Page 197 of The Broken Aztec Princesses

“Oh, Goddess! He asked if we’re okay and I shut down the mind-link. What do I do?” I grabbed her by the shoulders.

“You’re going to grab a couple of those tests, then you’re going to put on your big girl pants and tell the man you love that you’re going to have a pup together,” she told me.

“Okay,” I answered, breathing deeply.

It’s going to be okay, Violet. Chris loves us,Nenetl assured me.

I know. It’s going to be okay.

“Okay?” Bells asked, eyeing me as if she didn’t believe me.

“Okay,” I repeated.

I stood up, went to the sink and gathered all of the tests. I put them in the bag Bells had been carrying and turned to look back at my sister.

“We’re going to have a pup, and everything is going to be fine,” I said with as much conviction as I could infuse into my voice.

“We’re going to what?” Chris’ voice from the other side of the bathroom startled us both.

Bells walked to the door and swung it open. He was standing in front of the doorway, frozen in shock with his hand up, poised to knock. Adam was standing next to him, holding Chris’ hand and looking confused.

“Um... Adam, let’s go get a snack. Auntie Vi and Uncle Chris need to talk.”

“Okay,” Adam answered, letting go of Chris’ hand and taking Bells’. She turned and mouthed “Good luck,” before she lowered Chris’ still raised hand and gave him a tiny push inside the bathroom.

“What’s going on, Violet?” Chris asked, stepping toward me.

“Umm... so, Bells thought she was pregnant,” I started.

His face visibly relaxed, and I felt bad giving him false hope that everything was fine.

“So, Bells is going to have a pup?” he clarified.

“Yes,” I said, then pulled a test out of the bag in my hand. “But, umm... she asked me to take a test with her, in solidarity.” I swallowed. “And...” I extended my hand out and gave him the test.

“This is hers?” he asked, looking down at the test in his hand still displaying the word “Pregnant” on it.

“No. That one is mine,” I answered.

“You should take another. I’ve heard sometimes they give false positives,” he suggested, making me let out a nervous giggle, and bringing the other eleven tests out of the bag. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” I replied.

Chris walked over to one of the stalls and sat down on the closed toilet lid, looking down at the test in his hand and looking very pale. My heart sank and I started rambling.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Chris. I had the math wrong. The shot stopped working at the end of October, not November, like I thought.”

“You took it at the start of August instead of the end?” he asked, still looking down at the test, his voice unusually monotone.

“You knew?” I asked, suddenly taken aback, but he shook his head, a strand of his dark hair falling out of the rubber band.

“No, but when you told me, I thought that might be why you thought you were covered through November. I should have asked,” he said, finally looking up at me.

The cautious look on his face was making my heart threaten to break.

“I’m so sorry,” was all I could say.

“You’re sorry you’re pregnant?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

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