CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Baby Test18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd9j0APDQ9p
(Her POV)
She stared at the stick.
Pink.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2LRWBn7Bnk
Too pink.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdmMzdkDCBG
Two lines.
Positive.
Her knees nearly gave out in the gas station bathroom.
It wasn’t glamorous.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePp0u77MHW
It wasn’t planned.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5yXSBM7qf
It wasn’t quiet—her heart was screaming.
But she couldn’t stop staring.
Two.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHK0dDDdAnC
Freaking.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEVstzjPEu
Lines.
Back in the car, Matteo was humming to a song that didn’t match the moment.
He was beautiful when he was relaxed.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjY4iY927eI
Driving one hand on the wheel, one hand on her thigh.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUuHrY175AW
Like he didn’t know their lives were about to split open.
She waited until they stopped at a lookout.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53SZ8w5pP0
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2UkePRebG
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcKQS2jDYul
Paced.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbY1eBcU4Vd
Rubbed his face with both hands.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVRHn1Y3B5
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXCeL9ORlQz
Head against her belly.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCTCCWLMYx
Hands around her waist.
He stayed there.
Breathing.
And for the first time since she met him…18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ916DfzDhXJ
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafd30jp8Lq
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4WVuuaxDp
Soft.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK0fBpxs10J
Like a prayer.
ns216.73.216.203da2“Then I promise,” he said. “I’ll protect this life. No matter what it costs me.”
