Page 73 of This Love
But it was there.
Pregnant.
Ava let out a sob, then jumped up and took off down the hall.
I picked up the test as if somehow the “Not” could show in front, but the single word remained. I set it down again and hurried after Ava.
She had flung herself diagonally across the bed, her face buried in a pillow. I circled the mattress and kneeled next to her, my hand in her hair.
“We’ll be all right.”
Her shoulders shook. I stroked her head, waiting it out.
All the scenarios lined up. Best case, the new med would work well, no seizures, and then…a baby.
We’d need help if she was going to keep doing photographs. We hadn’t changed our lifestyle, and I made more money. We could hire someone for the shooting hours. She could do the digital retouching when I was home.
We’d make it work.
Her voice emerged from the muffling of the pillow. “I’ll forget it. I’ll leave it in the car. Or at the store. Or in the bath. There will never be a mother worse than me.”
I kicked off my shoes and climbed onto the bed beside her. “There is no wrestling that award from your own mother,” I said.
She turned her red, tear-strewn face to me. “That’s funny, actually.”
I drew her close. “I’m here, Ava. You’re not facing this alone.”
She curled into my chest. “A baby, Tucker. What are we going to do with a baby?”
“Love it?”
“What if it has epilepsy, too? It’s like the Time Traveler’s Wife. She ends up with the traveling husband and the traveling kid.”
“What would Gram say?”
Ava let out a half-sob, half-laugh. “Don’t borrow trouble from the future. You’ve already got enough.” She rolled onto her back, sniffling. “I guess we have to make a list. Call Dr. Simmons. Call the OB/GYN. Get the new med.” She covered her eyes with her arm. “Prepare for another possible reset.”
“We’ll make a list.”
She lifted her arm to peer at me. “It’s your baby, too, isn’t it?”
I had to laugh at that. “It is.”
“We should get married.”
“It might be time. It will help me handle things if…”
“If I forget you and the baby. You can keep the baby even if I run away.” She squeezed her eyes closed.
“I don’t think that will happen.”
“You work all day, Tucker. I’ll be alone.”
I rolled onto my back next to her. We both stared at the ceiling, thinking.
Then I said, “Maybe we can hire someone full time.”
“That’s so expensive.”
