Page 141

My heart is racing.

My hands are trembling.

My stomach twists again, but this time it’s not the nausea. It’s something deeper. Terrifying. Sacred.

I swallow hard and look up at Thalia. She’s leaning against the doorframe, one eyebrow raised, calm as ever—like she didn’t just drop a bomb in the middle of my universe.

“I can’t… I can’t be pregnant,” I whisper, my voice hoarse.

“Why not?” she asks softly, stepping closer now, her teasing gone.

I can’t answer. Because I don’t know. Because I do know. Because everything inside me is chaos.

I lower my gaze, suddenly hyper-aware of every cell in my body, every breath I take. My fingers clutch the edge of the sink. My eyes burn.

I take the first test out of the box, hands shaking. I feel Thalia sit on the edge of the bathtub behind me. Silent support. No pressure. Just presence.

Five minutes later, the five pregnancy tests are now lined up on the edge of the sink. Perfectly aligned, like soldiers standing guard over a truth that could shatter—or remake—my entire world.

But I don’t look at them.

I can’t.

My back slides slowly down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor, knees drawn to my chest, arms wrapped tightly around them like I might fall apart otherwise.

My chest rises and falls in shallow, erratic breaths. It feels like my lungs forgot how to work. My hands are trembling, but I clench them tightly in my lap and squeeze my eyes shut.

One tear escapes. Just one.

I don’t know if it’s fear, shock, joy—or all three crashing together inside me. Because—in the middle of this dizzying, terrifying moment—I love him. I love Nick. And if those five tests say what I think they say… Then everything is about to change.

But I want to know with him. I want him beside me when the world tilts on its axis. When everything becomes new.

“I don’t want to look.” My voice cracks. “I’m not ready to know.” I cover my mouth with both hands.

Thalia stands and comes over, kneeling in front of me, placing both hands on my shoulders.

“Then don’t look yet,” she says gently. “Wait for him.”

I nod. A tear rolling down my cheek. “Yeah… I’ll look with Nick.”

What if I am?

What if I’m carrying a part of him?

What if this changes everything?

But what if it’s meant to?

Thalia slides down next to me, linking our arms. She doesn’t speak. She just breathes with me—slow and steady. She’s always known when silence is the most comforting thing of all.

We stay like that for what feels like forever. Until… My phone rings. I jolt at the sound, heart slamming into my ribs. My hand fumbles over the floor tiles until I grab it.

Nick.

I swallow hard and answer, pressing the phone to my ear with a trembling hand.

“Hi, baby.” His voice is soft and warm, like sunshine in my storm.