Chapter 68

I was cold. The air conditioning in the clinic was cold, and the jelly they applied to my stomach was cold. I wasn’t even trying to focus on the small screen showing the doctor my insides; I was thinking about my insurance and how much this would cost.

After my kidnapping, Gabriel had put me on his insurance. But now that we were divorced, I had to navigate my old insurance again.

“Yes, congratulations, Ms. Baker, you’re pregnant,” the doctor said, pushing his spectacles further up his nose and pointing at the ultrasound screen.

Tears welled in my eyes. “For sure?” I asked, barely able to speak.

“Yes,” he smiled sympathetically. “Would you like to see?”

“How—how far along am I?”

“Ten weeks.”

I gulped. I was over two months pregnant. How did this happen? I knew how it happened, but… how? We’d never been reckless; we’d always used protection. Except that once. And I’d been supposed to take a birth control shot afterward, which I’d completely forgotten.

Fuck. Fuck.

“Yes, I’d like to see,” I mumbled.

He pointed at the small, coin-sized shape on the machine. “That right there is your first fetus.”

“First?”

“Mhm.” He pointed next to it. “That’s the second.”

“Twins?” I gasped.

“Twins,” he confirmed.

A wave of dizziness and nausea hit me, followed by sheer panic. My mental health was in no condition to care for myself; how was I going to care for two babies? Not one, two. I would have to move. There was no way I could raise two babies in my current apartment. Toddlers should be raised in a family environment, not with a guitarist neighbor who starts practicing at five every morning. I didn’t even know how to baby-proof an apartment. I had zero idea, and I never thought I’d be doing this alone.

What if I mess up? What if…?

The doctor’s voice broke through my reverie. “Would you like to consider your options?”

“Op—options?”

He nodded. “I’ll prescribe some prenatal vitamins, which you must take daily. If you decide to keep the babies, I’ll see you back in two weeks. If this was unplanned, we can consider termination or perhaps adoption.”

Termination? Adoption?

I gulped. They were my babies. Mine and Gabriel’s. I may not be strong enough to handle them right now, but I will make myself strong enough. I will prepare. I will pull myself out of this downward spiral and be better.

I shook my head. “The vitamins, please.”

He smiled, nodded, and wrote the prescription while I hugged my stomach. Hi babies, I’m your mom.

After two sleepless nights spent resending my resumes, I decided moving back to my hometown was the best decision for the babies. I had a house there—warm and comfortable, with a garden where I could set up a playground, an extra room for Luna, and emotional support from people who knew and loved me. I’d disappeared from their lives for the past two months and changed my number.

I hadn’t been trying to run away. I just needed time to accept how drastically my life had changed, without the sympathy or opinions of others. I wasn’t ready to move back yet, and I’d already paid two months’ rent. I needed to figure out how to convince my landlord to let me break the lease. Aside from that, I needed to sort out my finances—my grandfather’s inheritance and what this pregnancy meant for me. I hadn’t even considered being a mother, and in seven months, I would be a mother of two.

However, there was one task I was intentionally putting off.

“Juice,” Luna knocked and entered, carrying a glass of what looked like watermelon juice.

“Luna, you must be tired after working at the diner. You didn’t have to do this,” I sighed, rising from my desk where I’d been reviewing my insurance papers and account books.

“You’re eating for three now,” Luna grinned, tapping her feet until I’d gulped down the juice. I might have my doubts, but someone was certainly excited.

I smiled. “Did you call him yet?”

“Oh, I forgot,” I lied. I hadn’t forgotten. That’s all I’d been thinking about for the past two days, since finding out about the twins. I’d been busy getting my life together, refusing to let the downward spiral consume me when I had something to look forward to. But the fact that I hadn’t called Gabriel gnawed at me. These were his children. I had to tell him, even if he decided not to be a part of it.

Luna frowned. “Quit stalling.”

She took the empty glass and stormed to the kitchen. She was preparing dinner, and despite my insistence on taking turns, she wouldn’t let me touch a pan. Apparently, she enjoyed cooking as a hobby.

I sighed, finally picking up my phone and dialing Gabriel’s number. I’d changed my number, and I wondered if he’d answer an unknown number.

He didn’t. Maybe it was for the best.

Taking a deep breath, with a slightly shaky voice and trembling hands, I left him a voicemail.