I grab her hand and haul her toward the door. “Let me take you to a different hospital. I don’t think this one is doing its job.”
She laughs and tugs me back, waving Layla off.
The door latch snicks close as the bodyguard leaves us alone. Abigail takes my hand and raises it to her mouth, pressing a kiss to my palms. “I’m pregnant.”
I stumble backward. The backs of my legs hit the metal frame of the bed and my ass hits the mattress. “What did you just say?”
“I didn’t believe it either when the doctor told me. I made them test me twice. But it’s true. I’m pregnant.” She sings the last word, a happy trilling sound.
I’m dumbfounded—literally shocked into silence.
“Wow? Aren’t you happy?” she says, her bright smile growing dim. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. She bursts out in tears.
That gets my ass up. I leap to my feet and drag her into my arms. “Don’t cry baby. Don’t cry. I’m so happy.”
“I know you are,” she blubbers, “but I can’t seem to get my emotions under control. One moment I’m laughing and the next time crying. Can you believe it? Con, we are going to be parents.”
“No. I can’t believe it.” I keep rubbing her back as she sobs into my chest. We’re gonna have a baby. The magnitude starts to sink in and I realize that I have to tell her about her brother. We need to start new. Our future cannot be tainted by our past.
“Baby, there’s something I’ve got to tell you.”
She pulls back and gazes up expectantly. “What is it?”
“About Te—“
“Mr. Weathers has arrived! So good to see you again.” Dr Gupta strolls in with a tablet in her hands. “I brought the test results as I suspected you wouldn’t believe your wife or me without visual evidence.”
“You know me so well.” I take the tablet from her and read over the lab report. “You sure it’s not a false positive?”
“We’ve been doing this a long time,” Dr Gupta drawls. She snatches the tablet back and sticks it under her arm. “I’m sure it’s positive. Now let’s talk about some precautions you should take. This is the 20th century. We don’t require any bedrest. All we recommend is that you eat healthy, avoid excessive caffeine, alcohol, or raw fish. You will want to get prenatal vitamins right away. You can continue to exercise but everything in moderation. I also recommend keeping your stress levels low. As much as you can,” she directs toward me, “you wanna pamper the mother. I know that’s not going to be a problem for you.”
My plans to come clean about Abigail’s brother are tossed out the window. It’s taken Abigail so long to get pregnant. The type of emotional upheaval that could happen because of this longtime secret I’ve kept could destroy her emotional well-being. I can’t risk it.
“Say no more, Doc. Everything will be smooth sailing for Abigail.”
“Oh, I wish you hadn’t said that, Doctor Gupta. He’s going to be unbearable now. I’ll be lucky if I get to walk outside.”
“You can walk outside,” I protest, “but with someone in front of you with a broom or something.” I can’t have her tripping over a stray rock.
Dr Gupta guffaws. “I’ll leave you two to work that out between yourselves. You’re discharged, young lady. Don’t forget to stop and get your vitamins. And enjoy your pregnancy. It’s a wonderful time.”
“Come on.” Abigail tugs at my arm.
“Where we going?”
“Shopping, of course. We need baby things. We need a nursery. We need clothes. We need decorations.” Abigail throws her arms up in the air and twirls around.
I look around the room to make sure she’s not going to bump into anything. That’s my whole role from now until the baby comes—making sure that there are no bumps in Abigail’s road. None at all.
Chapter 20
Abigail
“I think I might have gone overboard.” I bite my lip as I stare at the explosion that is our living room. Boxes are strewn all over the place. It’s not my fault that they make so many cute things for babies. It’s hard not to buy them.
“I agree.” Con swipes me off my feet before sitting me down on the sofa. “You shouldn’t be on your feet this much.” I roll my eyes. I thought he was protective before, but the news of having a baby has made him even more so.
“I meant with how much I bought.”
“I’ll get us a bigger place.”
“No. I love it here. For now at least.” One day we might move out of the city. For the time being I find comfort in so many things being close. Con’s mom for one. When it comes to little ones I don’t have much experience. I’ll be looking to her for guidance. I mean she raised Con, and he’s perfect, so she must know what she’s doing.