“Are you talking about Annie’s sister?” Doctor Misha asked. “Is her twin your adopted sister?”
Kiara stared at the woman. “You know Annie?”
“Yes. Her boyfriend is my brother-in-law.”
“Cole?”
Doctor Misha nodded. “I’m married to his brother, Jay.” She reached out and laid her hand on Kiara’s arm. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll reveal anything you’ve told me to anyone.”
“Thank you,” Kiara said, relieved. “I just… I’m a bit overwhelmed.”
“So you don’t have a relationship with the baby’s father?”
“No. I’m not even sure I’d consider us friends at this point.”
“How does he feel about the pregnancy?”
“He doesn’t know.” And Kiara wasn’t sure how to tell him. Or if she even wanted him to know.
“What are your thoughts about the pregnancy?” Doctor Misha asked.
“Like how it’s making me feel?”
“Do you want to keep the baby?”
Reflexively, Kiara spread her hand across her stomach. “I don’t want an abortion.”
“Good,” Doctor Misha said. “I believe strongly that there are better options for an unplanned, and perhaps unwanted, pregnancy.”
“Adoption?”
“Yes. There are lots of wonderful families willing to adopt babies whose moms aren’t able to keep them.”
“I have no reason not to keep the baby,” Kiara said. “I have enough money to support us both.”
“There are more than just economic reasons that a woman might decide she can’t keep her baby. Maybe she’s not in a good place mentally or emotionally.”
Her emotions might be all over the place, but Kiara knew with certainty that she wanted to keep her baby. She wanted a connection with someone of her own. Someone she could love and be loved by. Someone who needed her, especially now that Angie didn’t.
“I want to keep the baby,” Kiara said.
Doctor Misha smiled at her. “Well, now that that decision is made, let’s see what we can do to help you feel better.”
By the time she left the doctor’s office, Kiara had instructions for what prenatal vitamins to buy and a prescription for her morning sickness. She also had a requisition for bloodwork. But best of all, she left with a recording of her baby’s heartbeat.
“Ready to go?” Lucy asked as they got back in the car.
“Not yet. I need to go to the lab and then to the pharmacy.”
Kiara wasn’t sure why she still needed to have a bodyguard. Her adoptive father Jim was no longer a threat, thanks to Jude’s quick thinking. However, Jude, in his role as the head of security, wasn’t hearing any of her arguments about not needing a guard.
She hadn’t argued too aggressively as yet because she still needed someone to drive her around. At some point she’d get her license, but right then, she had other things to focus on.
Once everything was done, Lucy drove back to the estate and let her off at the back door to the main house. Kiara detoured to the kitchen to grab some crackers and cold ginger ale before going to her room.
Up in her room, she took the medication the doctor had recommended, ate some crackers and drank a little of the ginger ale before crawling into bed. She was once again very tired.
Between the exhaustion and the morning sickness, Kiara wondered if she’d ever feel normal again. Both were so unlike her that she didn’t feel like herself. Was that how the whole pregnancy was going to be?
