Page 105 of Challenged by the Single Dad

Her throat moved on a heavy swallow. “I’m pregnant.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEEN

Thatwasabsolutelynotthe way she wanted to tell him.

She’d only just taken the test—well, several tests—a few hours ago and was still processing things.

Then, he knocked on her door, kissed her, and … her brain shut down and her heart and body took over.

But during her shift, when she started adding up all the changes to how she’d been feeling lately: the fatigue, the sore breasts, the nausea, and not to mention the fact that her period was late, she realized the last time she felt this way, was the last time she was pregnant.

She ran to the Town Center Grocery Store and bought three different tests. Thank god, Jordana was the cashier on the till. She met Chloe’s gaze as she swiped the tests across the scanner and gave her a sympathetic look, but didn’t say anything. She was also very discreet in how she handled the tests, hiding them from the curious glances of the customers behind Chloe in line.

Then, with her heart racing, Chloe peed on the sticks and waited with bated breath.

She had one ovary, one fallopian tube, and a history of not only needing IVF to conceive, but miscarriages. The doctors had basically declared her infertile.

And now she was pregnant.

Staring at Dom, from where she stood on the threshold of the bedroom door, she couldn’t get a read on him. He just sat there in the bed, with the covers draped across his waist, his chiseled abs tight, blue-hazel eyes wide and unblinking.

How long had he been like this?

When the words fled her mouth, time and space paused. Hours? Minutes? Weeks? She glanced down at her belly which was still flat. Okay, well it probably wasn’t weeks or months.

Hesitantly, she crept into the bedroom, located her pajamas, and pulled them on. Then she sat on the edge of the bed. “You, uh … you going to say something?”

His throat bobbed on a swallow, and he finally blinked, then met her gaze. “You’re … you’re pregnant?”

She nodded. “Yeah …”

“B-but how?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Um … I think you know how.”

“Yeah, but … you said you were basically barren.”

“I know. The doctors said so too. It took ages, and all our savings, to conceive Elliott. Then two more rounds of IVF to try for a second, and when I had the ectopic pregnancy that took out an ovary and fallopian tube, the doctors said the likelihood of me conceiving at all were less than five percent.”

His nostrils flared. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or just still in a state of shock. “And it’s … mine?”

She nodded slowly. “I haven’t been with anybody in … a really long time. Not since my divorce. It’s yours.”

Blinking a bunch more, his chest heaved as he tried to calm his breathing. “So … you’re going to keep it?”

Dropping her gaze to the comforter, with a trembling hand, she traced her index finger around the stitching on the pretty, turquoise, paisley quilt. “I’ve learned not to get my hopes up with pregnancies. The chances of this one going to term are low.” She swallowed again and lifted her gaze to his face. “But I am going to keep it. I will see this pregnancy through as long as I can.”

Pain soaked his gaze.

“You don’t have to do anything though if you don’t want to. I’m not asking anything from you if this isn’t what you want. I know it complicates things even more.”

She was about to glance down again, but he surged forward and took her face in his palms, forcing her to look him in the eyes. “You’re not doing anything alone.”

Tears burned the back of her eyes. Oh yeah, another thing that made her wonder if she was pregnant: the roller coaster of emotions. More so than usual. “I know this wasn’t part of your plan when you knocked on my door.” The smile she gave him was her meek attempt at humor, but it fell flat and they both knew it.

Why couldn’t they just rewind thirty minutes. To when he had her on her belly, with his tongue in her ass and his fingers inside her. When everything felt right, and easy, and pain-free in the world.

“I should have told you before we …”

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