Chapter 8
“So, you two are finally home, are you?” Angela stated as Dani opened the front door. “We thought you’d run away or been abducted by pirates.”
Dani laughed as the others came in; she closed the door and headed back into the living room, back to her spot beside Luke. She snuggled up against him and rested her head on his chest enjoying the sound of his heart beating underneath her.
“Well, wherever you were I’d say it was certainly good for our Dani,” Wren said with a smile. “Your skin is glowing and so are your eyes.”
“It was wonderful,” she replied as Luke kissed the top of her head.
“Are you going to fill us in or make us wonder?” Joan inquired.
“Dani and I decided to take an impromptu getaway, a second honeymoon of sorts.”
“Just how impromptu?” Tyler questioned.
“To the point of having only the clothes on our backs, it’s a good thing the beach house is in the US, or we’d have been in trouble because though Dani’s purse weighs a ton it doesn’t have our passports in it,” Luke joked revealing their location for the last nineteen, nearly twenty days.
“It’s a very good thing we left plenty of clothes there or Luke would have been broke after taking me shopping.”
“Isn’t most of what you have at the beach house, beachwear? It’s still a bit chilly to go swimming, isn’t it?” Angela questioned.
“But that was the genius in Dani’s suggestion to go there for the weekend, the perfect excuse to snuggle closely in the mornings and evenings to keep us warmer and a nice big fire in the fireplace certainly kept things romantic,” Luke told her looking down at Dani.
“Okay you two I don’t know what’s gotten into you suddenly but cut it out,” Tyler laughed as the others smiled brightly. “We’re all sitting right here with you, and you’ve suddenly gotten way too mushy for my tastes.”
“You know where the door is Tyler; you’re free to leave at any time,” Luke stated. “I’ve finally got my Dani back and I’m not going to let you mess with us.”
“It’s wonderful to see you two smiling for real again,” Joan said sending them her own. “But you might want to be careful, the tabloids might try and stir up some trouble if they see you looking like this.”
“Don’t they always?” Dani asked.
“Ah but seeing the two of you together right now on top of the fact that you all were away for a good nineteen days, they’ll be asking all sorts of questions as to why you’re wearing such big smiles,” Wren cautioned. “We might ask them too.”
“Like if we should beexpectingsome good news in the near future,” Angela added.
Dani’s breath caught but she forced her smile to remain as the knowledge hit her hard.
“Everything okay?” Luke whispered against her hair feeling her tense slightly.
“Later,” she replied not wanting to get into it in front of the others. Somehow, she managed to get through the evening without losing her sanity and she hurried upstairs to the bathroom to check.
“Dani, there you are,” Luke said finding her sitting on the edge of the tub. “Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked kneeling down in front of her. He reached out to take her hands and felt the packet in them. He uncurled her hands and looked at it then back at her. “Dani, what is it?”
“We went straight from the office to the airport Luke. I don’t carry these with me,” she stated looking at the row of missed pills. “I always take them before bed and when I know we’re going somewhere put it in the toiletry case.”
“But we didn’t come back here,” Luke said understanding. “How many did you miss?”
“Fifteen days’ worth, which means I’m four days late.”
“Ah baby, I’m sorry, after everything we’ve been through this isn’t what you need, is it?” he asked wrapping his arms around her.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling right now, shocked, I guess. I mean it doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m…but there’s a chance that I could be and I…” She stopped knowing she was blabbering, but the idea had taken root and wouldn’t let go.
“I can call the doctor’s office and set up an appointment for tomorrow,” Luke offered sliding his hands to the back of her head, holding her gently.
“I think that’d be good but…” she said moving away from his hold. She headed to the cabinet and pulled out the remaining tests from the last time. “This will give us a starting point at the least.”
“Now?”