CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Baby Test27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm10Sfji7C4
(Her POV)
She stared at the stick.
Pink.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sRail33Vy
Too pink.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxY6Q9BfaTk
Two lines.
Positive.
Her knees nearly gave out in the gas station bathroom.
It wasn’t glamorous.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ95l3ApU5kU
It wasn’t planned.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpaUdC0ZJFO
It wasn’t quiet—her heart was screaming.
But she couldn’t stop staring.
Two.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jlteCPf6Q
Freaking.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqn0CICmc9p
Lines.
Back in the car, Matteo was humming to a song that didn’t match the moment.
He was beautiful when he was relaxed.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ18vOJaCusg
Driving one hand on the wheel, one hand on her thigh.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPS2Klg1Wbf
Like he didn’t know their lives were about to split open.
She waited until they stopped at a lookout.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4c6QDjRwMf
Somewhere far. Somewhere no one knew their names.
Then she handed him the plastic stick.
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
“Is this…” he whispered, “...real?”
She nodded.
Eyes brimming.
“I took three.”
He stared at it like it had teeth.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxEV6dVAhE
Like it could hurt him.
Then he looked at her.
“You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t.”
He stepped back.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTceNak6s2g
Paced.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetUUxXt024
Rubbed his face with both hands.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybgHePsaVN
Cursed under his breath.
Then?
He looked up.
“You’re going to be a mom.”
She swallowed hard.
“You’re going to be a dad.”
He walked back toward her, slowly.
Knees bending.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7u0Jb9KMj
Head against her belly.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmJynoxJ3i
Hands around her waist.
He stayed there.
Breathing.
And for the first time since she met him…27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB2oy4c20Su
he was trembling.
“I don’t know how to be this kind of man,” he whispered.
“Then we’ll learn together.”
“What if I mess this up? What if—what if they hate me someday for who I was?”
She cupped his cheeks.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jgO25JQUx
Made him look at her.
“Then we’ll tell them the truth. That you were broken… until love fixed you.”
He kissed her stomach.
Once.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5nyYIw9SD
Soft.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAPzWlqj5z
Like a prayer.
ns216.73.217.11da2“Then I promise,” he said. “I’ll protect this life. No matter what it costs me.”
