Page 79 of Possession

“I’m late, Declan. Two weeks.” Tears pricked my eyes but I wouldn’t let them fall. I wouldn’t let him think this was a bad thing.

I felt the heat of his body as he kneeled down next to me again and my eyes opened.

“I thought you couldn’t get pregnant?”

“Pregnant?” Lana gasped and I turned to face her. She handed me the water and the glass shook in my hand.

Declan held it steady for me as I raised it to my lips. The water was a blessing as it poured down my throat. No one spoke as I drank the entirety of the glass and set it on the floor. I’d expected Lana to leave, giving Declan and I some space, but she just stared at me as I kept my eyes to the tile. I was too afraid to look at Declan, too afraid of what I’d see in those eyes.

He lifted my chin with two fingers forcing my attention. The blue color of his irises hadn’t faded, the shadows hadn’t returned, if anything they were illuminated. “I thought you said—”

“We weren’t able to conceive, Declan, and I’d thought it was my fault. He’d said it was my fault.”

“Asshole,” Lana whispered under her breath and Declan’s jaw ticked.

“Lana, I love you but maybe some privacy?” I raised my eyebrows as I looked back at her.

“Oh, my God, I’m sorry. Yes, I’ll… um… be in the kitchen.” She made a move to leave, but an idea lit her features. “Back left corner, under the sink, pregnancy test…” She shrugged her shoulders. “Had a little scare last month, all is well, no fetus for this girl.” She gave me a sideways grin and turned to leave.

Declan’s eyes were on the cabinet, his face flat and unreadable.

“Are you angry?” I asked around the lump in my throat.

He tilted his head to the right and palmed my cheek. “Why would I be angry?”

“You can’t possibly want this, not now, when you—”

“Don’t do that,” he interrupted me, dropped his hand, and stood, leaving me cold without his body heat. I rose and my knees felt weak as I met his hard glare. “I feel like I’m seventeen all over again, and you’re going to tell me—”

“I want this, Declan.” I laced his fingers through mine as I spoke with trembling lips.

“You do?” he asked and his breathing increased.

I nodded.

“You’re not worried, about…” He raised our linked hands and pointed to his head, “My illness?”

“No.” I shook my head and exhaled a shaky breath in an attempt to stave off the tears. My heart felt unburdened as it all finally clicked into place. “I never conceived with Clark, not because I was beyond redemption, but because I wasn’t supposed to. If we’ve been given the chance… if I’m pregnant, I hope the baby is just like you.”

His eyes filled with tears and the muscle in his jaw pulsed as he struggled to speak, “Don’t ever say that, don’t wish for that.”

I released his grip and raised onto my toes, placing my hands on his cheeks. His nostrils flared as he fought back his emotion. “I wish for it, Declan, I do, because then I’d know this child could see it all, see the world just like you.”

He leaned his forehead against mine as a few of his tears wet the flesh of my thumbs.

“I want this, too.” He breathed the words and, as I closed my eyes, I almost felt hope give way to truth.

I pulled back and said, “Should we check?”

He nodded as his lips pulled up at the corners.

He gave me a moment and left the bathroom. I found the test, opened it, and read the information provided. I did exactly as instructed and left the purple and white stick sitting on the back of the toilet. Declan wasn’t pacing the hall like I thought he’d be, he was leaning against the wall, his face without stress, his eyes on mine.

“Three minutes,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his waist, placed my ear to his chest, and listened to his heart. His pulse wasn’t fast, or apprehensive, it was steady and strong.

He set his hand on the small of my back. “Three minutes,” he repeated.

One hundred ninety-five heartbeats later we both entered the bathroom, hand in hand, and smiled at the bold plus sign… at our future.

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