Page 158 of Rule Breakers Fall Hardest

She nods distractedly, biting her lip. After a long moment of silence, she says, “My parents are going to disown me. My inheritance is down the drain.” She puts a protective hand over her flat stomach. “But I can’t… this is my baby.”

My heart squeezes in sympathy for her. “Aw, Bertie. No they’re not.”

“Yeah.” She wets her lips, her eyes pooling with tears. “They are. Something like this—a baby out of wedlock and with a man they’ll hardly see as proper? They’ll be furious. It doesn’t matter that he’s been drafted to the NHL. He won’t be good enough in their eyes. You’ve met them. You know how they are.”

I have met them a few times. They’re your typical stuck-up, rich upper-class people. The kind who look down on everyone else. But surely they wouldn’t be so nasty as to disown their daughter.

My thoughts are interrupted by a light knock on the door.

Bertie sends me a panicked look as the door opens and her doctor steps inside.

“Good morning, Beatrice, how have you been?”

“Pregnant,” she blurts.

I slap a hand over my mouth to stifle my laugh at her deadpan answer and shuffle back to the plastic chair against the wall.

Her doctor’s lips twitch, as if she’s holding back a smile. “Yes, that was in the notes. But more specifically, I want to know how you’ve been feeling.”

“Sick,” she says, her tone bland. “All morning. Sometimes all night. Random smells make me vomit. Sometimes just thinking about what I might possibly be able to eat sends me running to the bathroom.”

“Okay.” Her doctor takes notes, nodding along. “Anything else?”

She shrugs. “Other than the throwing up, I’ve felt fine. I’m a little more tired than normal, but it’s also crunch time at school, so that could be contributing to it.”

More nods. More notes.

The doctor asks a few more questions before she says, “All right, Beatrice, lay back and let’s take a look at your baby.”

Bertie’s eyes widen comically, and a gasp escapes her. “Wait, I’m going to get to see the baby today?”

The doctor gives an amused laugh and stands from her stool. “Since you’re not that far along yet, we have to use the internal ultrasound, but yes, you’ll be able to see the baby today.”

Bertie’s eyes dart toward me. They’re swimming with panic, but the smile that creeps up her face is pure excitement, as if she can’t decide how she should feel.

“Do you want me to go?” I ask, straightening in my seat. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.

“I want you to stay. Please.” She reaches out a hand to me, and I go to her, clutching her hand tightly.

“It might be too early to hear a heartbeat,” the doctor says. “I don’t want you to be worried.”

“Why wouldn’t there be a heartbeat?” Bertie’s eyes shoot from me to the doctor and back again.

“Before ten weeks, it’s not detectable, but…” She pauses and looks at Bertie’s chart again. “Was your last period December twenty-seventh, or is that the conception date?”

“Conception.”

“Okay, then you’re about thirteen weeks.”

“Thirteen weeks!” She blurts. “But that wasn’t thirteen weeks ago.”

The doctor gives a soft laugh. “I know it sounds weird, but we count the weeks from your last period, so basically, we add two weeks.”

“Oh.” Bertie’s cheeks turn a bright shade of red. “I didn’t know that.”

The doctor smiles kindly. “Lots of women don’t. Don’t feel bad. If you’re ready, go on and lie back. Feet in the stirrups.”

Bertie lies back, positioning her feet. Her eyes widen in panic at the sight of the internal wand as the doctorholds it up and explains how it works. Even I’m surprised by the size of the thing.

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