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In the middle of an upcoming fucking war.

“We’ll give you some prenatal vitamins as well as folic acid and iron tablets…”

Fucking folic acid and iron tablets!

I could feel a bubble of hysteria rising inside of me.

“… booked in with a midwife…”

Oh, God.

This was moving too fast.

“… vital that you get plenty of rest in the next few weeks…”

Rest?!

“But I don’t want to be pregnant,” I blurted out, interrupting his speech. His eyes widened with shock at my outburst, but he quickly regained his composure.

“Abortion is an option, and at your stage in the pregnancy, it would just be a very simple procedure. Have you heard of the abortion pill?”

His words were drowned out again as he ran through my options.

An image came to mind of Dante cradling a baby with my blonde hair and his blue eyes, and I had to shake my head to rid it from my brain.

It was no fucking use.

The picture was burnt into my retinas, replaying as imaginary Dante smiled at the baby, and then smiled down at me, a fierce look in his eyes. He was so fucking large, his arms wider than the baby, and yet he cradled it with such tenderness and love.

Stop it, stop it, stop it!

The doctor was still droning on in the background, but I couldn’t take in a single word he was saying.

It’s not that I didn’t want children. It’s just that I didn’t want them right now.

Now was literally the worst possible time to bring a baby into this world. Our world.

Our cruel, dangerous world.

“Are you okay, Miss Brooks?” The doctor asked, a look of concern on his face.

“I… Yes,” I sighed heavily. “No. I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed.”

“Understandable,” he nodded. “You don’t have to make any decisions today. I can schedule you to come back in a week's time, if you like? Give you a chance to go home and talk it over with your family. But remember, any decision you make is your choice. We are here to support you, no matter what the outcome is.”

I knew what the fucking outcome was going to be.

I couldn’t get rid of my baby. I couldn’t. That vision had been crystal clear. It was more like a premonition. And it had awakened something within me. Something that, once it had taken root, was impossible to ignore.

I wantedthis baby.

Chapter 44

Rachel

I left the hospital, feeling as though my legs were made of concrete. The doctor had scheduled an appointment for me to return in a week, and if I decided to go ahead with the pregnancy – which I already had – then he wanted to get me booked in for an ultrasound.

He reassured me that spotting was normal, but that he wanted to err on the side of caution. I saw the flicker of worry in his eyes and knew he was doing it to appease Dante.

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