The timer on Payton's phone goes off, and we meet each other’s gaze, neither wanting to look.
"Are you gonna check it?" he asks when I don’t move.
"I'm too scared," I admit. My bottom lip trembles as I move to pick it up.
Payton stands behind me, cupping my shoulders. Holding my breath, I turn it around and find one pink line staring back at me.
Negative.
"Maybe it's a false negative," Payton offers, but my gut tells me otherwise. "Take a couple more just to be sure."
So I do.
I bought them in bulk and dip two more sticks in the pee cup. We wait another few minutes in tense silence.
Stupidly, I get my hopes up, so when I see two more negatives, I chuck them in the trash and walk out.
"Kate," Payton calls as he follows me to the kitchen. "Don't be discouraged. We'll keep tryin’."
I say nothing as I dig around for the vodka. If I'm not pregnant, I might as well drown my sorrows with booze. When I find it, I untwist the cap, then drink straight from the bottle.
"Kate!" Payton grabs my jaw and makes me look up at him. "It's still too soon to know for sure. No drinkin'."
He steals it from my grip and screws the top back on.
"I really thought I'd be pregnant," I whisper sadly, almost feeling foolish for assuming it'd happen so quickly.
He pulls me into his arms, and I cling to his warm embrace. His hard chest muscles press into me, and memories of his sculpted, naked body against mine flood my thoughts. Every inch of him is perfection. I've always thought so, but getting to touch him while inside me is an entirely different experience.
"You will," he promises, pressing a kiss to my temple. "If I have to fuck you every day for a month to make sure of it, I will."
I laugh into his shirt. "Sorry for the hardship."
He pulls back and shoots me a wink. "It'd be my honor."
That evening, we fall into our Monday night routine. Payton brought home baked chicken from the B&B, one of Maize's specialties, and then we settled on the couch.
"So I thought of a cool boy name," he tells me as we bring our dishes into the kitchen.
"What's that?"
"Ezekiel."
I arch a brow. "I can't even spell that."
He snorts. "He probably wouldn't be able to either, then."
"It's a cute name. Do you have any ideas for a girl?"
"I thought of Kaylee the other day. Sounded like a cute little princess name."
Smiling wide, I nod. "It does. Kaylee Jamison. Has a nice ring to it."
"What about a middle name?" he asks, rinsing our plates, then placing them in the dishwasher.
"It might be weird."
"Weirder than Ezekiel?"