Page 158 of Forged

Six Months Later

I’m standing barefootin our kitchen at seven in the morning, holding a mug of tea and staring at a pregnancy test that’s face down on the counter.

My boys are still in bed. Gabriel moved into our bedroom last month, our relationship finally feeling steady with the help of a relationship counselor. So, I shouldn’t be surprised that I had to buy a test. We haven’t exactly slept much lately.

They didn’t come home last night until well after I fell asleep. Dante returned from Texas with Sera a couple of months ago and she’s now at the Marchetti Estate, and things have been chaotic ever since. The perfect time for me to have a late period and boobs so sore I can barely breathe.

I picked up the box of tests yesterday and figured I would take the test this morning before they woke up. If it was negative, I could just throw it away and they wouldn’t know any better.

The timer on my phone goes off and I jump, punching myphone to turn it off. I inhale through my nose and then as I exhale, I turn it over.

Staring back at me are two pink lines. It’s positive.

I pick up the test again, as if looking at it closer could change the result.

Still positive.

A laugh escapes my chest before I can stop it.

“Well,” I whisper to the empty room, “that escalated quickly.”

“Talking to yourself already this morning?” Lars’ voice carries into the kitchen from behind me.

I turn just as he walks through the doorway, shirtless, black sleep pants slung low on his hips. He pauses when he notices what I’m holding.

Then his eyes widen.

“Is that?—”

“Yes.” I pick up the test and hold it out in front of me. “It’s positive.”

For a moment, he just stares at me.

“Are you sure?”

I set the test on the counter again and point to it.

“Look for yourself, Lover Boy. Two lines, I’m pregnant.”

Lars crosses the space between us slowly, reverent eyes shimmering. His hands settle gently on my hips.

“Are you okay?” he asks, voice filled with concern.

“I’m more than okay.”

His gaze drops briefly to my stomach.

“We’re going to have a baby.”

“Apparently.”

His laugh is soft and slightly disbelieving.

There’s a clatter of footsteps down the stairs and a moment later Gabriel appears in the doorway.

He stops the second he notices the expression on Lars’s face.

“I feel like I missed something important.”