Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135378 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
I take the bag of tests to the bathroom as soon as the dessert plates are cleared. I open several packages and read through all the directions. I set up a pregnancy test assembly line on the counter and then I wait for the first one to show results.
I have my cell phone timer set for a different test, so I do a mental count for the first one. At the last second, I grab the stick off the counter and check the little window.
I tell myself there will be one lonely line. There has to be. There’s no way Silvan got me pregnant so quickly. No way.
Only there are two lines.
My eyes widen, and I grab the next test.
Same result.
My cell phone alarm goes off, and I press stop, then I grab the third test and look, but I already know what it’s going to say.
Pregnant.
I feel as if I’ve swallowed my heart. It beats in my throat, and my head starts buzzing.
I jump when Silvan raps on the door. “Sophie?”
I clear my throat and try to get the hollow, terrified feeling out of my stomach, then I open the door.
His attentive gaze is on me, searching. “Well?”
“I’m pregnant,” I say softly.
His reaction is delayed by about a millisecond, but then he grins and grabs me around the waist, pulling me in and holding me tight. “That’s great fucking news.”
Is it?
I’m still a little unsure.
It still feels surreal, but I wrap my arms around his middle and rest my face on his chest. He feels so strong and reliable, so sure in the face of my uncertainty that some of the dread melts out of me.
“You’re really happy?” I murmur.
“Are you kidding me? I get to have a baby with my favorite person. What’s not to be happy about?”
My heart gives and flutters and more of my doubt falls away. “You don’t think it’s way too soon?”
“Nah, I’d say we’re right on schedule.”
I crack a smile and tip my head back to look up at him. “You’re crazy.”
He smirks. “That’s why you love me.”
I open my mouth to argue, but he catches my protest on his lips and makes me forget what I wanted to say. His hand cradles my face, then slides into my hair. He unleashes all the butterflies and cages up all the doubt, and when we head back to his parents hand in hand, I feel a crazy little burst of excitement.
We’re going to have a baby.
Melanie is overjoyed to find out her baby is having a baby, and Richard assures me I shouldn’t feel bad, that pregnant brides are a Koch family tradition.
I should have known I couldn’t rely on any of them to be sane in this ordeal.
I guess no one has to be the sane one.
I’ll be a Koch soon, and I already have the next generation growing in my womb.
We’re in the car on the way home and I’m fishing around for my lip balm when I come across my case of birth control pills.
“Guess I don’t need to remember to take these anymore.”
Silvan glances over. “Actually, you should probably keep taking those.”
My brow furrows with confusion.
“I had Hugh buy you prenatal vitamins, not birth control.”
My eyes widen.
“Hey, I wanted to make sure you were well-nourished, just in case.”
“Silvan! Those were supposed to stop me from getting pregnant, not prep my womb to be optimal living accommodations. What am I going to do with you?”
His eyes twinkle, and his handsome mouth tugs up in a charming little smirk. “Love me forever?”
I sigh and shake my head. I feel like I should be angrier at him, but I also feel like I probably should have googled it when I opened that case of pills and didn’t see any calendar slots to tell me what day to take which pill like all the birth control I had seen before.
Oh well.
It’s done now, and I do love babies.
An image of a little half me, half Silvan baby wearing a onesie and kicking its adorable little legs and giving me a big, gummy smile fills my mind, and that small burst of excitement from earlier explodes a little. I look over at him.
“You can be excited, Sophie.”
It’s like he can read my mind.
I love that about him.
“We’re so young. This was very irresponsible.”
“I’m very rich. We can hire all the help we need. And look at it this way: we’ll be hot grandparents.”
“Oh my god,” I say, covering my face with my hands but unable to stifle a little smile.
He’s shameless.
But I love that about him, too.
Chapter Forty-two
Silvan
“How could I possibly be expected to get just one?”
Ahead of me, Sophie bends over, giving me a very nice view of her ass as she plays with a pair of gray kittens in a cage. One is lazing in the corner watching while the other stretches up to paw at her finger.