Page 59 of The Broken Queen

Two words.

All it took was two words to turn my world upside down.

My breath caught. A million thoughts entered my mind. I’d always wanted to have a baby, but I was scared to bring one into this world.

Things between Slade and I were good. Really good.

Being pregnant could change that.

“Are you okay, My Queen?” The doctor, Shelby was her name, asked me.

Was I okay? I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I couldn’t tell if I was happy or scared. My heart was racing, my pulse was so loud I could hear it, and my fingers started tapping against my knee. I was slowly losing my mind.

Everything would be okay. Wouldn’t it?

Father would be a grandfather. That was a scary thought. He couldn’t even be a parent, let alone a grandparent to someone.

Slade...he would make a great father. There was no doubt about that, but how would he react? Could we handle raising a baby in this world?

Mother...she was gone. She wouldn’t get the opportunity to become a grandparent. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I think that was the part that hurt the most. Not being able to have her here, to help me navigate this new world of becoming a mom.

I met the gaze of my doctor. She was pretty. Mid thirties, blue eyes, blonde hair. Normal. She was someone who could be a mom.

I wasn’t sure if I could.

I continued to sit there, not saying a word. My mind was a jumbled mess and Shelby realized quickly that I would need support. I sat in the room, listening to those two words running in my mind when the door opened and in popped the man of the hour.

“Hey, you okay?” My shoulders relaxed a little, but they were still tight. Now that he was here I really had to tell him. I couldn’t ignore it like I wanted to. “I got an interesting call telling me to come here.”

I folded my hands in my lap and twiddled my thumbs. He came to sit beside me and a whiff of his cologne hit my nose. That should’ve relaxed me, but it didn’t.

I looked at my hands as if they were the most interesting thing in the room. He was going to kill me. He was going to kill me. How did I do this? How did we get here?

“Rav,” he took one of my hands in his. “I need to know you’re okay.”

My stupid, traitorous heart fell right into his trap. I took a deep breath, “I’m pregnant.”

Pause.

Pause.

Another pause.

More silence.

Here I thought I was crazy for thinking he would freak out. Or maybe it’s just me freaking out. Either way his silence was killing me.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he squeezed my hand. “A little sooner than we expected.” A chuckle escaped his lips, but they turned into a wicked grin. “I guess you’ll be sporting a baby bump at our wedding. You’ll be a beautiful bride and Mama to be. Couldn’t be happier to do this life thing with you.”

He placed his lips on mine and my body relaxed.

I was never a bride to be. Julianna came before we could go through with our wedding, and then after that it was chaos. A good kind of chaos, before everything changed for the worse.

My mind drifted to that night, when the cops came for Slade. I wondered if he would ever truly forgive me for that, or if I was doomed to be punished forever.

Crack.

I froze when I heard something off in the distance. I didn’t see anything, but it was dark out, only the moon shining through the trees. I was crazy, fucking crazy. I had lost my mind thinking I could be out here by myself.

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