Page 87 of Into The Rabbit Hole
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The pain hitabout an hour ago, when the pain killers woreoff.
He could feel it, but he was thinking about his father so much the pain didn’t bother him asmuch.
That poor-excuse-for-a-father insult raced through his mind. It was funny how he’d basically spent all his life trying not to be like his father, but today, yesterday, he’d gotten to see a very different side to him. A side that he hoped he would be like if the situation called forit.
It was a side that put his family first, that made him love them enough to do everything he could to make sure they weresafe.
Wade more than respected him for that, he just wished he could have gotten one last chance to tellhim.
It was okay, though. He’d honor his father’s memory by taking the good he could remember and treasuring itforever.
He leaned forward on the chair he sat on in the waiting area and rested his elbow on hisknees.
Wade was worried about Chloe. Worried about what she could have been exposed to. The doctors thought she could have been poisoned from the gas, because she couldn’t stop throwing up and her blood pressure was super high. They’d asked him to wait out here while they did ascan.
“Wade.” He lifted his head at the sound of her gentle voice and saw her standing before him. She’d just come out of the clinicroom.
“Baby, are you okay?” His midsection had been bandaged because of his broken ribs, but he didn’t let that stop him from rushing over to her and hugging her hard. “Please tell me you’reokay.”
He pulled back and gazed down into her beautiful face. She looked nervous, really nervous, and it made him panic at the thought that something could be wrong withher.
“I’m okay.I…”
“What is it? You lookworried.”
She searched his eyes and bit the inside of her lip. “I’mpregnant.”
He stared at her, not quite sure he heard right. “What?” Wade had to ask to besure.
“I’m…pregnant. Two weeks. My birth control patch ran out three weeks ago, and with everything going on I forgot the dates. I’msor—”
“No, don’t you say sorry.” He had to stop her from continuing. Very few things in his life had made him cry. This news was one of those things. He couldn’t express the intense emotion that gripped him as he looked at the woman he loved. The woman he’d love always and forever. The fact that she was carrying his child was so overwhelming that it weakenedhim.
She reached up and touched his face. “You’re crying,” she said on the edge of a breath. “Does that mean you’rehappy?”
“Baby, you are my happiness. I’m the happiest manalive.”
Tears ran down her cheeks, too. He bent down and kissed her stomach, wrapping his arms aroundher.
He had a second chance. A second chance to be a father, a second chance to do everything all over again, and he wouldn’t fail this time. He’d let the memories of Merissa and his son live on through the effort he’d make to strive to be the very best husband and father he couldbe.
“Beautiful Chloe.” He swooped her up into his arms, picking her up as shegiggled.
The depth of his happinesssoared.
* * *
Chloe
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“Ineed ice cream,lots of it,” she laughed, placing her arms aroundWade.
Although she felt sicker than she ever had in her life, she was ecstatic, buzzing with happiness and joy beyondcomparison.
When the doctors told her she was pregnant, she’d been in shock. Happy, but in shock. She’d also wondered how Wade would react. He’d just lost his father and she wasn’t sure if she should wait to tell him. The minute she saw him, she knew she couldn’t wait. She thought he’d want toknow.