Page 129 of Through the Storm

Some stubborn part of me still believes she’ll come back, so I keep getting ready.

Because giving up on them has never really been an option.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

katy

MY SHELTER

Two months later

The first contractionfeels like a lie. Just a tightening that makes me pause mid-sentence and press my palm to the counter.

“You okay?” Ella asks.

“Yeah,” I say too quickly. “Just something I ate. Probably.”

Declan raises an eyebrow from the couch. “At nine months pregnant?”

I glare at him. “Don’t mansplain my body.”

He raises his hands. “I’m not. I’m just observing. Sorry.”

I move anyway. I try to walk it off. I tell myself that it’s nothing.

But then it happens again.

The pain is stronger this time. Deeper. Like my body is pulling inward on itself.

I breathe through it. In through my nose. Out through my mouth. The way they said in that awful birthing class.

Ella’s already standing.

“Katy,” she says gently. “How long was that?”

“I didn’t time it.”

Declan’s phone is in his hand now. “I’m timing the next one.”

“I don’t need you to…”

“Ah!” It hits again. I bend forward instinctively, gripping the back of a chair. The room narrows to pressure and breath and the sudden realization that this is not theoretical anymore.

“Oh,” I whisper.

Ella’s hand is on my back immediately. “Okay. Okay. That’s it.”

Declan’s voice is calm, but there’s an edge to it now. “How far apart?”

I shake my head. I can’t answer. My body is louder than my brain. When it passes, I straighten slowly, heart racing.

“I’m fine,” I say. “I don’t need to go in yet.”

Ella gives me a look. “You’re shaking.”

“I’m just nervous.”

The next contraction steals my breath entirely. I cry out before I can stop myself.