CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Baby Test16Please respect copyright.PENANAIDSlUvScvz
(Her POV)
She stared at the stick.
Pink.16Please respect copyright.PENANAImkHrZL2rA
Too pink.16Please respect copyright.PENANAnc0CBvxh5d
Two lines.
Positive.
Her knees nearly gave out in the gas station bathroom.
It wasn’t glamorous.16Please respect copyright.PENANA0DqwL9YH4u
It wasn’t planned.16Please respect copyright.PENANAGVRJfsioqM
It wasn’t quiet—her heart was screaming.
But she couldn’t stop staring.
Two.16Please respect copyright.PENANAIu6AeKebab
Freaking.16Please respect copyright.PENANAWnWmvWHhbE
Lines.
Back in the car, Matteo was humming to a song that didn’t match the moment.
He was beautiful when he was relaxed.16Please respect copyright.PENANAVsWHaOUHlK
Driving one hand on the wheel, one hand on her thigh.16Please respect copyright.PENANAUhQ2XArRVi
Like he didn’t know their lives were about to split open.
She waited until they stopped at a lookout.16Please respect copyright.PENANANfAPT4lsbR
Somewhere far. Somewhere no one knew their names.
Then she handed him the plastic stick.
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then silence.
“Is this…” he whispered, “...real?”
She nodded.
Eyes brimming.
“I took three.”
He stared at it like it had teeth.16Please respect copyright.PENANAaS07X5HriQ
Like it could hurt him.
Then he looked at her.
“You’re sure?”
“I wouldn’t tell you if I wasn’t.”
He stepped back.16Please respect copyright.PENANA3n8bte5fLS
Paced.16Please respect copyright.PENANA8xPl5phzyI
Rubbed his face with both hands.16Please respect copyright.PENANARQVT5uz2FI
Cursed under his breath.
Then?
He looked up.
“You’re going to be a mom.”
She swallowed hard.
“You’re going to be a dad.”
He walked back toward her, slowly.
Knees bending.16Please respect copyright.PENANAXiUxxHGWsE
Head against her belly.16Please respect copyright.PENANAmDuwTXDcc9
Hands around her waist.
He stayed there.
Breathing.
And for the first time since she met him…16Please respect copyright.PENANAYntfULpOuK
he was trembling.
“I don’t know how to be this kind of man,” he whispered.
“Then we’ll learn together.”
“What if I mess this up? What if—what if they hate me someday for who I was?”
She cupped his cheeks.16Please respect copyright.PENANA8K4MZdfiPG
Made him look at her.
“Then we’ll tell them the truth. That you were broken… until love fixed you.”
He kissed her stomach.
Once.16Please respect copyright.PENANANjcM3Z1uNm
Soft.16Please respect copyright.PENANA4piNpdCe1i
Like a prayer.
ns216.73.216.12da2“Then I promise,” he said. “I’ll protect this life. No matter what it costs me.”