Page 73 of Gilded Shackles
She perches on the edge of my bed, calm as a monk. "Do you want me to wait?"
I hesitate. Normally, peeing on sticks is a solo sport. But the idea of doing this alone makes my stomach twist. "Yeah. Stay. Just don't look."
She smiles. "Understood."
I grab the bag and head into the bathroom, heart pounding like a drumline at a pep rally. My reflection looks way too calm for someone who might be about to become a mother.
"This is fine," I tell myself. "Totally fine. Could be nothing. Could be hormones. Could be tuna."
The stick stares back at me likesure, keep lying to yourself, sweetheart.
I follow the instructions like they're sacred scripture, set the test on the counter, and back away. Two minutes. Two minutes to find out if my entire life just changed again.
I open the bathroom door. Natalia looks up immediately.
"Well?"
"It's cooking." I sit beside her, fidgeting. "This part's torture."
She nods. "Every woman alive has felt those two minutes."
I pace the bedroom. Count scuffs on the floor. Examine my cuticles. Anything to avoid going back into the bathroom where my future is developing like a Polaroid.
"One minute left," Natalia says.
"Maybe it's negative. Maybe it's stress. Food poisoning."
She gives me a kind look. "And if it's not?"
My heart hammers so hard I feel it in my teeth. Do I want this? I've barely had time to process being married.
But then there's Pasha. And how he's the best part of this new life. I could love another child like that. I know I could.
But Nikolai? We're just starting to find our footing. What if this sends us spinning?
"Then I'm going to need a bigger closet," I laugh nervously.
When the timer dings, I shoot up so fast I nearly knock the phone off the bed.
I walk back into the bathroom with sweaty palms. One glance. That's all it takes.
Two lines.
Clear.
Bright.
Unmistakable.
"Oh." My knees wobble. "Oh my God."
Natalia appears behind me in the mirror, hand over her mouth, before her face splits into the biggest smile I've seen since she got here. "Elle. You're pregnant."
I laugh, high and breathless and half-disbelieving. "Well, damn."
Tears blur my vision before I realize I'm crying. "I'm really..."
"Pregnant," she finishes, grinning like she won the lottery.
