I thought I was hallucinating.
“Kate…” Her name scraped out of me.
She stood quickly. Her bottom lip trembled.
I dropped my bag like it meant nothing and crossed the room in three strides. My arms went around her in an instant. I held her like I’d been drowning, like she was oxygen, like my ribs might cave in from the relief of having her against me again.
Before she could even get a word out, it all spilled out of me.
“I’m sorry…I’m so fucking sorry…I didn’t mean any of it,” I said against her hair, my voice breaking. “You didn’t deserve that. I was gutted and spiralling, and I took it out on you. I should’ve shut up. I should’ve told you I loved you instead…”
“Jordan…”
“I–I love you,” I stammered. “God, I love you so much it hurts.”
“Jordan,” she said again, firmer this time. Her hands came up and cupped my face, shaking.
She looked at me like she had something to say.
And then she reached into the small bag she had on the coffee table, and placed something in my hand.
I looked down. It took a moment for my brain to register what I was looking at. Staring back at me were two vivid, pink lines.
I stopped breathing. The whole room froze.
“Is this…?”
Her voice was a whisper. “It’s real.”
I blinked again. “Kate…what…are you saying you’re…?”
She nodded. She looked fucking terrified. A tear slid down her cheek. Her voice cracked when she said it.
“I’m pregnant.”
And in that instant, everything hit me at once.
Every word I’d thrown at her. Every time I’d missed a sign. Howtired she’d been. The moment on the plane. The way she’d curled into me like she was just barely holding on.
She was carryingourbaby while I accused her of having nothing.
I swayed back like I’d been physically hit.
“Oh my God,” I breathed. “Kate.”
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t understand how I hadn’t seen it. How she’d been so quick to get emotional that whole week. How I’d let her walk away with neither of us knowing about the baby inside of her.
My knees nearly gave out. I sat down hard, elbows on my thighs still clutching the test, one hand dragging through my hair like I could hold myself together by force.
I’d never hated myself more in my life.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice trembling. “We fought, and then I found out as soon as I flew home. I panicked. I thought maybe you’d think I’d done it on purpose, or that I was trying to trap you, or…”
“Stop.” My voice came out sharp. I forced myself up, closing the gap, pulling her against me again. One hand cradled her head, the other pressed over her lower stomach, over her. Over our baby.
“Don’t say sorry. Not for this. Not ever.”
I pulled back just enough to see her eyes. “You’re pregnant,” I said, firm but lovingly. “We’re having a baby?”
