Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81520 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Any morning sickness or tender breasts?”
“I’m sorry, what?”
She looks at me, confused. “Aren’t you here for your prenatal appointment?” She clicks on the tablet in her hand. “Oh, this is your wellness checkup? I’m so sorry. Your urine test showed a higher than normal level of HCG, only found in pregnancy, so I thought…”
“Wait,” I gasp, my hand going to my stomach. “I’m pregnant?”
“We’ll need to do an ultrasound to confirm. I’m assuming, based on your reaction, you didn’t know?”
“No,” I breathe. “I’m on birth control. I take it every single day.”
“Unfortunately, no contraception is one-hundred-percent effective. When was your last menstrual cycle?”
I think back. I get it every month at the same time. That’s the plus side to being on the pill, but… “Oh my God. I didn’t get it last month. This doesn’t make any sense. I haven’t missed a single pill. I’ve been so busy with the wedding and our honeymoon, I didn’t even think about it when it didn’t show up.”
“Could you have missed some days?”
“No. My alarm goes off to ensure I take it every day at the same time. I know you probably hear that a lot, but I’m telling you, I haven’t missed it.”
“It’s okay, dear.” She pats my leg. “Lie back, and we’ll check things out before we assume anything.”
A few minutes later, a whoosh, whoosh, whoosh comes over the screen. It’s a sound I would recognize anywhere. A baby’s heartbeat.
“Based on the measurements, you’re roughly five weeks pregnant, which is why you might not have experienced any symptoms yet. We’ll say you’re due October twentieth, but that might change. Everything looks good.” She takes some pictures of the tiny little blob and prints them out for me. “Stop taking your birth control immediately, and since you struggle with anemia, I’m going to have you up your iron intake in addition to adding a prenatal vitamin. I’ll send the prescriptions to your pharmacy on file.”
I’m still in shock as I walk out of the doctor’s office, staring at the sonogram pics of the tiny little thing that’s growing in me. A baby… created by Camden and me.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” I blurt when I run straight into another person. My eyes ascend, and I instinctually take a step back. David. Towering over me. I look around for Simon but don’t see him anywhere, and then it hits me: when I checked out, I went out a different door. I was so wrapped up in the news that I forgot he was with me.
“What are you doing here?” I ask because there’s no way this is a coincidence.
“I knew you had an appointment today. It was on my calendar. When you made it, you added it to our joint calendar.”
“And you just took it upon yourself to show up?” I shriek. “You’re not allowed to be near me. You know—”
“What the fuck is this?” David barks, cutting me off. He snatches the sonogram pictures out of my hand. “You’re…” He glances down at my belly. “How far along are you?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but only five weeks.” I grab the pictures back. “Now go away.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “No. No. No. Fuck!” His face turns red, and I take a step back in fear. We’re on a crowded street, but it doesn’t do anything to make me feel safe.
“This was not supposed to happen! You were supposed to get pregnant by me!” He stalks toward me. “It was supposed to be my baby! Not his! Of course he would take this away from me too. He’s taken everything else! My wife, my son, and now he’s taken my baby.”
“David,” I say slowly, my heart beating erratically in my chest. “This wasn’t supposed to be your baby. We agreed to wait. I was on birth control.” He isn’t making any sense. This was an accident. When David and I were married, he asked me to have another baby, and I told him no repeatedly.
“Yes, it was! I knew once you were pregnant, you’d be okay. Just like you were with Felix. I just had to make it happen, and then you’d be on board.” He now has me backed up against a wall and slams his hand against it in anger. “That baby was supposed to be mine, not his!”
An ice-cold chill flows through my veins at his words. He can’t be saying what I think he’s saying. There’s no way he would… “David, what did you do?”
Before he can answer, he’s ripped away from me by Simon, who shoves David against the wall. “Get away from her, now,” Simon says, menace laced in his tone. “Let’s go, Layla.” He glares my way, and I go with him, feeling bad that I put myself in this situation because I didn’t wait for him.