Page 10 of Tempted By the Handsome Doctor

"Me too." She looks down at her hands, twisting in her lap. "I still wish this wasn't happening."

The words sting, even though I understand them completely. "I know."

"But it is happening." She takes a deep breath. "And I think... I think I'm going to keep it. The baby."

The world seems to stop for a moment. The ambient noise of the waiting room—pages over the intercom, shuffling papers, muted conversations—fades away until all I can hear is the blood rushing in my ears.

"You're sure?" I manage to ask.

"No," she says with a small, wry smile. "I'm not sure of anything right now. But I keep thinking about what you said at dinner. About being involved, really involved." She meets my eyes directly. "Did you mean that?"

"Every word," I say without hesitation.

"Because I can't do this alone, Daniel. I don't want to do this alone."

"You won't have to." I resist the urge to take her hand, to offer physical comfort when I'm not sure it would be welcome. "I promise you that."

She stares at me, and whatever she sees seems to satisfy her, because she nods once, a short, decisive motion.

"Okay. Then we're having a baby." The words come out slightly choked, somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"We're having a baby," I repeat, and saying it out loud makes it real in a way it hasn't been until now.

A lab technician appears in the doorway. "Ms. Sullivan? You're all set. Dr. Larsen will call you with the results in a day or two."

Maya stands, gathering her purse. "Thank you."

I stand too, suddenly reluctant to let her go. "Can I walk you out?"

She hesitates, then nods. We walk side by side through the hospital corridors, not touching but close enough that I can smell her shampoo—something floral but very subtle.

"Do you have to get back to work?" she asks as we approach the main entrance.

I check my watch. "In about twenty minutes."

"I took the morning off," she says. "I was thinking of getting some tea at that cafe across the street. If you wanted to join me. Just for a few minutes..."

Chapter 5 - Maya

The café across from Cedar Falls General is called The Daily Grind, and it's the kind of place that thinks mismatched furniture and Edison bulbs are the height of charm. Still, they make decent tea, and it's close enough to the hospital that I won't lose my nerve walking there.

I'm not entirely sure why I invited Daniel to join me. The words spilled out before I could stop them, like my body recognized the need for his presence before my brain caught up. Maybe it's because we just acknowledged we're having a baby together. Perhaps it's because he looked at me with those green eyes so full of sincerity that I almost believe he won't disappear again.

"I'd love to," he says, and the relief in his voice is palpable. "I just need to let Dr. Patel know I'm taking a short break."

"If you don't have time—"

"I have time," he says firmly, already typing a message on his phone. "There. All set."

The way he prioritizes this moment, this conversation, over whatever important doctor things he should be doing—it makes something flutter in my chest. Something I immediately try to squash. One gesture doesn't erase a month of silence.

We cross the street together, not quite close enough to touch. The autumn air has a bite to it today, and I pull my cardigan around myself, suddenly aware that soon, very soon, my body will start to change. The sweater won't close so easily. My balance will shift. I'll become a vessel for someone else, someone who depends on me entirely.

The enormity of it makes me dizzy.

"Maya?" Daniel's voice breaks through my spiral. "Are you okay?"

I realize I've stopped walking in the middle of the crosswalk. "Sorry. Just... thinking."

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