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I waited, and he lowered his head and brushed his lips over my ear. “I love you, Emma.”
I swallowed thickly before I whispered, “I love you, Samuel.”
Samuel buried his face in my neck, and for a while, neither of us said anything. My body had felt tired before, but now I doubted I could fall asleep anytime soon.
After a while, I needed to pee, so I wiggled. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
Samuel pushed up with a groan and plopped back on his back. I cocked my eyebrow. With a grin, he pushed to his feet and got my wheelchair from the porch.
Once I was in the bathroom, I hesitated. Maybe now was the time to be brave. I opened my toilet bag and pulled out a pregnancy test.
After I’d peed on it, I put it down on the counter and waited.
“Emma? You’ve been in there for a while. Are you okay?”
I took a deep breath. “It’s not locked. You can come in.”
Samuel opened the door and peered in cautiously. He scanned me, then his eyes landed on the pregnancy test on the counter. His eyes widened. “Are you?”
“I don’t know. I’m overdue.”
Samuel moved closer, almost cautiously, and touched my shoulder.
“I’m scared it’s negative.”
“We haven’t been trying for long,” he said.
“I know, but this time, it really feels like I’m pregnant, and I know I’ll be disappointed if I’m not.”
I glanced at my watch. It was time. I picked up the pregnancy test, and my face burst into a smile.
Pregnant.
My heart hammered in my chest when Emma picked up the test. I wasn’t sure what I was seeing. I had absolutely no clue about pregnancy tests. The only time I’d witnessed someone taking a test had been with Serafina, but back then, I’d been so shocked that I hadn’t paid attention at all.
“I’m pregnant,” Emma whispered, tears filling her eyes.
I blew out the breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. I stared down at the test, then back at Emma’s stunned face.
“Are you happy?”
I nodded and bent down, kissing her cheek and lips. “I am. I’m also a little shocked. I don’t know why.”
I felt a million things all at once. We had been trying for months, but this was the first time it really sank in. We’d become parents. I’d become a father with a whole new set of responsibilities and another person, a small baby, to protect.
“I am too. Shocked, I mean, and happy and scared. Maybe even terrified.” I pulled back a little and looked at Emma’s widened eyes. “Are we ready to become parents?”
I chuckled. “I think we have to be.”
Emma nodded, then looked back down at the test. “Oh wow.” On the one hand, seeing Emma’s shock and nervousness was consoling, but on the other hand, it made me realize that we’d both be thrown into this.
I took her hand and kissed it. “You’ll be a great mom. You love to take care of people.”
“I thought you didn’t like it when I mothered you,” Emma said with a teasing smile.
“Sometimes I don’t, and sometimes I do, but I’m sure a baby will love it.”
She giggled, then shook her head again. I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. After laying her on the mattress, I stretched out beside her, pulling her close.