Page 36 of Sniper

“Aurora, surely you can’t be upset if you're pregnant. You have a beautiful spitfire of a daughter, and a husband who adores you, and do you know how I know this despite not meeting him yet?” I wipe away the tears that have started to fall and shake my head. Her smile softens and she murmurs, “Because he calls you or messages several times throughout the day, and he sends you lunch to make sure you eat.” She grips my hands. “If you’re pregnant, then be happy, because you have a beautiful family already, and all you’re doing is adding to it. Your internship won’t change; you’ll have to add time to the end of it while you go on maternity leave, is all.”

I sniffle but nod, before she hugs me tight and whispers, “Everything will be okay, I promise.”

I nod again, squeezing her, while deep inside, I really hope she’s right.

Five hours, that’s how long I’ve had to wait to take a test. Brook offered to give me an ultrasound, but the thought scared me. Instead, I spent hours believing I was not pregnant and had just caught a bug.

Hello, naivety and stupidity….

I take a deep breath, tapping my finger on the yellowish bathroom counter, my eyes looking at the upside-down test, my mind going over and over, his voice whispering, causing my tears to fall again for what feels like a millionth time.

You’re filth….

He won’t want you if you are pregnant….

You’ll get too fat….

You’ll ruin this baby just like you're ruining Autumn….

You should abort it….

A part of me believes the voice is right, my insecurities are pulling at me. I mean, God, it was only yesterday a woman stopped Theo and me in the street and tried to touch him right in front of me while he held our daughter, stating she missed his “big cock” inside of her.

The woman had the gall to ask me to give them space and take the brat—my brat. She’s lucky she didn’t get a broken nose, and when she said she used to screw him and asked who the hell I was….

I shake my head. Her jaw was on the floor when I said I was his wife, but she soon recovered and asked if I’d seen how big his cock was yet, and if I wanted a threesome.

Theo told her to “fuck off.” He said they were never together before telling me she was his brother's high school girlfriend, and had seen him coming out of the shower. He swore they were never intimate, but I think I was most angry about the fact that he had a brother, and I never knew it.

I haven’t even met his parents, for Christ’s sake, and yet we’re married.

So much we don’t even know about each other.

He apologized over and over, when he realized he never brought his brother up, and explained that his brother works abroad. I can’t be mad at him, though, because he doesn’t know I was held captive by a man I thought was a friend, a man who is a cousin to men I thought were family.

He doesn’t know I’m a rape victim, because that’s what I am—no, no, I’m a rape survivor, as Emily puts it.

I survived and fought my way out, making an escape for my daughter and myself….

Blinking away the tears, I take a deep breath and pick the test up with a shaky hand. I turn it over, my eyes going to the two lines showing I’m pregnant.

Oh God….

“Firecracker, we’re home!” I hear Theo shout, and I sob, bringing my hand up, covering my mouth to silence my cries, not ready to see him yet.

“Momma,” I hear Autumn call.

I don’t answer them, my teary, blurry eyes focused on the two lines. I can hear Theo ask Autumn to watch TV for a moment, before his footsteps echo toward the partially open bathroom door.

Theo knocks, opens the door, and asks, concerned, “Rory?”

I sniffle, making eye contact with him in the mirror, and choke on a sob, not able to hide it from him, knowing I’m already keeping so much from him. I bleat, “I’m pregnant.”

His eyes widen for a moment, and then this magical thing happens that deepens my love for him.

The man smiles. He smiles so wide that the dimple on his left cheek pops out.

“You're happy?” I ask with a sob, causing his eyes to soften. He turns me, taking me in his strong arms, and lifts me, placing me on the counter. He steps in between my open legs, one hand cupping my cheek, the other going to my flat belly.

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