Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 116597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Relief fluttered through me that we were moving forward. “Okay. So… we can do that today?”
“Well,” she said gently, still smiling, “usually, yes. But in this case… we can’t.”
My brow furrowed. “Why not?”
Doctor Stroud’s eyes softened as she folded her hands. “Because… you’re pregnant, Livia.”
I blinked.
The words detonated inside me, ricocheting off every corner of my chest. I was sure I’d misheard them. I was sure there was no way in hell that could be—
But even as I thought to dismiss it, the reality crashed in. I’d been so busy, so stressed with work and my sister’s wedding that I knew I’d been a little inconsistent in taking my birth control. But a few hours couldn’t make that big of a difference, could it?
Or was there a time I’d skipped a day and didn’t realize?
For a long moment, I could only blink repeatedly as my thoughts raced to catch up, my mouth opening and closing like a fish pulled from water. Then, instinctively, my hand flittered to my stomach.
“I’m—” I choked on the word, a laugh bubbling up as my eyes filled. “I’m pregnant?”
Doctor Stroud nodded, calm and certain, her smile still as lovely as ever.
A sob-laugh broke free from my chest as I slapped a hand over my mouth. My shoulders shook, tears spilling while joy surged through me so fast it felt like sunlight cracking through every seam. I couldn’t stop laughing, couldn’t stop crying, my palm pressing harder into the flat of my belly as if I’d feel something there already.
But then the joy tangled with something darker, confusion and horror rushing in just as quickly. My smile trembled.
Carter.
If I was pregnant, the baby was undoubtedly his.
“I… I don’t understand,” I sputtered, shaking my head. “I’m on birth control. We weren’t… I wasn’t tracking my cycle or anything like that. We weren’t trying.”
He doesn’t even want a child, I reminded myself with panic slipping in like a mud slide, but I kept that part to myself.
Doctor Stroud reached out, touching my arm with a reassuring squeeze. “Your hormone levels from the labs came back clearly positive, which confirms the pregnancy.”
My throat was so tight I was sure I couldn’t swallow, but I tried anyway. “I haven’t felt anything.”
“You’re only a few weeks along — early enough that symptoms can be subtle or even nonexistent.” Her smile softened. “And I know you’re on birth control, and that we’ve discussed your AMH levels being lower than average. Both of those factors can make this feel confusing, even impossible. But low AMH doesn’t mean you can’t get pregnant — it just means you may have fewer eggs overall. Fertility and contraception don’t always line up as neatly as we’d like. Even women with diminished ovarian reserve can conceive.” Her shoulders lifted. “Sometimes when they least expect it.”
“This is… unbelievable.”
She nodded in understanding. “It may seem that way, but this is why we always test before we move forward with anything. With birth control pills, even slight inconsistencies — missing a dose, taking one late, or interactions with other medications — can reduce their effectiveness. It’s rare, but it happens. And it seems it happened here.”
My next exhale was shaky, my hand floating back to my abdomen. It was like everything in my universe had been shaken in that instant, like a snow globe without the pieces nailed down. Now everything was floating and flying, settling in the wrong places — or maybe the right ones all along.
Doctor Stroud paused, her voice steady. “We’ll do an ultrasound to confirm viability, but there’s no mistake, Livia. You’re pregnant.”
I stared at her, my pulse pounding in my ears, my body torn in two.
Joy, radiant and fierce, because this was the dream I’d always promised myself.
And dread, sharp and suffocating, because Carter Fabri had no idea what was about to hit him.
Barry White
Carter
“Fuck, I hope this isn’t stupid.”
I was bouncing on my toes, fidgeting, not feeling even the least bit cool as I waited for Livia to arrive. It didn’t matter that it was the perfect night, warm and pleasant with a crisp breeze for reprieve, the sun slowly sinking over the bay in the distance. It didn’t matter that we had the whole rooftop to ourselves, that I’d rented the thing out and wouldn’t have anyone watching me while I bumbled through my idiotic speech to Liv. And it definitely didn’t matter that she’d already told me she felt the same.
For some reason I couldn’t explain, everything just felt volatile, like my world as I knew it was a triangular-shaped rock balanced on its peak. It was stable for now, everything meticulously placed.
But one wrong move could shatter the whole thing.
“It’s going to be great, Fabio,” Will said, smirking from where he stood beside me. “Look, the worst thing that could happen is she turns you down and tells you to get lost. Nothing you haven’t endured before.”