Page 29 of Rescuing Tobias

“I haven’t had dinner yet. I’ll make you something and you can eat with me,” he said, already heading to the kitchen, consumed by the need to do something for the woman he ached to be able to have a chance with.

As he opened the freezer, he caught sight of Isabella pressing a hand to her stomach like the thought of food made her nauseous. Was that why she was there? Was she sick? He hadn'tbeen able to read through her entire statement, so he didn't know the details of everything she’d been through, so there was every possibility that those traffickers had done something to her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, freezing in his tracks, the freezer door open in his hand.

When she shook her head, the bottom dropped out of his world.

“What's wrong?” he demanded. Whatever it was, he would help her in any way he could.

For a second it almost looked like she was thinking about turning and fleeing. This time he wouldn't let her go. Not now he knew something was wrong. He’d follow her, drag her back there if necessary, and make her tell him.

Just as he was about to repeat his question, Isabella spoke the last words he ever thought he would hear.

“I'm pregnant.”

April 15th

9:04 P.M.

Isabella fidgeted restlesslyafter blurting out the words she knew were about to change Tobias’ life forever.

Never in a million years would she have expected to be in this position. Right now, she was having enough trouble taking care of herself, let alone the added responsibility of a baby. The timing absolutely could not be worse, and yet …

She was oddly calm and excited about the idea.

It was telling Tobias that terrified her.

There was no way to tell how he would react. However, given that he’d told her that night they spent together he couldn’t offer her anything, and he’d rejected her attempts at reaching out—something that still stung even though she knew he’d already gone above and beyond for her—she could guess he wasn't going to react well.

Still, he hadn't seemed angry to see her. Hadn't told her to leave. And he had seemed concerned that she’d lost more weight and wanted to feed her. That had to mean he wouldn't be totally against the idea.

Right?

Only he didn't seem to be anything about the news. Shocked, angry, excited, he wasn't doing anything, wasn't showing anything on his face either. He was just standing right where he’d been when she blurted out her news, in front of the fridge, with the freezer door open, not moving at all.

Yet he had to have heard.

Had to know what she’d said and that there was no way he wouldn't be affected by this.

When she’d found out earlier this morning that the mood swings and nausea weren't solely because of her trauma, she’d been just as shocked. If Becca and Susanna hadn't ganged up on her together and presented her with the pregnancy test, she would never have considered taking one.

She couldn’t be pregnant. The doctors would have found that out at the hospital after she was rescued if one of her captors had impregnated her, and she and Tobias had used a condom.

Except no condom was one hundred percent effective, and here they were. One of the two percent who got pregnant while using one.

Tobias still wasn't saying anything, and any hope she’d had that he might come around to the idea vanished. After learning she was going to have a baby, she’d determined two things. One,she was keeping it, having someone to depend on her would give her a purpose and help her in her darkest days. While she hadn't always longed to have a child, she’d never been against the idea, always believing if it was meant to be, it was meant to be.

And it seemed it was meant to be.

Which led to the second thing she’d determined this morning. Tobias could be as involved or not involved as he wanted. She wasn't asking for a ring. He was the father and deserved to know. Hopefully, he would want to coparent with her, even just as friends, and the child’s parents. If more grew from that, then it happened, but she wasn't going in thinking they would get together and fall in love.

Worst case scenario, he wanted nothing to do with the baby, in which case she’d raise it herself as a single mom.

Since Tobias still hadn't spoken, still hadn't moved, her already stretched nerves snapped.

“I only just found out this morning. I thought I was just nauseous because of everything I've been through. Same with the mood swings. It was like I was on a rollercoaster, up and down, and up and down. I couldn’t seem to help myself. I’ve been talking to Susanna because Becca suggested that I needed help. Professional help. She’s great. I like her a lot. And she’s been through some terrible stuff in her life. She’s so easy to talk to and I trust her. Weird because I’ve only been talking to her for a matter of days, but there’s something about her that just draws you in.”

Isabella paused to take a breath, and when Tobias didn't say anything, she continued.

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