Page 44 of The Prince's Castaway Baby

The symptoms I’ve been having would kind of make sense, though.

My hands start to shake.

“Billie? Are you all right?” Ella calls again, but my head is rushing too much to be able to answer. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah,” I say weakly.

At once, Ella opens the door. She rushes over to me and crouches down beside me on the floor, stroking my hair. “Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

“It wasn’t a desert island,” I say softly, closing my eyes and seeing the luscious green of Mostaza in my imagination. “I had company, remember?”

“What?” asks Ella, but then her face drains of all color as she puts two and two together. “No way. Prince Jensen and you… You and him…”

“Well, thanks a lot,” I scoff, trying to wiggle out of the conversation. “Do you think I’m not good enough for him or something?”

She shakes her head apologetically. “Oh, God, no. I didn’t mean it like that. He’d be lucky to have you. But you looked so angry in the photos. You told me he was a jerk! How did this happen?”

“It was just one stupid night,” I groan. “One really stupid, really,reallygood night.”

“Uh-huh,” hums Ella, raising both eyebrows playfully.

I roll my eyes and sit back on my heels. “It wasn’t like that at all. I didn’t even know who he was. He lied to me. He pretended he was just some guy from some foreign country, and I guess I let myself get swept up in it all. It was my own stupid fault for being so out of touch. It was stupid — and I guess I must have forgotten to take the pill that morning or something… I don’t know.”

“That’s not how birth control works, sweetie,” says Ella gently, squeezing my shoulder.

“I know,” I whisper. “But I just can’t think of any other explanation.”

“Well, we don’t know yet for sure,” coos Ella in her very best situation-defusing voice.

But it’s too late because I’ve already started spiraling. “What am I going to tell my mom?” I choke, trying not to burst into tears.

A blind panic starts gnawing away inside my chest. I can’t breathe anymore. My rib cage is tight like it’s being squeezed. My throat is closing up like a hand is around it. My heart pounds. My palms sweat. I think I’m going to vomit again.

Ella keeps stroking my shoulders, massaging them to stop me having a breakdown. “Hey, look at me. Deep breaths. We don’t know anything for certain yet, so we’ll just stay calm until we do, okay?”

I nod, looking into her eyes to anchor myself back to reality.

“Let’s get some facts before we panic,” she says. “Most likely, this is a weird blip, and you can wait until you’re married to have kids, just like you always wanted. And if not?—”

“If not then I’m gonna be a single mother to a prince’s child,” I sob, crumpling into her arms.

She holds me for a while, then says, “Okay, let’s get this settled. Let me get my bag.”

I sit up and squint in confusion as Ella leaves the room, and then a few seconds later she reappears with a pregnancy test. “Do you just carry those things around with you?” I ask, my mouth dropping open in disbelief.

She shrugs. “You never know what you’ll need to be prepared for.”

“I guess,” I frown, “But pregnancy tests aren’t one of those things that you put in your emergency bag usually, you know? You don’t exactly say to yourself, okay, I’m going to pack ibuprofen, some pads, and a pregnancy test just in case!”

“Well, if you don’t want it…”

“I didn’t say that.”

I hold out my hand, and Ella places the cardboard box on my palm. It’s lighter than I was expecting it to be. I guess it’s only a tiny piece of plastic, really. Nothing much to it at all.

Amazing that it has the power to change someone’s life forever.

Ella slips out of the bathroom and lets me pee on the stick in peace.

---