“We have the results of some of the tests back. Others, we’re still waiting on, but given their symptoms, I feel comfortable saying that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with either of them.”
Coen and Isaac’s brows both furrow, and Jack and Allegra join them in looking utterly confused.
What the hell does she mean?
Isaac shakes his head. “Mom, I don’t understand…”
Nora locks gazes with her eldest. “They’ve both been exhausted, dizzy, nauseous, feeling off…”
He and Coen nod.
Her eyes drift to her daughter-in-law and then the newest member of the Hawke flock. Jack exchanges an unsure look with Allegra, but it only takes a few seconds for Jack’s eyes to widen.
“Oh, shit!” She looks to Nora. “We’re pregnant, aren’t we?”
Nora can’t fight her grin. “You are. Both of you.”
What?
My breath catches.
Isaac’s gaze cuts over to his younger brother before they both drop back down into the chairs beside the beds as if their legs can’t hold them up anymore.
I understand the feeling.
Both of them?
Astrid releases a squeal of delight and claps her hands, but Coen’s worried gaze sweeps over Allegra, who appears stunned speechless. Her wide gray eyes carry a mix of excitement and deep dread, which I imagine is tied to the situation with her father and what this might mean for it. Isaac shares a look with Jack that is pure, unadulterated joy and adoration.
And suddenly, I feel like I’m intruding on something I absolutely don’t need to be a part of.
Because I know exactly what’s coming.
They’re going to get all gooey and lovey dovey, and I’m going to be the one who ends up throwing up even though they’re dealing with morning sickness.
I back out of the room and pull my phone from my pocket, but Astrid hurries after me, following my path toward the waiting room.
She grins, the happy, bubbly energy she used to always have seeping from her now, completely overwhelming the earlier melancholy when discussing what happened to her. “Where are you off to so fast?”
“I can’t be here right now.” Not when it feels like the walls are closing in on me. “I’m going to get my dad to stand guard.”
“Wait, Bish.” She grabs my arm, halting my flight. “You should be happy.”
I should be.
It should be a relief to know both of them are only experiencing symptoms of something everyone in the family will be thrilled about, but I can’t shake this feeling that more is happening that I’m missing.
“Just because someone didn’t do something to Jack and Allegra this time doesn’t mean they haven’t tried or won’t try in the future.”
“Bishop…”—she sighs—“can’t you relax for one second and be excited about the fact that we’re going to have new nieces and nephews?”
I try to draw in and release a deep breath to get my heart to stop racing and that vise that’s tightened around my chest for the last several hours to loosen, but it doesn’t.
Astrid reads my continued distress easily. “You didn’t fail.”
It doesn’t matter how many times she says those words to me, it isn’t going to make them feel any truer. Especially now that there’s another reason to be alarmed when it comes to Satriano beyond the fact that one of his henchmen is now in the city—his daughter is pregnant with a Hawke.
“I have to go.”
