Chapter 1
~Elle~
“I can’t believe this…oh God! This can't be happening.” Grabbing up the discarded package again to make sure that this was not a mistake.
The flickering ceiling lights in this dingy motel bathroom illuminates the white and blue stick that’s resting on the bathroom counter. My vision blurs when I look at the two blue lines indicating that I was—pregnant.
Heart racing, my knees going weak, I lower myself to the bathroom floor sobbing uncontrollably. After all the upheaval, fear and despair, I thought that my missed period was due to stress.
I should have known better. Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any more complicated, this happens. Now it’s not just me surviving in this broken world—there’s a tiny being who will depend on me. Someone who never asked to be here, yet now defines everything.
After all the chaos and uncertainty of my upbringing, I didn’t want to bring a child into the instability that is now my world. A month ago, news of a pregnancy would have added to my happiness.
We had our future mapped out—but then he betrayed me. I should have known that he didn’t really want someone like me. Someone who was discarded by the very same people who were supposed to love and care for me.
Going from one foster home to another. Finally, finding someone to belong to. I should have known that it wouldn’t last. Nobody stays for long. Not any of my foster parents. And now, not even him.
The humming of the bathroom vent lulls me to sleep. I’m startled awake by the slamming of a door in the apartment adjacent to mine.
Getting up slowly, as my limbs are stiff from dozing off on the floor, I move back into the bedroom. My hands unconsciously resting over my flat abdomen.
“You will never feel unwanted the way I did. I’ll love you, protect you, and take care of you.” But he can’t know. If he does, he’ll drag me back into his world—not out of love, but out of control.