Total pages in book: 14
Estimated words: 12623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 63(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 42(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 12623 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 63(@200wpm)___ 50(@250wpm)___ 42(@300wpm)
“Earth to October,” my friend and sort of boss, Pasty, says, snapping her fingers in my face. We’re at our favorite lunch spot, Jansen’s, on Main Street.
“Yeah?” I ask, shaking my head.
“What do you want? Sally’s waiting on your order.”
“Shoot. Sorry. I’ll have…” I begin, hesitating as I look at the menu. Nothing sounds good. I’m so nauseous. I have been for days now. “Can I just get some crackers? I’m not feeling well.”
“Really?” she asks, checking my temperature.
“Yeah, for a few mornings now. It’s annoying.”
“I bet you’re pregnant.”
“Pregnant? I can’t be pregnant. I’m on birth control.”
“Girl, you know that birth control isn’t a hundred percent.”
“I know but…”
“But nothing. Let’s go.”
“Now? What about lunch?” I ask, internally panicking. I can’t be pregnant.
“This is much more important. Let’s go.”
We leave the restaurant and head back to the office. In the office, I head straight for the pregnancy tests in the cabinet of Exam Room A, go into the connected bathroom, rip the test open, and take care of business.
In three minutes, there’s confirmation in black in white of what of knew in the back of my head this whole time. I’m pregnant. The one thing I never wanted to be. I never wanted kids. Eli didn’t either.
I never wanted to bring children into this world, and I don’t want them to go through any of the things I went through. How will I tell Eli that our lives will change irrevocably now?
CHAPTER 2
ELI DANIELS
“So everything looks good?” my client, Mrs. Cluster, asks, wringing her hands. She is currently in my office, worried sick about the estate her husband left behind. His greedy children from his first marriage are fighting her for it even though he left them each three million dollars. They have summer houses he left them, but that is not enough.
“Yes. Everything is iron-clad and cannot be contested. Your late husband was smart. He not only put it in writing, but he made a video showing he was of sound mind, so they have no basis for contesting it.” Her shoulders visibly loosen up, and I reach my hand out and place it on top of hers. “I don’t want you worried about anything. You are mourning your husband. Focus on that.” Nodding and drying her eyes, she gets up, and once I see her out, I finish up her paperwork and send it to my assistant.
Once I am done clearing things, I look at the clock and smile. This is my favorite time of day. This is the time of day when I clock out and drive home the short distance to my gorgeous, smart, sexy wife, whom I feel lucky to have every day.
The first time I saw her four and a half years ago, she was in a group of her friends standing outside of a restaurant waiting to go in. In a group of girls that I am sure boys lost their shit over, she was like the lone orchid in a garden of roses, and her voice, don’t get me started.
I eavesdropped on their conversation, entranced with every word of her mouth, silencing everyone else's words. I won’t lie and say when I realized, based on their conversation, that they were all in high school, I felt like a creep, but even that wasn’t going to stop me. I was simply going to wait for her to grow up. Crazy, I know, but I knew she was meant to be mine within seconds. Luckily, one of her friends mentioned how much fun they had on her eighteenth birthday, and my entire chest exhaled. Though I am ten years older than her, it was a relief to find out she was ripe enough for me.
Like a lovesick puppy, I followed them around for the rest of the night, my eyes scraping over her curves, lingering on her wide hips and womanly curves. I recall the moment she turned and looked at me, her beautiful dark green eyes locked with mine, and I swear I felt her whispered words of ‘yes’ to any and everything I wanted run through my heart. I never believed in love at first sight, but this girl changed everything.
I waited for her friend to become preoccupied before I made my move. I approached her, introduced myself, and told her she would be my wife. I remember her eyes getting big like saucers, but her cheeks heating up. She was the shyest little thing, 5’1" to my 6’1". I knew she knew when she didn’t immediately balk at my admission.
I courted her for six weeks, showing her how a woman is supposed to be treated. We talked and shared our childhood stories. Hers was one of poverty and a mother who raised her on her own. Her father left when her mother was pregnant with her, unable to raise a baby that wasn’t biologically his on account of her having to go to a sperm bank. She grew up living hand to mouth and missed out on a lot. My heart broke for her, but it also leaped because I knew I could give her what she wanted most: experiences.