Page 169 of Huckleberry Hill
“I’m lightheaded,” Declan murmured.
“Me too,” I said.
“Put your head between your knees,” Dr. Novak advised Declan.
Declan did the motion easily, but I couldn’t due to the pain in my side.
There was a chime from a device, and Dr. Novak reached into her lab coat pocket to pull out a tablet. She tapped the screen. “It’s your blood test results. Yep, you’re definitely pregnant.”
Declan lifted his head from between his legs and scooched the stool closer to the exam table and took my hand. I squeezed his fingers with all the force I had.
He winced, but otherwise said nothing.
Dr. Novak smiled and said, “Let’s get you to radiology and make sure that bruising isn’t something to worry about.”
I had no internal bleeding and no broken ribs. Just a lot of bruising. They’d admitted me to the hospital though because Dr. Novak wanted to monitor me for a few hours in case anything unforeseen popped up.
She asked if I wanted any pain meds that were safe for my condition, but after finding out I was pregnant I refused them.
I’m pregnant.
Declan and I hadn’t had a chance to talk about it.
I was currently laying in a bed, hooked up to a bunch of monitors, and Declan was sitting in the chair next to me.
Neither one of us had spoken and the air was filled with tension.
A sudden thought bounced into my mind.
“I had my period in New York last month,” I blurted out. “And then Gianni went to Italy. There’s no way the baby is his.”
His expression softened. “Is that what you thought I was thinking about?”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking about.” I bit my lip. “You haven’t said anything. What are you thinking about?”
“Honestly?”
“Honestly.” I braced myself for something terrible.
“I’m thinking about the fact that there’s no way in hell we can live in that cabin. Not with a baby goat and an actual baby. Sorry, bear snack. But we’re going to have to move whether you like it or not.”
I blinked. And blinked again.
“Declan,” I began.
“Yes, Hadley?” he asked with a wry grin.
“Why are you smiling at me that way?”
“Because I can feel a lecture coming on.”
“No, no lecture. I don’t lecture.”
“You’re right, it’s more like a monologue. So, tell you what, you tell me all the reasons why we can’t move to a bigger place and why we can’t be happy and in love and have a baby and I’ll sit here and listen. But if you think I won’t be a good father then I’ll remind you about Tempest. I’m a good goat dad. How much harder would a baby be?”
My lips wobbled. “You really want to have a baby with me?”
“I do, Hadley. I really do. But in all honesty we really should’ve put a condom on the banana. I think I may have missed that day in sex ed.”
