Page 140 of The Chaos She Brings

I hold her tighter. “We’ll figure it out.”

A sharp, broken breath shudders through her. “You don’t understand.”

She’s crying harder now, her whole body shaking.

I gently tilt her chin up, making her look at me. “What don’t I understand?”

Her lips tremble. “It could behis.”

The words land like a sledgehammer to my chest.

Everything inside me goes still.

Tess

Kai’s body goes rigid against me.

After bolting home in a fit of panic, the first thing I did was take the test.

Then another.

Then four more.

All positive.

I don’t know how much time has passed between then and now. It’s like my mind shut down—just empty space—until I heard Kai’s voice.

“What am I going to do?” I whisper, sniffling, my breath hitching as I fight to keep it together.

Kai doesn’t answer right away. The silence between us is thick, suffocating.

“What do you want to do?” he finally asks, his voice strained.

I cling to him, my arms tightening around his waist. “I don’tknow.”

His chest rises and falls with a slow breath. “We never really had the ‘do you want kids’ conversation.”

Despite the ache in my chest, a laugh escapes me. “No, I guess between all the murder and kidnapping, we forgot that one.”

I pull back just enough to look up at him, my vision blurry with tears. “Do you want kids?”

He exhales, running a hand through his hair. “Honestly? I never thought about it. I always assumed I’d end up alone.”

My heart clenches.

Before I can say anything, he asks, “Did you ever picture yourself having kids?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I never really thought about it either.”

His lips quirk, but there’s no humour in his voice. “Don’t most women think about that all the time?”

I snort, despite my fears. “When have I ever been normal?”

That earns a real laugh. “True.”

Then the moment shifts, the weight of reality pressing back in.

I swallow hard. “What does this mean for us?” The question scrapes against my throat. “We’ve only known each other for a couple of months.”