Page 135 of Checkmate
“The only way to know for sure is to take a pregnancy test,” she read in the same tone. “But the best and most common symptom is a missed period.”
Yeah, but if there were no other symptoms…
Surely not…
No…
Maybe?
She hadn’t exactly been careful with Alex; she realised. Marcus had a vasectomy at her request, so protection wasn’t something she ever thought about. But now she was thinking about it, she couldn’t remember ever really using contraception. Not since Erica left him.
Shit.
Oh, this was just awful. This was fucking terrible. She couldn’t imagine a worse thing happening to them or such awful timing. She was not cut out to be somebody’s mother, nor did she have any desire to be. This was just…
Fuck.
No, no wait. She was panicking over nothing. This was…
Potentially the best thing to happen.
Sophie could feel the smirk spreading across her face. Oh, this baby, if it existed, could be just what she needed to get everything she wanted. She knew Alex. No way, he wouldn’t do the honourable thing. Once he found out about the baby, he’d marry her because that was the right thing to do. It would look good for business, too.
Erica wouldn’t be able to hold the divorce over them with a baby involved, would she? She’d have to sign the papers and release them from this weird limbo she had them in.
Her mind was racing with possibilities, one thought tumbling into the next until she could barely make sense of them. All she knew was that having Alex’s child secured her future in a way nothing else could.
“Erica couldn’t give him a baby,” she whispered
She ran her hand over her stomach, more affectionately this time, smiling to herself. If there really was a baby in there, she’d already won. She did something perfect, pretty Erica never did. She gave Alex a child, a legacy.
His reputation would soar - the perfect family man. It would repair any damage from their affair, and his clients would stop feeling nervous about his representation. This could only be a good thing, and she was the one to give it to him.
Her. Not Erica.
She couldn’t even give him the divorce he’d been bugging her for. Sophie had won. After months of competing against her, she had finally won. This was an incredible feeling. There was no way Alex would go back to her now.
Not that she had been worried about that. Like he said, he wanted her, not Erica. He wanted to give her the world. He was scared of losing her.
Probably even more so now, or at least when he found out about the baby.
She released an excitable sound and quickly covered her mouth. Now was not the time to get ahead of herself. She needed to get a test first and foremost, to confirm if she was indeed pregnant. And if she was, what was her game plan? She couldn’t tell Alex, not yet. It was too early, and any number of things could go wrong.
That, and there was a small part of her that was worried about his reaction. But if she waited, he’d have no choice but to accept the baby. Their baby. He’d be fine. They would be fine.
All three of them.
Motherhood was never supposed to be on the cards for her, but how hard could it be, really? She could sacrifice for her child, especially since she had access to Alex’s money. She already had a maid and a chef. A nanny was not out of the equation, and with all of those resources at her fingertips, what would she really have to sacrifice?
And how much would the clients lap up their perfect little family?
She could already picture the company’s Christmas card. Alex, with his arm around her, and their little bundle of joy cradled in their arms, all stood next to the perfectly decorated tree in their perfectly amazing home. She hoped they’d have a girl. No! A boy. A beautiful baby boy who looked just like his daddy.
She giggled to herself, shaking her head.
So much for not getting ahead of herself.
Getting dressed, she grabbed her purse and some loose change from the bedside table. She’d go out right now and buy a couple of tests. She still had a while before Alex got home. By the time dinner was on the table, she’d know one way or another.
