CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Baby Test26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJUUlYLxAH
(Her POV)
She stared at the stick.
Pink.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6MCCp1JpO
Too pink.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu6pM70R3Vz
Two lines.
Positive.
Her knees nearly gave out in the gas station bathroom.
It wasn’t glamorous.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMTm5f2gpV
It wasn’t planned.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KX0brGdin
It wasn’t quiet—her heart was screaming.
But she couldn’t stop staring.
Two.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfUYEmUxjU
Freaking.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQ1iSqsT6r
Lines.
Back in the car, Matteo was humming to a song that didn’t match the moment.
He was beautiful when he was relaxed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGJzG1HKKA
Driving one hand on the wheel, one hand on her thigh.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0Eqo0XRZv
Like he didn’t know their lives were about to split open.
She waited until they stopped at a lookout.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTAAakuc7C
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRdaOGm3E6
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk398QR1pxv
Paced.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUKfANJfKqM
Rubbed his face with both hands.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIA32FGAZbW
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbvkhjAwrYS
Head against her belly.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxbomYVL9r
Hands around her waist.
He stayed there.
Breathing.
And for the first time since she met him…26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgQ859zfWrZ
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VKKX29xTm
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.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOuDa6BGN1p
Soft.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyUasJAtPs
Like a prayer.
ns216.73.217.11da2“Then I promise,” he said. “I’ll protect this life. No matter what it costs me.”
