… should we get married?"
"Shit should we get married? Yeah." Rosie mocked him angrily. "No it's just when you put it like that, that's—"
"Oh, well I'm sorry, Rosie, I'm just trying to do the right thing here. I didn't mean to-"
"Then don't ask the wrong questions!" Rosie said in frustration, getting to her feet. She wanted to scream at him, but the bustling city centre probably wasn't the place to do it. "I, just um, forget that I said anything..."
"No!" Marco interrupted forcefully, standing up.
"…Just forget it because I'll figure it out. Like whatever it is, it's not your problem, so…"
"Rosie!" Marco called after her as she backed away.
"It's fine, I have to get back to the truck anyway!" she said and turned away from him. She walked briskly back towards the food truck, tears threatening to fall. Marco wanted to follow her but an angry voice stopped him.
"You gonna get back here and help or what?" his partner called from the truck where a line of at least ten waited less than patiently. Marco swore at himself and jogged back towards his truck.

Rosie's mind was absent for the rest of her shift. She handed customers the wrong orders and snapped at Alexia when she'd tried to ask what was wrong. She couldn't concentrate on anything but the idea of the growing child inside of her. It felt like a ticking time bomb – she'd never been so terrified in her entire life. She'd foolishly thought talking to Marco would give her an answer but she was still lost. She wished Marco had just said outright whether he wanted to keep the baby or not. A simple answer, yes or no, but Rosie knew the situation wasn't just black and white like that. She wasn't ready for a child, but she wasn't ready to make any irreversible decisions either.

Finally the end of the day arrived, much to both Rosie's and Alexia's relief. As the truck pulled away, Rosie caught sight of Marco wheeling his bike towards her. "I'm not going to forget about it."
Rosie drew a deep breath. He'd had the chance to leave, the chance to walk away and he hadn't taken it. He'd stayed. Maybe she'd been wrong about him.
"Okay," was all she could manage to say but he didn't need to hear anything else anyway. They walked in silence to Rosie's car where he chucked his bike into the back and climbed into the passenger seat.

They said nothing as they drove through the darkening streets. Rosie had the music turned up loud which Marco took as a sign that she wasn't ready to talk just yet. Instead he occupied himself by thumbing through her CD collection – he couldn't deny it, the girl had taste. Before he knew it, Rosie was pulling over to the side of the road in front of the small brick house. Once inside Rosie introduced him to her housemates, Molly and Courtney.
"I thought you said cute Marco, not hot Marco!" the one named Molly demanded. Her brown eyes rested on Rosie expectantly who acted like she hadn't heard the question.
"You said I was cute?" Marco smiled, more to himself than to the others.

Rosie led him into the bedroom and sat down on her bed. Marco waited awkwardly by the door until she invited him to do the same. Rosie kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs beneath her while Marco perched awkwardly on the edge of the bed. Though words swirled in both of their heads, neither quite knew how to start the conversation. Rosie figured it was her responsibility, since the issue they needed to talk about resided in her body.
"So," she began, distracting herself by fiddling with a loose string hanging off of her shirt. "I guess we should talk about this. Right now, what are you thinking? Don't censor it, just give it to me straight."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't freaked out, Rosie. I didn't wake up this morning expecting to be having this conversation today. But I meant it when I said I won't forget. Whatever you decide, and it should be your decision because well, you know..."
Rosie nodded. She did know what he meant but that didn't mean she wanted this decision pinned on her. "I don't know, Marco. Every time I think about keeping the baby, I just don't think I can go through with it. I mean, it's a baby. We can't just bring it into the world if we're not ready for it. I don't think I even want it. One day maybe, but not now."
"So do you want to, I don't know, get an abortion?" Marco dared to ask.
"No!" Rosie cried, the force of her reply shocking even herself.
"Jesus Christ, Rosie, I thought that was what you wanted to hear. I don't know what I'm doing either, you know."
"I know. I thought it was what I wanted but hearing you actually say it, no. I couldn't do it. We're not some stupid teenagers in high school, we've both got good jobs. We made a dumb mistake but how can we punish a baby for that? We knew what we were doing." What she didn't add was that she didn't necessarily mean she wanted the baby, just that she didn't want to be the one to blame for the baby not getting to be born.
"Okay, okay," Marco said as he searched for the words to say next. "This probably isn't a decision we can make in a night. What if we just take it day by day and if you decide you can't do it any more, or you change your mind, then we can talk about this again?"
Rosie knew Marco was right. The conversation had been going around in circles. Maybe it wasn't a decision that could be pinned down and put into words.
"If it makes a difference, I think we can do this. If you want to," Marco told her quietly.
"Do you think so?" Rosie questioned, not at all confident in her maternal abilities. Marco squeezed her hand in reassurance. He didn't dare speak in case the truth showed through in his voice. The truth was he was terrified, but he knew Rosie was even more afraid. Right now she needed somebody to be sure of the situation because he could tell she still felt lost and alone.

Marco yawned, "I should probably go. You can call me if you need anything." He stood and grabbed his bag.
"Do you want to stay the night?" Rosie asked, "Not like that, that's what got us into this whole mess. Just you don't have to leave, you know, if you don't want to." She trailed off towards the end of the sentence until her voice was just a mumble.
"Do you want me to stay?" Marco asked, letting his bag drop to the floor. A nod was the only sign he got from Rosie, but he could appreciate how hard it was for her to admit that she needed him there. He sat back down onto the bed and they eased back into conversation. Words flowed much easier between them now and before long Rosie was yawning too. The clock beside the bed showed 1am.
"We should probably sleep." Marco said. "I'll make up the couch and sleep there." He moved the covers back and went to stand up.
"It's late, just stay here." Rosie invited, pulling the covers back up. Marco lay down and the pair were asleep within minutes.