Kat sat on the corner of the bed by Wes’s side, waiting the allotted amount of time for the stick to tell her if she was pregnant or not. He’d handled it better than she’d given him credit for, because he was still here. If she could run away from this, would she have stayed?
A baby was a blessing, but not for them. They’d be using walkers by the time the kid reached college.
“Whatever the answer, we’ll handle this together,” Wes said, but she’d been an attorney long enough to know when someone held back the truth. And the truth was, he was as frightened as she was to face this.
The timer on her phone sounded, so she shut it off but didn’t move.
“You want me to go check?” Wes offered, the same way he always offered to handle everything, but she had never needed a man to save her. She wasn’t going to start now.
“No.” She turned sideways to face him. “This could change everything between us, and I want you to listen to me.”
“I’m not—”
“Leaving, yes, I know. You’re saying the right things and doing the right things, but I can see that you’re struggling as much as I am. I want you to know that the door’s open and I won’t resent you for leaving through it. You have plans, big plans, and this could take them from you. I know I’ve pushed you away and thought I never wanted to get married and that I never wanted kids, but here we are. You’re not tied to me legally. You can go.”
“I should’ve known. Only a lawyer would think of it in legal terms,” Wes teased, but he did that when he was nervous. “Give me a chance here. I need to catch up to where you’re at. I just found out, so I’m still processing.”
Kat wanted to fall into his arms and get lost in his love forever, but it wasn’t an option to do that anymore.
“I’m staying, so go look at that test before I do.” Wes’s leg shook with nervous energy the way her insides shook with fear.
“Fine, but once we look, there’s no going back. We can’t deny the truth, whatever that may be.”
“I was a lawyer too, so we can argue the legalities of custody and marriage later. But for now, let’s figure out what we’re facing.” Wes pointed to the door. “Now go.”
Kat walked into the bathroom and remembered how Wes had held her hair as she was sick, the tender touch when he dabbed at her face with a cloth, the soft kisses and concerned looks. He was a good man. And if she ever wanted to have a baby, it would be with Wes. But she didn’t, so she closed her eyes and lifted the stick, willing it to be negative.
After three deep breaths, she knew Wes was right. Not knowing was worse than facing it, so she opened her eyes to see, but there were no lines in the result window. It wasn’t positive or negative. “What?” she shrieked.
Wes flew into the bathroom and took her into his arms. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m not pregnant.”
He slid from her arms with the biggest smile on his face, the relief flooding color back into his skin. “What a relief.”
“I mean…I don’t know. The darn test shows inconclusive.” Kat threw it into the sink and paced the floor. “This is ridiculous. Maybe I’ve hit menopause. Lord knows I’m old enough. Okay, maybe a little young for it, but some of my friends have hit it in their late forties and early fifties.”
Wes retrieved the darn stick and analyzed it like her Harvard law degree didn’t equip her to read a home pregnancy test. “It’s inconclusive.”
“Why don’t men believe a woman when she says something? They always have to check the results for themselves.” Kat rubbed her aching forehead. “Sorry. I’m tired, and I’m queasy, and I’m confused.”
Wes guided her back to the bed. “Lie down and get some rest. I’ll go get another pregnancy test, and we can try again.”
“No, I’ll make an appointment to see Jewels’s ob-gyn. I’m not going through this again.” Kat grabbed her phone and texted Jewels for the number. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening.
Once she went back and forth with Jewels, explaining the results, she finally sent the number. Why did everyone question her ability to read a darn stick with lines? She called the doctor’s office and spoke to the receptionist.
“She has a new patient appointment in six weeks.”
“Six weeks?” Kat shrilled, forgetting all her courtroom training. “I’m a fifty-year-old woman who hasn’t been able to keep anything down for over a week. I can barely stand up, and my head is killing me.”
“Hold please.”
Kat held the phone away from her ear. “Elevator music, really? I might have to reach through this phone and make my own appointment.”
Wes looked at her with a crooked smile.
“What?”
“I forgot how breathtaking you can be. You know I used to slip into the courtroom to watch you during a trial?”
“You did?”
“Yep. The first time I saw you argue a case, I knew I loved you. You’re the most powerful woman I’ve ever known.”
“I miss her.” Kat sighed. “I don’t like feeling weak.”
“Hello, Ms. Stein. Dr. Ryland can see you at two p.m.”
“Thank you.” After giving insurance information and answering a bazillion questions, Kat finally hung up the phone and fell back, her eyes barely able to remain open. “I need to take a nap. Make sure I’m awake by noon.”
Wes tucked the covers up to her chin. “Don’t worry. Just rest. I’ve got you.”
She was in and out of sleep and heard him pacing the hallway and looking in on her every five minutes, but she didn’t have the energy to speak to him. If she wasn’t pregnant, something really had to be wrong. She covered her stomach with her hand, and a strange sensation came over her, a warmth from deep inside, a connection she couldn’t explain. At that moment, she knew that if she was pregnant, she would do everything to be a better mother than her own. No nannies, no caregivers—she’d raise the baby without a nanny or Wes. She was strong. Strong enough to be a single mother. She’d won impossible cases against the top lawyers in the nation. How hard could single parenthood be?