Chapter 26 #3
“The additional tests I ordered are purely for informational purposes, to make sure we’ve got all of the bases covered before I prescribe any prenatal vitamins,” the doctor says. “I will need your family history, in the meantime, to scan for any potential genetic anomalies and so on and so forth.”
“I’ll tell you everything you need to know,” I manage.
I can feel both Vivian and Kaleb’s eyes on me, but I cannot bring myself to meet their gazes just yet. The doctor nods slowly. “Something tells me you weren’t expecting to hear this news.”
“No, sir,” I reply.
“How about I give you a few minutes to process, and then I’ll come back and talk to you about your options,” he says.
“But you should know, at first glance, you are perfectly healthy. Some vitamins and minor lifestyle changes might make the pregnancy a lot easier to handle. Perhaps some stress management might be appropriate.”
I lift an eyebrow at Kaleb, as he’s definitely been a source of stress.
“Sure, I’d appreciate a few minutes to wrap my head around this,” I tell the doctor.
“I’ll go back to my rounds, then, and I’ll see you shortly,” he says and walks out. The silence he leaves behind feels heavy.
“I think you should’ve seen this coming,” Vivian says in a low voice, “right?”
“I didn’t even think about it. Everything happened so fast. It was so intense. I forgot to keep track of my period, too—”
“Dammit, I’m going to kill them,” Kaleb mutters.
“You will do no such thing!” I snap. “I’m dealing with enough as it is, Kaleb!”
He shakes his head and gets up from his seat. “They’re responsible for this, too!”
“It takes two to make a baby.”
“Which of the three is part of that two?” he asks, hands on his hips as he glares.
I blink a few times, genuinely confused, while my cheeks warm with a mixture of shame and amusement. “I’m not quite sure.”
Vivian can’t help but burst out laughing while I stare in befuddlement, and Kaleb just watches, his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Are you serious?” Kaleb growls.
Vivian isn’t intimidated. “Take it down a notch, Reverend Redford.” She raises a hand to shut him up. “I get it. You’re the traditional type. The do-right-by-the-lady type. The marriage-is-between-one-man-and-one-woman type—”
“I’m not a prude!”
“You draw the line at one woman with three strapping gentlemen, though,” she says. “But one guy and three women? That’s like 70 percent of internet porn searches right there. I wonder what we’d find in your phone if we looked hard enough?”
Kaleb’s face turns bright red. “Vivian, that’s not the same thing—"
“No, I think I’m hitting the nail on the head so hard you can’t take the truth,” she says. “Kaleb, it’s Raina’s life. It’s her body, her happiness. And right now, she’s dealing with something she wasn’t entirely prepared for and needs support, not lectures and misogynistic bullshit.”
Kaleb shoves his hands in his jeans pockets and looks at his boots.
“I need you,” I tell my brother. “I don’t need you to reprimand me or to drive across town to start another brawl with them. Right now, I need you to give me some space, some time to just think and figure this out.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t want you anywhere near them, Raina.”
“That’s going to be hard,” Vivian chuckles dryly. “One of them is the father. They have legal rights here, not to mention, that’s not what Raina wants, and it’s her decision, not yours.”
I point a finger at Kaleb again. “You have to make peace with them. We need to just cool our heels and talk about this like adults.”
Again, he shakes his head and walks out of the room, leaving me with a nervous shudder while Vivian steps closer to me in support.
I don’t know what to do with any of this.
It’s all happening at once and at a speed that feels unmanageable.
I’m pregnant, and I walked away from the men who made me feel like I was the queen of the world—the men who claimed me, wrecked me in the best way possible, then rebuilt me into the woman I am today.
“Raina, you’re going to pull through this one way or another,” Vivian says. “It has to be confusing and scary for you right now—”
“It is,” I say, interrupting her and bursting into tears.
“Because I don’t even know if I should tell them.
How will they react? They didn’t ask for this.
Neither did I. And I left, Vivian. I left just as they promised they’d be there for me, that they wanted to make this happen.
All because I couldn’t bear disappointing my brother. ”
She frowns slightly. “Kaleb isn’t the master of your destiny, though.”
“No, but our whole lives, we’ve had each other to rely on. I owe him so much.”
“You don’t owe him your happiness or the rest of your life. That’s yours to do with as you please, and I know you’re not the type to throw it all away on a whim,” she says. “I know I was hesitant about it at first, but I can tell that what you and the guys have is worth exploring, I think.”
I sigh. “I just don’t know if a baby will change any of that.”
“Then what are you going to do?”
“Right now? I’m just going to sit here and take a deep breath and wait for the doctor to come back so I can hear all my options and figure out a way forward.”
Vivian reaches forward and hugs me. I welcome the warmth of her embrace, the sweetness of her affection, and I rest my head on her shoulder for a moment.
“And I’ll go out there and smack some sense into your brother,” she says when she pulls back.
“Yes, please, stop him from doing something worse.” I almost laugh between my tears. “And please keep this between us for now. I don’t want anyone else to know.”
She nods and goes after Kaleb while I listen to the sound of her heels clicking until they become faint echoes somewhere in the distance. By the time it’s quiet again, an emptiness comes over me.
I know I have Vivian and that my brother will eventually come around. But I have never felt more alone.
And the uncertainty of it all scares me the most.