Chapter 6 Mia #2
I snort. “Well, this foreman can tell you I’m not pregnant.”
“Right.” Juno draws the word out dramatically. “Because perfectly healthy people always sway every time they stand up and almost puke at the smell of anything.”
“I’m standing just fine.”
Juno just lifts one eyebrow in challenge. I can’t even argue with her. I’ve been lightheaded all morning.
And nauseous.
And grouchy as hell. I was awful this morning. Irritable. Angry. I could have smothered Jensen, which isn’t like me.
She slides onto the stool next to me, folding her hands on the desk. “Are you worried Jensen won’t be cool about it?”
Not even a little. If she knew how much my husband wants this, she wouldn’t ask. He’s been trying to breed me for months.
But I’m not telling Juno my husband has an obsession with filling me full of his cum. She deserves to stay innocent of this.
“He’ll be fine. Over the moon, in fact, but I’m not.” My voice softens. “I can’t be.”
My phone vibrates. I don’t have to look to know it’s a message from my husband. He’s been checking in every thirty minutes since I arrived. I rattled him this morning, which I feel shit about.
Juno gives me a knowing look. “He’s worried?” She doesn’t need to see my phone to know it’s Jensen messaging. She’s worked with me long enough to know our patterns.
“He’s always worried.”
I lift my gaze to the camera nestled in the corner of the ceiling. He’ll be watching me, and I’m not sure I blame him. I’ve been… different.
Juno heads out a while later to grab lunch.
I could go with her, but it would be an event.
Theo would have to clear it with Jensen, and I don’t feel like fending off the judgement I get for walking in with a hulking bodyguard while I’m trying to buy a bagel.
So I stay in the gallery, safely tucked away like a precious piece of jewelry, and wait for Juno to return with food I don’t think I can eat.
Ten minutes later, the bell jingles over the door and I glance up as Juno walks in. She’s smiling when she slides my order onto the counter and then hands me another bag.
I frown, peering inside. There’s a pregnancy test glaring up at me.
I stare at it for a beat. “Juno.”
She shrugs. “You need to know. If you’re not pregnant, you have something gross wrong with you and that needs attention too.”
That’s a good point, but fuck, I don’t want to take this test, but I also want her to stop looking at me like I’m carrying around a secret baby when I’m not.
I rub my temple even as I huff a breath. “Will it stop this conversation?”
“Yup.” She pops the ‘P’.
“Fine.” I slide off my stool, huffing. “But you owe me a coffee tomorrow when this is negative.”
Clutching the bag like it’s contraband, I head into the bathroom.
Despite insisting it’s not possible, my heart is in my throat when I slide the lock into place.
My hands shake as I unwrap the test, even though I know it’s going to be negative.
It takes three attempts to read the instructions and by the time I’ve taken the test, I’m a ball of nerves.
And I don’t know why.
There’s no way I’m pregnant. I bled.
You bled a tiny amount for a day and a half.
I thought I was lucky. That the menstruation gods smiled down at me. But maybe it was a different prayer they were answering.
I scroll my phone while I wait for the test to cook like this isn’t the biggest moment of my life. I read page after page about how my light bleeding might not have been Aunt Flo after all.
Bleeding can happen at any time in pregnancy—implantation bleeding, rough sex, spotting…
Could it have been that? Am I pregnant?
The nausea. Dizziness. Cramps.
It all adds up to one baby-shaped answer.
Fuck. I bite my lip and wait for the clock to count down.
What if it’s positive?
What if it’s not?
I’m both cold and too hot as I wait for the test to do its thing. I don’t know how to feel, don’t know what to think. Everything is jumbled and confused, like I’m standing at the edge of a crossroads.
When I finally turn the test over, my breath hitches.
The screen says clearly one word.
Pregnant.
I stare at it, as if it might disappear. It doesn’t. My lips part on a stunned gasp. I’m having a baby.
Jensen got me pregnant.
I’m going to be a mother.
I blink the tears away, my heart racing, and the nape of my neck is too warm. I don’t know whether I want to laugh or cry. I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel.
Jensen’s going to lose his fucking mind when I tell him. Oh, he’s going to be so happy.
I laugh. It’s not sweet, but hysterical.
We did it.
Worried Theo might come looking for me, I slip the test back into the bag and bury it in the bottom of the trashcan. Then I leave the bathroom.
Juno meets my gaze across the room, the question heavy between us. I give her a small nod, and her eyes flare wide, a grin cracking over her face. I move quickly, closing the space between us before she squeals and Theo realizes something is going on.
“It was positive?” she asks quietly when I’m in front of her.
“Yeah.” I breathe the word. “I’m… Yeah.” I touch my stomach without even meaning to.
“I fucking knew it.” Juno beams. “See, implantation bleeding. I told you. Uteruses are twitchy bitches.”
I laugh, but it’s mixed with a barely contained sob. “I thought it wasn’t possible.”
“I’m so happy for you.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I’m scared,” I admit. “Happy, but I’m scared too.”
I wanted this, but now that it’s real… yeah, I’m freaking the hell out. A baby. Our baby. I’m going to be a mother. What if I’m terrible at it?
Juno picks up her half-eaten bagel and takes a bite. “You’re growing eyes and a spine inside you that you’re going to push out of your vagina in a few months’ time,” she says. “I’d be terrified as well.”
I freeze. My stomach twists into a knot of anxiety. I hadn’t thought about labor or parts of tearing and stretching.
Oh, now I feel sick for a completely different reason.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Really?”
She laughs like she hasn’t just traumatized me. “You got this, mama. But you need to go home. You’ll scare off any potential clients looking like that.”
“Rude.” I snort despite the emotional rollercoaster raging inside me. “But I can’t just leave. I have things to do—time sensitive things.”
“That I can handle.” Juno waves a hand at me. “Go home. Rest—and that does not mean letting your insanely attractive husband fuck you into a coma all night.”
Heat climbs up my neck. She has such a visceral way with words. “You’re lucky we don’t have a HR department,” I mutter. Her grin is brutal.
“Get out of here.”
I feel guilty leaving her. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” She pushes me toward the door. “Go or I’ll drag you home myself.”
I grab my purse and jacket, swallowing the nausea down. “Call me if you need anything.”
“I won’t.”
Of course she won’t.
As I approach Theo, he comes off his stool, his brows drawn together. “Mrs. Rivers?”
“Can you take me home please?”
He eyes me, like he’s expecting to see blood on me. I never leave early. Most of the time, he has to remind me it’s the end of the day. “Of course.”
He helps me into my jacket and then guides me outside. His eyes are everywhere, tracking danger until I’m safely in the back of the car.
I sink into the seat, exhaustion crawling over me like a weighted blanket. I could fall asleep right here, the car humming beneath me, our baby growing inside me.
Our baby.
Shit.
I don’t even care that I’m choking down nausea or that I’m aching.
I let my hand drift to my belly, smiling, because I have to tell my husband that his deranged breeding mission has been successful.