Page 81 of Babies for the Christmas Grump

My heart skips a beat, and for a second, everything goes still. My mind starts spinning faster than I can keep up. Pregnant?

I’ve barely been able to process the hotel crisis, the gala, or even the emotions swirling around Ryder and me, but this?

This is something I haven’t even begun to think about.

The memory of my nights with Ryder rushes back how we’ve been swept up in the moment, too caught up in everything to worry about precautions, too many times. We haven’t always used protection.

Shit.

The world seems to tilt, the dizziness growing worse. I try to clear my head, but my body doesn’t want to cooperate.

“I… I don’t know,” I whisper shakily. “I haven’t thought about it. It hasn’t been long enough, right?”

Marjorie’s face softens, and I can see her trying to hold it together, not wanting to overwhelm me. “I just… I need to know if that’s a possibility. Because if you’re pregnant?—”

“I’m not sure,” I cut her off, the panic rising in my chest. My breathing comes in shallow gasps again, and the room starts to spin once more. “But I don’t want a doctor here. I just want to lie down.”

Marjorie’s hand tightens around mine, her grip firm but shaking. I can hear the edge in her words now, that quiet desperation she tries so hard to hide.

“Sunny, you can’t just ignore this. We don’t know what’s going on, and?—”

“No,” I interrupt. “I’m not seeing a doctor. I just need to rest. I can’t deal with this right now, okay? Please.”

She stares at me for a long moment, her lips pressed together, like she’s trying to hold it all in. I can see the conflict on her face.

She wants to respect me, but she’s also terrified. And I don’t know how to explain that I feel the same way.

“This isn’t something you can just sleep off. Something’s wrong, and you’re not?—”

“I’m fine,” I force out, even though the words are a lie in my mouth. “I just need some time. I can’t deal with anything right now.”

I try to sit up again, my legs jelly beneath me. But before I can fully make it, I collapse back into the couch, the dizziness making the room tilt violently around me.

“Please,” I whisper as I close my eyes. “Just let me breathe.”

Marjorie crouches down beside me, her hand on my shoulder now, fingers pressing into my skin with an urgency I can’t ignore.

“Okay, fine. But I’m keeping an eye on you, alright? If I think for a second that something is about to happen, then I’ll call someone.”

I purse my lips together and nod.

That won’t happen. I’ll make sure of it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Ryder

December 17th

The constant buzzof my phone doesn’t stop. It’s my mother. Again.

I can feel the call vibrating against my wrist. The one that’s been blinking all day, lighting up my screen with her name in bold letters.Elaine Hale.

I don’t know why she’s suddenly so persistent.

Maybe she wants to remind me of the family I’ve been distancing myself from for years. Or perhaps she’s heard about the hotel, and now she thinks it’s time to stick her claws back in.

Either way, I don’t have the energy to deal with her today. Not when everything else is already falling apart.