My dragon rumbles, low and constant, like an engine idling. He has no doubts whatsoever. He’s already decided. He decided a long time ago; I was just too stubborn to accept it.
Carla is ours.
It feels like a lifetime of waiting when the door finally opens.
“Done?” I ask.
“Yes, it’s back in the wrapper. And I set a timer for three minutes.”
“I have to wait three whole minutes,” I groan.
Carla laughs. “Less, actually, since I washed my hands and cleaned up before letting you in. You really should calm down.” She comes to me and puts her arms around my neck, leaning up to kiss me. “It’s going to be absolutely fine.”
I wrap my arms around her and hug her back, holding her close, her cheek against my chest, her heart still racing away against me. We stay like that for a while, and then we pull apart, and I look down into her gorgeous blue eyes. I bite my bottom lip for a few beats, working out how to say it, whether to say it at all.
“That’s just it, Carla. I find that I want this test to be positive. I want there to be two lines. I know we should probably spend time getting to know each other first, but…” I push out a heavy breath. “Fuck. I want this so badly. I didn’t even realize how much until you told me.”
“You do?” Her eyes are shining with unshed tears. “That makes me so happy. I don’t want you to get your hopes up, though.”
“Too late.” I kiss her, cupping her face in my hands. “If it’s negative, we’ll practice really hard for when we’re actually trying.”
She giggles against my mouth.
“I think we—” she starts to say, and the timer goes off.
We look at one another. I wonder if I look as worried as she does. Probably. No. Definitely.
She silences her phone. Then she picks up the test off the counter, still in its wrapper, and I go and stand next to her, close enough that our arms touch.
“I love you, Carla.”
She turns and reaches up and hugs me, the test clasped in one hand behind my neck. The wrapper crinkles.
“I love you too. And it doesn’t matter what this test says, because I will be having your babies one of these days regardless. I hope you want a big, messy family like I do.”
“That sounds amazing.” I kiss the side of her mouth. “Let’s do this.”
I stand at her side. Carla pulls in a deep breath and slides the test out of the wrapper.
There are two pink lines.
Two.
For a second, I can’t compute what I’m seeing. I stare at those two lines, and my brain refuses to do anything with the information.
Carla’s hand starts shaking. She holds the test up and looks at it from different angles, even though the lines couldn’t be darker if they tried.
“Oh, my god.” Carla’s voice cracks. “I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant, Magma.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper, still looking at the test, half expecting one of the lines to fade away. “I’m going to be a father. A dad. You’re going to be… You’re pregnant.”
Carla is crying when I lift her straight off her feet, her toes leaving the tile, her arms flung around my neck.
“This is the best fucking news of my life,” I say into her hair.
And then I realize that I’m crying. Carla’s face is buried in my neck, and she’s crying too. I work hard at stopping, because I don’t cry. Not ever.
I fucking don’t.
