“Well, I think the feeling was mutual,” Hue said under his breath and leaned back on the couch.
“She thinks she’s so great because she’s a nurse. Just a nurse.” Krystal’s back was up. Her attempt at college had lasted a year and had just put them into debt for nothing.
“Stop it, Krystal. I want to talk to you for a moment. Do you know what was wrong with me during the fertility stuff?” Hue asked, rubbing his eyes with his fingers, hating talking to her about this. She had always been defensive about the issue.
Krystal huffed into the phone. “I don’t remember, Hue. But I would definitely check that baby she is claiming is yours. Because it’s not.”
“Do you have any records or something that might say?” he asked, trying to get her back on task.
“I don’t keep things about you. I’m married to someone else. Someone without so many issues and weird friends.” She didn’t let up for a moment.
“Did you have to go through fertility treatments for your baby?”
“Of course, Hue. But I was not the problem. That was always you.”
Hue hung up on her, tired of talking to her. How had he been married to her for so long?
What she told him said everything. It was her. If it had been him, she wouldn’t have had to go through fertility treatments with the new guy. She had lied and said it was him for years. And he had just bought it, trusting his wife would tell him the truth.
And now he had to tell Amanda that not only had his wife lied to him, but that he had believed it without ever checking. And they had been having unprotected sex for a month now. Would the news send her into a depression? Was Noah enough to keep her from that?
When was he going to tell her? How was he going to tell her?
Now suddenly, he was the one who didn’t want to talk.
CHAPTER26
Amanda sat staringat the two lines in front of her. What did it mean? Well, she knew what it meant. It meant she was pregnant. But how was she pregnant? Well, she knew how it happened. She could even tell you how good it was when it happened. Though a date wasn’t so readily available, it was always good.
What she didn’t know was how it happened? How she was pregnant? The only man she had been with was Hue, and Hue couldn’t get her pregnant.
Maybe it was residual hormones that tricked the test. Noah was two months old now, but maybe the residual could still be there. It made perfect sense—if she didn’t already know she was grasping at straws that didn’t exist.
She threw the test in the trash and covered it with a dozen tissues, then added a dozen more for good measure. There was no way she was pregnant. She had only taken the test because she felt queasy two mornings in a row. Her period had not shown up, but she had a baby not that long ago. It happens.
Hue was never going to believe she was having his baby. Never. But how long could she hide it? Maybe she could sneak away one day and get tested at the clinic. Since she had been gone, there had been another nurse practitioner working there. Or maybe she should go see David.
But Hue was off for almost another two weeks still. She wanted to know before that. And she wanted to know for sure before she told Hue. Because if she told him, and he believed it was true and it ended up not being true, he would be devastated. So, she had to hide it for a bit.
And, of course, today was a Tuesday. A dreaded Tuesday. Always a Tuesday. She really couldn’t think on Tuesdays.
Getting up from the toilet seat she had been sitting on, she calmly brushed her teeth. A normal, everyday thing to do for a woman who had a two-month-old baby… and was pregnant with her lover’s baby, a lover who couldn’t have children. Dropping the toothbrush in the sink, she rushed to the toilet and threw up. Three days in a row now.
When she was done, she sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, head back, eyes closed. What was she going to do? This was as bad as the last time. And see how that turned out. Okay, okay, she ended that one with a baby and a lover, but could she get that again in the end? Not a chance.
She needed to call someone, anyone. Well, not anyone. Her mom was not getting the call. But who? It was midmorning on a Tuesday, so who wasn’t working? Everyone was working! She knew she could call any of them, and they would be here in an instant, but Hue was here. It was hard to hide this from Hue when everyone was there talking about it.
Okay. Plan, Amanda, she demanded of herself.Plan.Ruth had her appointments on Tuesday. Maybe Ruth didn’t want to see the new guy, she wanted to see Amanda. That might work. But no, she couldn’t go to the clinic and see Ruth; she needed to see Ruth in her office. Ruth’s office across the road. Ruth went to David now, but she wanted to talk to me in person. Plan set.
Scrambling off the floor, Amanda quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face. Out in the main room of her apartment, Hue was watching TV, holding their sleeping son. Perfect. Not just the adorableness of the two, but that Hue was busy, and baby was sleeping.
“I just got a call from Ruth. She wants to talk to me. Do you think you can watch the baby for a few minutes?” she said in a rush as she walked across the apartment, trying to act perfectly normal. “Of course, you can watch him, you’re his dad. Can I go?”
Hue looked over at her in confusion. “Sure.”
“Thanks.” She headed for the door. He bought it!
“Nordskov?” Hue questioned her, and her heart soared at the nickname. It was back. Just in time for this.