Page 64 of Plus-Size Sold Mate
“I…heard that,” he murmurs, still stunned as he stares at me. Something almost hopeful gleams in his eyes, but he pushes it down and takes a breath. “We’ll find out.”
Whether I like it or not, we certainly will.
***
The test sits on the bathroom counter like something so dangerous I can’t even bring myself to look at it.
After following the instructions with shaking hands, I wait in the far corner of the room while Luke stands nearby. Through the bond, I can feel his tangled web of emotions coursing between nervousness, keen alertness, and his attempt at restraint to keep from overwhelming me.
Those few minutes stretch to an almost painful degree, and when I finally must muster the courage to reach for the test again, I freeze. The breath leaves my lungs in a rush.
Positive.
That single word blurs as the reality hits me at once, vision swimming.
Luke’s arms brace me as he comes up from behind, peering over my shoulder. Even his breath catches.
I’m pregnant. With a child, our child.
I feel numb all over as too many thoughts demand my attention at once, scratching at my brain while I struggle to keep myself standing.
Am I even capable of this? I’ve spent so much of my life just surviving and bracing myself for the worst. I don’t know if I can even nurture something so fragile and innocent.
I don’t know how to be the kind of mother I never had.
But even in that utter disbelief, a small, quiet bloom of longing and possibility grows beneath it.
“Sera,” Luke says quietly, hands moving to my waist as he carefully turns me around to face him. His eyes are soft the moment they lock onto mine, and he cups my face like I’m something precious. A gentle, incredulous laugh leaves him while his thumbs brush against my cheeks. “You’re pregnant…”
His joy is immediate and unfiltered, and it crashes into me through the bond like something weightless and bright.
I blink back at him, stunned in more ways than one.
“You aren’t…worried?”
“Maybe a little, but not in a bad way,” he says, smiling. “I don’t even have the right words for it.”
When I don’t respond, Luke studies me closely, then, as if correcting himself, he sets the excitement aside to check in. “Are you okay?”
I swallow hard. “I don’t know, but I’m scared.”
Vulnerability slips through the cracks as he nods, honest and more helpful than blind confidence. “So am I.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be good at this,” I admit, feeling as tears sting at the corner of my eyes.
His thumbs pass over my skin again in a soothing motion, expression open and empathetic. “We’ll learn together.”
Closing my eyes, I let the reassurance settle in as deeply as it will go, unsure if I can truly believe that. I spent so long on my own, I don’t know how to let someone in completely.
“You’re carrying our child,” Luke says quietly, pressing his forehead against mine. “This is a good thing, no matter what anyone says. This is ours.”
His confidence wraps around me, and while the fear and uncertainty don’t vanish, it doesn’t feel quite so heavy.
The light brush of his lips against my forehead soothes me more than I ever thought possible.
“We’ve got this.”
Chapter 22 - Luke
