“But—”
“Melissa,” I whispered, stroking her hair. “It’s okay. It’s not the end of the world if some people think that.”
I knew that now. The only people who mattered in our relationship were Michael and me. I didn’t care who knew about us or what they thought about us. All I knew was that I loved that man who was trying to protect his growing family. And I would always love him. No matter what.
After the judge silenced Linda, she started asking Michael direct questions about the stalking and asked him to provide evidence. But Linda, being the bitch she was, continued to interrupt the hearing.
Less than ten minutes in, the judge shook her head and waved off some of the evidence that Michael had brought, as if she had already made her decision.
“Restraining order has been approved,” the judge said, glancing over at Linda. “Ms. Brown, you will not have contact with Mr. Bryne. You will not harass Mr. Bryne, show up at his home, or follow his girlfriend to work to see him. If you do, there will be consequences.”
Linda slammed her hand against the podium. “No, this is not fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Ms. Brown. Please leave my courtroom. I don’t want to hear this anymore.”
When she refused to leave, a cop grabbed her by the arm and escorted her out of the room. Michael held his breath the entire time, and when she was finally gone, he looked back at me and smiled.
This shit was about to be over for good this time.
CHAPTER45
MIA
The Friday after the trial, Melissa sat in the waiting room with Michael and me, her knees bouncing up and down. I hadn’t thought she’d ever be okay with this, and when I’d told her about my pregnancy, she’d had to take a moment to compose herself, but Melissa wasn’t making a huge deal out of me being pregnant right alongside her.
She was here, supporting me, while I waited anxiously to get my IUD removed. I grasped Michael’s hand and stared across the aisle toward Melissa, who gave me a weak smile.
“It’ll be okay,” she said.
“Mia,” a nurse said from the doorway.
I stared at her and gnawed on the inside of my lip, standing up with Michael.
“Only patients back here, please.”
Pressing my lips on his, I gave him a kiss and walked into the back, where they sat me in a bleak room.
“Okay, Mia. It says here that you’re pregnant, which is your reason for removing your IUD. Is that correct?”
“I took a couple pregnancy tests from the pharmacy, yes.”
She handed me a cup. “Let’s have you pee in here, to be sure, and we can get you on your way.”
After peeing in the cup, I placed it on the counter and walked back to the room with my heart racing. I wished that Michael or Melissa could’ve come back here with me. I would’ve been in such a better headspace. Doing this all alone was driving me crazy, especially with all this waiting.
The doctor walked back into the room with a smile on her face. “After testing your urine, I found that you are definitely pregnant. Congrats!” she said with a bit too much enthusiasm. “Now, as you must know, there’s a twenty percent chance of a miscarriage when we take out the IUD, but it’s essential that we take it out as soon as possible.”
Miscarriage.
The word sounded so … so … scary.
My heart raced even faster. At that moment, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to have this child with Michael. I didn’t want to lose it. I wanted us to be the happy family that we both had dreams about. All week, I had been going back and forth about what I should do, but now, I was more than certain.
I didn’t want to lose this baby. I wanted to keep it, raise it, love it.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “Please, take it out.”
She instructed me to lie back on the bed and take off any clothing lower than my hips. I spread my legs, and she maneuvered something cold between them and stuck it right up my vagina to spread it apart. It hurt like hell, and I couldn’t wait until this was over.
