Page 167 of Tainted

She stood frozen with her arms thrown over her mouth, eyes filled with tears.

“Well, excuse Kenyon for trying to make your day,” Shana smiled with her arms outstretched. Zara was too in shock to move, so Shana had to.

John was the only thing keeping Shana in Autumn Grove. With him gone, nothing was standing in her way of coming home. Thanks to Javier’s connections, I was able to find Shana. She was skeptical about some man showing up claimingZarawas pregnant. Thankfully, Banana Girl helped reassure Shana that I was who I said I was.

“Mom, w-what are you doing here?” Zara’s question came out muffled because Shana was hugging her so tight.

“For my grandbaby, of course.”

Zara’s eyes skirted to me, questioning if this was happening and how.

“We need to head out before we’re late,” I suggested.

Zara picked up on the sarcasm in my comment, and Shana headed for the door to give us a moment.

“Thank you,” she walked over and leaned into my arms.

“I thought you didn’t need me saving you and solving your problems.”

“I don’t,” Zara maintained, causing me to chuckle.

“I guess I know you better than you know yourself ‘cause you need Shana. Let’s ride.” Grabbing her hand, I ushered her out of the door.

The three of us climbed in the car while Shana filled Zara in all the Autumn Grove gossip she’d missed out on. Listening to it, I could see why she wanted to leave. We arrived at the doctor’s office, and they walked hand in hand with me, lagging behind.

Usually, I would've been jealous, but watching the little girl inside of Zara smile was all I needed. Pulling the door open, they walked inside, and Zara headed for the counter while Shana and I sat.

Shana leaned over and whispered, “Zara isn’t the only one nervous,” nodding toward my leg. I didn’t realize I was bouncing.

“Zara is rubbing off on me.”

Shana smirked, “She came out of the womb worrying, it seemed like.”

“I hope she doesn’t give that trait to my baby.”

“I hope not, too.” Shana’s smile hadn’t faltered since I picked her up. Until now, as she shifted toward me, “Thank you. I honestly didn’t think I’d see her again when she left. That’s hard to reconcile as a parent because she’s an adult but forever my baby.” Shana wiped the lone tear sliding down the same heart-shaped face she’d given to Zara. “Thank you for taking care of my baby Kenyon.”

“She’s no easy task, but I tried.”

“Something tells me you’re not either.”

We laughed as Zara walked back over and sat next to me. She slid her hand inside mine and waited until they called her name. We followed the nurse down the hall, and I tried to act like this was just another day, but the truth was, my chest felt tight.

Zara slid onto the exam table, and Shana sat off to the side, close enough to support.

The doctor came in with a clipboard, looking over Zara’s file while introducing herself, “Hi, I’m Dr. Allen. You must be Zara, so who do we have here?”

“This is my boyfriend Kenyon and my mom Shana,” she introduced.

“It’s beautiful to see the baby's support system here. How are you doing today, Mom?” Dr. Allen asked.

“We’re good,” I answered for both of us, though it came out rougher than I intended.

Dr. Allen nodded and went through the routine checks. Blood pressure, weight, the usual. It felt like it took forever toget to the part that mattered—the ultrasound. When Dr. Allen finally got ready, my heart started pounding harder. The gel hit Zara’s stomach, and she flinched a little, but then there was silence as the wand moved over her skin.

And then... there it was. The sound that made everything stop.

“Everything looks good so far. The heartbeat is strong,” she said, moving the wand slightly to get a clearer image. “We’ll keep monitoring, but everything is progressing as it should.”

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