CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Baby Test34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSewuAyws6
(Her POV)
She stared at the stick.
Pink.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMXYiHmWpTv
Too pink.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnaNTYcZl0
Two lines.
Positive.
Her knees nearly gave out in the gas station bathroom.
It wasn’t glamorous.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoE1ZigB6sK
It wasn’t planned.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9RgciniVrS
It wasn’t quiet—her heart was screaming.
But she couldn’t stop staring.
Two.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVp76BexMvH
Freaking.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicPx9VJgbX
Lines.
Back in the car, Matteo was humming to a song that didn’t match the moment.
He was beautiful when he was relaxed.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDuJJruuLK7
Driving one hand on the wheel, one hand on her thigh.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv92U3zULC3
Like he didn’t know their lives were about to split open.
She waited until they stopped at a lookout.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUA6xa063L
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwMINQAS98
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzAa6BZbn2
Paced.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzGtsWKiIG
Rubbed his face with both hands.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgX2YGuubS
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNJiK08sYS
Head against her belly.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhj4cbn1xV
Hands around her waist.
He stayed there.
Breathing.
And for the first time since she met him…34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcihVC38ut
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK6fFimr4V
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.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9nMfdAhgJn
Soft.34Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRO01s27NcN
Like a prayer.
ns216.73.216.238da2“Then I promise,” he said. “I’ll protect this life. No matter what it costs me.”
