Page 35 of Silver Fox's Intern Dilemma

"What happened?" she asked me quietly, and I figured if I could hear them talking outside my room, there was a chance Mom was eavesdropping. The idea of their overhearing me made me feel so anxious, but I had to get this off my chest. It wasn't exactly how I wanted my parents to find out, but at least if Mom was listening in, I wouldn’t have to see the initial shock and disappointment in her eyes.

I sighed hard and lowered my voice further, to almost a whisper. "Well, they said I'm anemic. They told Mom and Dad it's because of exhaustion."

"But?" she prompted, glancing at the door. With the light on in here, I couldn’t see if there was a shadow on the door from the crack underneath.

"But I'm pregnant." My hand shot out to cover her mouth, and I raised my eyes in hopes she'd get the point. She started to squeal but silenced herself and nodded in understanding. Then I lowered my hand and closed my eyes. "And yes, before you ask, it's Dr. Thornton." I couldn't look her in the eye and admit that she'd gotten to me, but a dumb smile did stretch across my face.

"Oh, you little vixen!" Maylin pushed my shoulder playfully and then hissed, "Does he know?"

Sucking in a breath, I nodded, and then I slowly looked up at her. "He found out yesterday when I was in the ER, but then Mom and Dad showed up and he had to rush out. I don't even know what he really thinks about it and I'm terrified Dad is going to completely freak."

"Oh, he is." She raised one eyebrow and I moaned.

"Thanks for your kind sympathy and encouragement," I said sarcastically.

"Well, what did you think would happen? Why weren't you careful?" The tone she had was more of sisterly concern than a lecture, but the words still stung. We had been careful but not careful enough. And I hadn't thought about anything except my desire for him and how he was looking at me.

"Just tell me you're not disappointed in me too.” My body felt like it'd been through a war. I was constantly nauseous, exhausted, achy, and my boobs hurt so bad as the hormones made them swell. I just needed some sort of ray of sunshine.

"Disappointed? Soph, you have just made me look like the poster child for perfection." She chuckled, but then rested her hand on my shoulder. "For real, though, I'm glad you broke out of your stodgy mold and did something fun for yourself. You deserve to be happy. I'm sorry it's going to come with such a huge weight of responsibility, but hopefully, that man helps you."

"Yeah," I mumbled, knowing Jack would definitely pull his weight. He loved Leah, and something told me when the shock of this wore off, he'd love my baby too. I just didn’t know if it was the end of our relationship or the start of something amazing now. And since I didn't have my phone, there really was no way to find out.

"Hey, look at the bright side.”

"What bright side?" I asked her, rolling my eyes.

"Now I can screw up a little more and still not be as bad as you." Maylin winked at me, and I chuckled. If the only thing to come of this with Mom and Dad was that Maylin had a lighter standard on her shoulders and they judged her a little less harshly, it was positive. I just wasn’t sure I was going to live through the lectures when they figured out what was going onand were so crushed their perfect daughter had fallen from her pedestal.

"He's so perfect, May-May." I whimpered after I spoke, and she curled her arm under her head and rested fully on the pillow, listening to me. "We have so much in common, and he is smart and funny. Sure, he has a kid, but she's great too, and I think she likes me. And we can talk for hours without being bored of each other. We have the same interest and hobbies, and?—"

"And it sounds like you're totally in love with him." She interrupted me, and it made me start crying again. I felt like I'd been crying for weeks now, every time I thought about how much I loved Jack and how much I wanted him to be my forever.

"Yes," I wailed, and she sighed.

"Does he know this? Are you guys serious about having something?" Her honest questions struck a chord with me. If Jack wasn't serious, he'd never have suggested going to HR. He'd have just broken it off with me. But just because he wanted me didn't mean he wanted the ready-made family.

"It's complicated," I told her, and that was the understatement of the year. "I just have to talk to him, but my phone is at work in my locker. They discharged me from the emergency room and I never got to go to the lounge to get it." I pouted out my bottom lip, and she nodded understandingly.

"Well, give yourself some time to think things through and try not to overthink. It will work itself out." Maylin patted my shoulder and rolled off the bed, almost taking the blanket with her. I gripped it and held it across my body as she turned to say, "Coming for dinner? Mom almost had it ready when I got here."

It'd been twenty minutes already, so dinner was probably done, but if I ate anything, I'd start upchucking again. I didn’t need more questions. "No, I'm not hungry. Just tell them I have a headache and I'm going to sleep it off." And when I woke up, Iwas going to find a way to get to my locker and get my phone and call Jack. The fear of the unknown was killing me.

Maylin stood at the door and said, "Go easy on yourself, Sis. You're human." Then she walked out. I knew my secret was safe with her, but it couldn’t stay a secret forever. I had to figure things out with Jack and I had to figure out how to tell my family. Before things got even worse.

28

JACK

It was eight a.m. I'd been sleeping in the on-call room all night. Sophia hadn't called me, nor had anyone to say they needed me for help in surgery, but after the day I'd had and the revelation of being a father again, I was glad the work part was quiet. My sleep was fitful, filled with dreams of losing Leah, of Sophia collapsing and dying. I didn't feel rested. I felt like I could go back to sleep and rest for hours.

But I had to check in with Howard and see how things were going. He told me to call this afternoon, but in the chaos, I'd forgotten. It was late, far too late to call his office, but I had his personal number because we played golf from time to time when my schedule was lighter. So I dialed him and waited.

"Jack, how's it going? It's late.” Howard was a very direct person, not the type to beat around the bush. I figured I had interrupted his family time or maybe his dinner. I didn’t want to waste any more of his night than I needed to so I got right to the point.

"Howard, I have some news and I'd like some updates." I rubbed some sleep out of my eye as he spoke.

"Well, let's tackle the update first. Judge Greer won't allow Dana's suit to move forward for sole custody, but he may permither to seek a new agreement after her relocation. It'd allow her to have Leah every week and you have her every weekend plus alternating holidays. You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal than that, though."

---