Page 46 of Not My Finest Hour

“Will you please speak? I have to know what’s going through your mind,” he says, fisting his hair in anguish.

I take a deep breath again. “I noticed earlier in the week that it’s been a while since my last period.” A beat passes between us, and I gather up the courage to say the next part. “I took a pregnancy test yesterday and two this morning, and they were all positive.” I stop talking and let my words settle around the room.

He’s quiet for a moment and a grin plays on his lips. “That’s it?”

“What do you mean, ‘that’s it?’”

“I thought you were bringing me back here to break up with me,” he says with a chuckle.

“I think my news is pretty serious, don’t you?” I’m so confused by his reaction,Idon’t know how to react.

“Yeah, of course it’s serious. But your news is way better than what I thought. Can I see one of the tests?”

I nod, then head into the bathroom to retrieve one of them from the counter where I left them. He takes it from me, and looks at it with a smile on his face, then sets it down next to him.

“But you said not that long ago that you want kids someday, just not yet. And I know you’re busy with your residency, and your eventual job will be time-consuming, so if you don’t want to be involved in this child’s life, you don’t have to,” I say, pacing back and forth yet again. “I can move back in with my parents because Fern is probably going to want Brett to move in here soon anyway. My mom can help watch the baby so I can work and earn money to help raise this child. It’s not ideal, but I could make it work, and you could always come visit on the weekends if you’d like.”

He's struggling to keep a straight face. “Can I speak now?”

“Okay,” I say with a noncommittal shrug, and sit back down next to him.

“I know what I said, but now that we’re faced with this new reality, my line of thinking needs to change. Sure, it’s not when I would’ve planned it, but I guess I need to think of it like your mom. There’s no perfect time to have kids, and you don’t always get to choose when it happens.” He takes my hands in his. “We’re going to be parents. I get to deliver babies for a living, but soon I’ll get to deliver one of my own.” His eyes have taken on a glossy sheen.

This certainly isn’t the reaction I was expecting, and I can’t help the tears that well up in my eyes. “But what about your job? What about mine?”

“We’ll make it work.”

“But what about all the things I’ve never done? I’ve never backpacked, or even camped for that matter. What kind of Washingtonian has never been camping?” He shrugs in response. “I’ve never seen the Great Wall or the Great Lakes. I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon. Hell, I’ve never been gambling in Vegas.”

“I’ve never done any of those things either. Well, except the camping. I have done that.”

“See what I mean?” I say, my brows shooting up.

He brings my hands to his lips and kisses the tops of them. “It’s not a death sentence. It’s just a child—our child. And I want to be there with you every step of the way.”

“You mean it?”

“Absolutely. And we have the added bonus of already having a house to raise the child in.”

“Are you saying you want me to move in with you?”

“Eventually, yes. But I’d like to renovate it first.”

“You mean you’re not upset?”

“Absolutely not. We get to be parents,” he says, giving my hands a gentle squeeze. “And we’re going to do this together. In the meantime, we can work to cross some things off your list. We can go camping if you’d like. We can go to Vegas for a weekend. The Great Wall might be a little hard to get to, but at some point in our lives we might be able to take a trip there.”

“Vegas has never interested me, and I’m guessing that camping might be overrated,” I say with a chuckle. “But I would like to go on a weekend getaway with you. But it has to be somewhere that has hot water. I can’t live without a hot shower.”

“Fair enough. We’ll make plans to do whatever you’d like.”

“You really mean it? You’re not scared or freaked out at the thought of becoming a parent?” He can’t be this cool with the whole thing, not after I fretted all damn day over it.

“Of course I’m scared and worried. But I think that’s normal.” Seconds pass, and when I don’t say anything, Justin looks at me, a puzzled expression on his face. “What? What’s on your mind?”

“I’d like to go have that ice cream now.”

A booming laugh escapes his lips. “Then let’s head to the kitchen. I don’t want to deprive you of your ice cream.”

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