mine {h.s.} | {b3}

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

— CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO —

february, year two.

"Moment of truth," I say, sitting on the toilet with the pregnancy test lined up in my hands. Like rabbits, Harry and I had made the most of my ovulation period in my last cycle. As soon as I spoke the words—as soon as I gave the okay—it was like some sort of door opened between us, a door that we hadn't known was closed in the first place.

Now, my period is a day late and I have a feeling in my gut that good things are brewing.

Twice I'd managed to get pregnant without actively trying. Having tried so hard this time, I figure that the odds are most definitely in my favor. Condoms have been foregone in the past month since I first opened the flood gate. Any opportunity that we have to sneak off for the required five minute minimum, we had taken. As soon as I imagined myself being pregnant with Edie's little sister—already I'm privately certain that it's a little girl—I couldn't stop thinking about it. The thoughts became oppressive day dreams, consuming every spare moment of my life. In my dreams, I see her—Harry's little mini-me with blonde little curls on her round head, chubby cheeks, thighs, and stomach as she blinks her big green eyes up at us. Already I can imagine her running parallel to little Edie, Edie leading her along in the same way that Zana leads Edie.

All of that starts now. It starts with me turning the test over.

Harry is kneeling between my legs, his hands braced on my knees. They're splayed there, rubbing deep circles into the skin across my kneecaps. Adoration is laced in his eyes, equal with the excitement that he hadn't let himself show last time. How much has changed since then. He'd been cautious, insistent on allowing me to react myself before he guilted me into something that I was perhaps not ready for. Lower lip caught between his teeth, he bites down the premature smile. "Take your time," he assures me, swiping a comforting stroke alongside the inside of my thigh. He bends down to press a kiss against my bare knee. Butterflies flutter down my stomach.

"Wouldn't this be a great birthday present?" I twiddle with the test in my hand.

His head bobs up and down in agreement. "Full circle moment, too, considering that little Edie tried to enter the world on my birthday this time last year."

I smile fondly at the memory. "Not quite this time. She was a lot later in the night, she tried to wait for cake."

"Maybe she just had self-preservation and knew that the cake wouldn't be great."

"Hence why you made the cake for her birthday tomorrow," the light banter soothes the burning sensation in my chest. Nerves run rampant as I prepare myself to turn the little stick in my hand over.

Harry's fingers squeeze down lightly. "Ready?"

I nod once. Sweaty fingers turn over the little stick, preparing myself for the reality of seeing the two little pink lines waiting for me, the bold Pregnant declaration that I've seen twice in my life. The one that had caused an abundance of tumultuous emotions and healing; all of the moments that brought me to right where I am now. "Ready." I respond firmly, looking down at the test I'd taken two minutes earlier.

One line.

Deflation.

All of the air is sucked out of my lungs as I stare down at the test. Panic settles in as I reach toward the second test that I'd bought and taken but hadn't expected to need so desperately. The first test is dropped the floor and Harry scrambles to grab it, equally as desperate to understand my reaction. Deftly he grabs the stick from the ground and rightens it from the upturned position. "Gracie," he sighs, delicately placing it down on the sink.