Page 91 of Nothing to Beat

They’d come there to check whether biological children were an option for them, it would be ridiculous to withdraw her consent at that moment.

“Yes, but I… You want to do an ultrasound to find out if I’m pregnant…” That made sense.Something else didn’t.“Why would you suggest the father of that child not be present?”

“In case I’m not the father of the child,” Breck answered.

Oh.

The poor doctor squirmed.“We often find it’s best to give the news to the mother first.With the ultrasound, we can narrow down the date of conception.”

Right, was their “suggestion” something they reserved for all women or only the unmarried ones?

Standing up, pushing her shoulders back, she didn’t want to get her hopes up before they were certain, a hundred percent certain.

“Let’s do this.”

She didn’t need a gown or to do anything other than roll up her top and down the waistband of her pants.And then it was there.After all the waiting, she didn’t need to be told what the sound was when the doctor turned up the volume and adjusted the monitor so they could both see.

“Yes, you are definitely pregnant.Strong heartbeat.Steady.”Yeah.Wow.Breck’s hand was already in hers; the physical link strengthened them and right now, they both needed that.“Around twelve weeks.”

Hold on just a second… “Twelve?No, that can’t be right.That’s November and I didn’t—”

“Conception may have been around the first week of December.”

Because they counted from her last period rather than the intercourse date, right.“Okay, but that doesn’t make sense either, because we didn’t—”

“I don’t care,” Breck said, kissing the back of her hand locked in his.“This baby is our future.”

No matter who the father was?Was that what he meant?Sweet or insulting?Anger was so far beyond her capability right then.

“Way to call me a slut in front of the doctor, Stat,” she said, too giddy and confused to do anything other than exhale a laugh.“If there’s a baby in there, you put it in there.No question.I haven’t been with any man but you since…” Did her memory go that far back?“More years than I want to admit.We weren’t together in December, not at the…”

Oh…

“The Simion deal?”

“That doesn’t count,” she dismissed him, “that was at work.Work doesn’t count, we always say that.”

Because in Breckenridge HQ, there were highs and lows, adrenaline and grievance.Emotions could shift like a riptide and sometimes they needed to… vent those emotions.Work was a, “Yeah, we did it, but we’re not going to talk about it,” venue.Sometimes they did or they didn’t, it was all allowed because it didn’t count.

The doctor laughed.“If there was sexual contact…”

Oh, there had been that.“But we… That means I was pregnant at New Year’s when we…”

She hadn’t even asked him about having kids at that point.Not seriously.Not in an active way like she had at New Year’s.And, shit, that meant she’d spent a million dollars for no reason.Other than the charity.

“Would you like a video?”the doctor asked.

“Yes,” she said quickly, then landed her certainty on Breck.“We are not telling your mom.”

“She’ll be ecstatic.”

“There are options…” The doctor’s tone dropped to a serious octave.“If you don’t want this child—”

“We want him,” Breck said, “or her.My mother is…”

“Full on,” she added, not ready for the rocket to hit the stratosphere.“We have to get used to this news first.”

Pregnant.Just like she’d wanted.Phew.Deep breath.With her father and the case, could she be pregnant right now?With Breck’s baby?This little one had kind of stolen their choice.Decisions had to be made now, there was a clock.And she’d thought the last few days were a mental and emotional rollercoaster?Child’s play.Nothing to this psychological slalom.

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