Page 61 of Viktor at Sea

“No,” Chara was quick to deny. “I don’t want her in the room.”

“Seeing as you claim to be pregnant with my fiancé’s child, I have every right to be in the room while the doctor does the checks.” Astrid rolled her eyes. She completely dismissed Chara as she turned her attention to Gertrude. “We can use Dustin’s old room at the back,” she said. “Freja and Dustin sometimes use it when they visit, but it’s barely used.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, I found solace in the fact that Astrid still referred to me as her fiancé. It gave me hope that things weren’t over between us just yet, and I couldn’t help but fear how long it would be until they were.

Would it be before or after Gertrude finished with her checks? Would Astrid call off the wedding right here in this very hut, or would she go outside and declare it in front of all of Jorvik?

Either way, it would still hurt the same, and I sincerely prayed it wouldn’t come down to that even though that’s what I deserved for such a big mistake.

“I’ll join you,” Freja called out, slowly rising to her feet and clutching her large, pregnant stomach with one hand. Astrid grabbed her other hand, helping her up the rest of the way, and Sallie trotted after them.

I held my breath and watched as Gertrude, my future wife and future sister-in-law ushered Chara into Dustin’s old room, leaving her no room to escape or make excuses to get herself out of the situation.

The fact that she was so alarmed regarding this whole situation, struggling to come to terms with the doctor’s checks and our need to make sure she was telling the truth made me think there was a game at play here. My gut told me that Chara was lying through her teeth, but I needed confirmation.

“She’s not telling the truth,” Daewon murmured, the first one to break the silence. “I can tell that she’s lying. It was obvious when she began panicking about the doctor’s checks.”

“I agree,” Barden sighed. “It seems like the only thing she’s telling the truth about is that she’s pregnant and that she slept with Viktor three weeks ago.”

Josephine nodded. “Everything else feels like a lie.”

They murmured between themselves, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. Not when my mind was conflicted withsuch dark, melancholy thoughts, coming up with the different ways that all of this could play out. All of them resulted in Astrid leaving me.

It felt like a lifetime had passed before the door to Dustin’s old room opened.

I couldn’t help but hold my breath as Astrid walked back into the room.

“She’s wearing three corsets,” Astrid announced with a wide grin.

I blinked hard. “What does that mean? What does how many corsets she’s wearing have anything to do with this conversation?”

“Chara is wearing three corsets to hide her stomach,” Gertrude explained as she followed Astrid into the room. “Sallie and Freja are helping her get dressed right now.”

“So, that means Chara was telling the truth the whole time?” Daewon groaned, a horror-stricken look on his face as he stared between Katarina, Astrid, and the doctor. What stood odd to me, however, was that none of them looked nearly as disappointed as I expected them to look after confirming that Chara is indeed pregnant with my child.

Gertrude nodded. “Chara is indeed pregnant, but she’s far more than a few weeks along.”

“How far along?” I whispered, my eyes wide and unblinking as I waited for the truth.

“I can’t say for sure as I haven’t done a thorough check, but I can safely say she’s at least three months pregnant. Maybe four.”

“Three months?” I exclaimed, unable to believe what I was hearing. “That means I would have had to sleep with her more than three months ago for the child to be mine!”

“That’s normally how things work, yes,” Gertrude laughed at my sudden outburst. “That safely rules out Viktor being the father.”

“How sure are you, Gertrude?” Daewon asked, his tone cautious, though his face was already a mask of relief.

“I’m absolutely certain.” Gertrude nodded her head firmly. “If you could see her without the three corsets, even you would come to the same conclusion as me.”

The hut broke into a round of cheer, but I couldn’t bring myself to join in on their celebrations. Instead, I held my breath and observed Astrid, fearful of the conclusion she would come to on the back of this news. She sported a bright smile when she reached out to hug Katarina and Freja.

Did that mean that she was happy with the news? Was she relieved that Chara wasn’t pregnant with my baby? Or was she ready to cast me aside and move on with her life?

Was this the end for us?

Astrid suddenly turned to me, her lips still turned up in a large grin.

“You need to leave, Viktor,” she demanded.

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