Page 51 of Keeper

“Fuck.”

“Congratulations.” She reaches out to touch my face. “You’re pregnant.”

I knew it was coming, and still, it sends a rush through me that I can’t quite contain. I’m having a baby. With Draven.

And I’m marrying Draven’s brother in two months.

“Oh, hell.” I sit down on the toilet and stare at it, looking up at her after a while. “It’s about time, right?” I joke feebly.

Miss Maddy beams down on me in a way that screams she knows everything, but all she does is nod. “Everyone is going to be so happy.” As in Draven will be happy. “Let’s go see Ephraim together.” As in Provost fucking Creed has demanded to know first.

Of course he has.

“Right.” Standing up again, I fix my hair in the mirror and try to take a deep breath. “Everything is fine.”

“Take as long as you need,” she says softly. “How have you been feeling?”

What a loaded question. Heavy, like the weight of the world isn’t quite on my shoulders, but somewhere near them. Like the threat of having to hold it all is close, too close. But I’ve also been feeling young and mischievous andwanted,because Draven makes it so. “Nervous, more than anything. Not to be a mom, or anything. I know I’ll make a thousand mistakes and then make a few dozen more, but I’ll be good to them. I’ll love them, and I’ll do my best to make sure they know it. I’m just... nervous about what having a Creed child will be like.” It’s the truth, as close as I can get to it. “I guess it’s time to find out.”

She offers me a few kind words and a little reassurance as she bags the test and we set out toward Ephraim’s office. Every step feels like a mile, like the mansion stretching in front of me is getting bigger with every step, not smaller. It feels like it’s trying to do me a favor by prolonging the thing I’m dying inside about, but that’s just the thing. The more you put off something you don’t want to do, the longer you suffer because of it.

So my feet move a little faster, my steps become a little more deliberate. I’m giving him what he wants. He has no reason to suspect anything is amiss — we’ve been careful to make sure that I’m seen going into Alex’s room each night and not seen when I leave it — so this is just Maddy and I delivering good news. Fulfilling a task.

There’s nothing to be afraid of.

Yet when he tells us to come in and Maddy opens the doors, my heart forgets how to beat quite the right way. It feels like it’s stuttering, like an engine that doesn’t want to turn over.

I’m sure that’s great for the baby.

“Madeline. Miss Harbough,” he says coldly. “What can I do for you? I was just about to make an important call.”

I’m sure he was.

“We have something we thought you’d like to see,” Maddy says cheerfully, handing the bag over with the little white stick and two pink lines that changed my life. “It’s positive.”

He eyes it suspiciously, then breaks out into the first genuine smile I’ve ever seen on his face. “That’s wonderful news. Well done, Miss Harbough. Madeline, tell the staff to prepare brunch as soon as possible, and make sure everyone attends. The staff, Alexander, Draven, Verna... I want everyone there to hear it.”

My own smile, forced as it was, falters. This isn’t how I wanted the boys to find out. I wanted to show them that little white stick and two pink lines, because it’s changing their lives too.

Ephraim ruins everything.

“Of course, Mr. Creed. I’ll get right on it. Miss Harbough, would you come with me? I’m sure—”

“No, no. She’ll stay here with me. We have to call her father, after all, and start making arrangements for her to see an obstetrician. She’ll come down to brunch with me when it’s time.”

I don’t get a chance to ask Maddy to soften the blow for me. I know she won’t; she’s kind to a fault but she’s not one to disobey orders or upset Ephraim unnecessarily. He’ll know if she tells him. I’ve spent enough time around enough powerful men to know when they’ve caught some sort of a scent, and Ephraim Creed definitely has.

He’ll be watching the boys like a hawk to gauge their reactions.

I just hope they’re better at hiding the truth than I am.

––––––––

Once my first appointmentis set up and my dad’s assistant has been notified, Ephraim finally lets me out of his stuffy office and guides me down to the dining room. The walk is uncomfortable at best with his hand on the small of my back and his cologne assaulting my senses, but it’s not as terrible as the sight when I walk into the room.

Verna looks smug, sitting in her rightful seat and glaring daggers at Morella across the room. The poor girl has her head bowed like she knows what’s coming, but Alex looks confused and oblivious.

And Draven... he has a small bowl of pineapple chunks he’s snacking on, his hand freezing in front of his mouth when he sees who is entering the room with his father.

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