Page 163 of Twilight Sins

“The baby has to come out at some point, so that won’t be necessary.” I nervously twirl my hair around my finger. “I believe you both. But why is there a doctor here?”

Mariya winces. “Okay, so I may have mentioned to my brother that you’ve been getting sick, but it was only because?—”

“Mariya!” I throw a couch cushion at her.

She catches it and holds it up like a shield. “It was only because he’s been hiding in his office and being a jerk!”

“So you decided to tell him I’m pregnant?!”

“I didn’t! But you will if you don’t be quiet,” she hisses. “I thought he should have some idea of what’s going on with you. But I said you were sick with anxiety. I thought he’d bring you some candy and make you a coffee.”

The days of Yakov leaving me gifts and cooking for me are long over. That doesn’t mean the reminder doesn’t sting.

I narrow my eyes at her.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she protests. “Yakov doesn’t know anything.”

“He will now!” I hiss. “The doctor is going to tell him everything the second he leaves here!”

Mariya’s face falls. “I’m sorry, Luna. I wanted Yakov to come out of his stupid office and… Maybe I can tell the doctor to leave.”

“And what do you think your brother will do if I refuse to see the doctor he called to the house?”

She grimaces. “He’ll throw you over his shoulder and carry you to the hospital.”

“That wouldn’t be good for the baby,” Hope points out.

It wouldn’t be good for my relationship with Yakov, either. I have no idea what he’ll do when he finds out I’m pregnant, but actively lying to him about it isn’t a good solution, either.

I stand up. Nausea rolls through me as I brush the cookie crumbs from my sweats. “I haven’t eaten anything in two days aside from cookies, so I should probably talk to a doctor about that, anyway.”

“Maybe this is all for the best,” Mariya says hopefully.

“Yeah.” I give her a tight smile. “Maybe.”

Dr. Mathers presses gently on my stomach, but it still makes me want to hurl.

“Are you doing okay?” he asks softly.

I have no idea what I expected when Hope said there was a doctor at the door. Actually, that’s a lie. I expected a grouchy old man with a black bag and metal tools that could double as torture devices. But Dr. Mathers isn’t that at all. He is young and soft-spoken.

I planned to try and keep my pregnancy a secret from him as long as possible, but as soon as we were in the room alone together, his kind eyes dragged the truth right out of me.

“I’m okay,” I say. “Just nauseous.”

“You said you’ve been experiencing morning sickness?”

“Morning sickness, afternoon sickness, middle-of-the-night sickness. I’ve got all of it.”

He chuckles. “It’s a bit of a misnomer. Nausea can strike at any time of day. Or, in your case, all day.”

“Lucky me.”

“I’ll leave you with some B6 supplements. That can help take the edge off the nausea. If you’re still not able to keep anything down, we can try a prescription.” He slides his hands from hip bone to hip bone, kneading. “It’s not an exact science, but based on the size of your uterus, you’re measuring right around six to seven weeks along.”

I roll back the weeks in my head. “But we didn’t…”

We didn’t know each other six weeks ago.

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