Page 31 of Pregnancy Clause in Their Paper Marriage
‘Fair. Made a million dollars.’
It was a joke they’d shared from way back when, when they’d met infrequently, and Lana had started by asking him that question.
‘Only a million?’ she quipped, and he shrugged.
‘It was a slow day.’
She was on her way to the kitchen when she stopped and saw the serious, expectant look on his face. Her stomach felt as if it were curling in on itself. ‘What is it?’ she asked uncertainly.
‘I bought something for you. Technically, for us, but, you know.’
‘No, I don’t.’ It was amazing how quickly her loose-limbed relaxation could turn into tension, to fear. How quickly she expected everything to start to go wrong. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘This,’ Christos said, and withdrew a slim rectangular box from the pocket of his suit jacket.
Lana stared at in uncomprehendingly for a few seconds before she clocked what it was.
A pregnancy test.
Christos watched the colour drain from Lana’s face and wondered if he’d just made a big mistake. It was only a test, that was all, but she was looking at him as if he were trying to hand her a snake.
‘Lana?’
‘It’s not even been two weeks yet.’
Was that all that was bothering her? ‘Two weeks from tomorrow, but the test is good from ten days after ovulation. I even read the box.’ If he was attempting to raise a smile, he failed. She was staring wide-eyed at the box, her face still pale.
‘You really want this,’ she stated quietly, almost to herself.
Christos felt a frisson of unease, almost annoyance. ‘We both want this, Lana. At least I thought we did.’ He blew out a breath. ‘I was just trying to be helpful.’
She glanced up at his face, a bit of colour coming back to her cheeks. ‘I know. I’m sorry. It just threw me. I didn’t realise you were counting the days.’
Christos frowned. He wouldn’t have said he was counting the days, notexactly, but... ‘Is there a reason I shouldn’t have been?’
‘No.’ But she sounded unsure, and he didn’t know why. He felt as if they’d stepped onto shaky ground without him having realised they’d even moved. It was just a pregnancy test, a matter of expediency, to make sure. Wasn’t it?
Because he knew once she took that test, there was a chance its result could change everything. ‘You don’t have to take it now,’ he said, although that had been his hope. ‘Just keep it for...whenever.’
She glanced up at him, humour lightening her eyes to the colour of sunlight dancing on the sea. ‘Really? You’re willing to be that patient?’
He smiled back, relief flooding through him. ‘Well...’
‘I’ll do it now, Christos.’ She took the box from him. ‘I was just freaked out for a second, because...this is real, isn’t it?’
‘You’ll only know when you take the test.’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t mean that. Whether it’s positive or negative this time...this is the choice we’ve made. The road we’ve taken.’
He hesitated, because he knew what she meant, and the import she was giving this moment forced him to give it the same. This wasn’t just real, it was serious. Somehow, over the last two weeks, he’d been having so much fun that he’d forgotten that this was all for keeps, that there were lives involved, if not hearts. And if Lana really was pregnant with their child...well, the stakes would then be stratospheric.
He might not only be in danger of letting her down, but of letting theirchilddown. How had he not considered this properly before? Realised the inherent danger?
Because, he knew, he hadn’t wanted to. And he still wanted a baby. A wife. Afamily. He just didn’t want to blow it...with any of those people.
‘All right,’ Lana said with a small, wry smile, although he could tell she was nervous, ‘I’ll see you in about three minutes.’ And she slipped away from him to the bathroom off the hall.
Christos paced the living room, amazed at how three minutes could feel so long. He was so not good at these crucial moments. If Lana came out and she wasn’t pregnant, she might be upset. And he wasn’t so good at comforting people.