He nodded. “The rest of the drinks have been pulled and are being tested, but the ones Fabian and Kalen had, also had traces of it.”
“Are they okay?”
“They won’t be affected by such a substance.”
“Because they’re fae?”
A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Because you’re pregnant.”
I drew in a shallow breath, but it went nowhere.
“The flower, when consumed in large quantities, can cause expectant mothers to miscarry,” he continued, his voice strangely flat. “Luce believes it affected you more because you’re mostly human, causing the vomiting and the seizure.” He inhaled deeply. “And she believes that is also why you survived. Someone fully human wouldn’t have. You’ll be weak for a while. You may have more seizures, but she believes that you will recover fully.”
It connected in the back of my mind that he must’ve told Luce about the Summer Kiss, but that didn’t matter at themoment. His features blurred as tears filled my eyes. My brain wasn’t working right. A part of me knew that this wasn’t how I’d wanted Caden to find out. How I’d planned on any conversation about the baby going, but I had to know. Even though I was terrified, I had to know.
“Is the…am I still pregnant?” I whispered.
His eyes closed briefly. “The poison caused you to have contractions, which created a tear and then the bleeding. Luce was able to get the poison out of your system quickly.”
I could feel myself trembling as I tried to brace for the inevitable.
“Once she had you stabilized, she was then able to check on the…on the baby.” His throat worked on a swallow. “Luce didn’t find any tissue in your bleeding. She did an ultrasound—sonography—to check for a heartbeat.” He took a shuddering breath, his eyes meeting mine. “According to Luce, the baby is incredibly strong-willed and determined to be born.”
I blinked once and then twice. “W-what?”
“You didn’t lose the baby. At least, not now,” he explained. “She said it’s a high-risk pregnancy and that you need to be monitored, but she’s cautiously optimistic.”
“I… I’m….” Stunned, I couldn’t find words as disbelief rose. “I’m still pregnant?”
Caden nodded.
Tears welled so fast that I smacked my hands over my face. Relief and happiness turned out to be way more powerful than the crushing dread and fear. I couldn’t believe it. This baby has survived Aric and a poisoning. Strong-willed was an understatement.
“Are those tears of happiness?” Caden asked. “Or disappointment?”
I yanked my hands away from my face. “What?”
“I think it’s a valid question,” he said. “Because I don’t know if you’re happy or sad to know that you’re still pregnant.”
“I’m happy,” I told him, shocked. “Why would you even ask that?”
“Why?” A harsh, short laugh left him. “How would I know what you’re thinking? You’ve known this whole time that you were pregnant. Eleven weeks, actually. Luce was able to confirm definitively, by the way.”
I gave a little shake of my head. “I’m happy. I want this baby—”
“You do?”
“Yes,” I said without hesitation. “I was planning to tell you. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about later.” The cloudy feeling in my head had completely disappeared. “I didn’t tell you, because—”
“Because you were trying to save the world. Yeah, I know. Luce told me.” The tension brackets increased around his mouth and then he rose, turned away.
“Caden—”
“I didn’t know,” he said, voice rough. “I thought I was hearing things when you asked about the baby.” His voice cracked on that word, and I felt it in my heart. “I learned that I was going to be a father at the same time I learned that someone out there knew and tried to kill not only you but also my child.”
“I was trying to do the right thing,” I told him. “I was doing the right thing—”
“I stood there, trying to process that someone had almost killed you and my child,” he cut me off. “And in the midst of watching you nearly die and being unable to do a damn thing, I realized that the only reason Kalen knew to tell you not to drink any more of that soda was because he knew that you were pregnant.”
