Page 146 of Unspoken Lies

“Are you sexually active?” he asks instead.

“Yes,” she replies, squeezing my hand. These appointments are never comfortable, but he’s making it worse.

“With a man?” he asks.

“There are a lot of reasons why a woman needs birth control outside of contraception,” I remind him mildly.

“Yes, yes,” Dr. Cross grunts, blinking hard. He’s got to be in his mid sixties, and fairly long in the tooth. I’m surprised he’s still practicing. Someone needs to sit down, hold his hand, and give him a little sensitivity training. “Are your periods heavy?”

“Yes,” Rachelle grunts, shifting in her seat. “They’re also painful.”

“It says here you’re on other medications, but they shouldn’t affect the birth control,” he murmurs, going through the paperwork with a nod. “It says here you’d prefer birth control in the form of a shot. I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“My memory isn’t the best,” Rachelle explains. “I’m worried that I’ll forget to take it.”

“You manage to take your antidepressants, don’t you?” he asks shrewdly. At her tentative nod, he shrugs. “I’m prescribing the pill then.”

Fuck this guy. I know Rachelle is worried about taking it at the same time every day. I also know the men in her life wouldn’t be above fucking with her birth control, particularly Theo.

Hell, in another year or so, Ignacio wouldn’t be above it either. His breeding kink is fierce, and his dick down game is incredible. I’m tempted to switch to the shot for that alone.

“I’ll take it,” Rachelle sighs. “Maybe it’ll help with my periods.”

Ugh. Mine don’t. They still turn me into a pouting, sad girl that needs cuddles and naps.

The doctor writes out a script while I continue to glare at him, disgusted with the state of our health care system. Did he decide to be a dick because she’s here with me?

I take the script from him once he’s done and rise with Rachelle beside me.

“Thanks,” I say, heading for the door.

“You’re lucky I gave you anything,” the doctor calls after me. “In my eyes, birth control is to control the ability to get pregnant. Two women can’t do that.”

“Ignore him,” Rachelle says, yanking the door open, head held high. “We got what we needed. We’re done here.”

The visit is free at least, but I’m still fucking pissed as we walk out.

“I may not be able to get you pregnant, but the four men who would kiss your feet if you asked them to would in a nanosecond,” I say, making sure she gets inside the vehicle before getting in myself.

“Lili, the last thing I need to be is pregnant,” she says, rolling her eyes as she pulls on her seatbelt.

For one second, I allow myself to see her with a big belly and breasts full of milk. Fuck, now I’m thinking about it too. Blinking, I shrug at her as I start the car.

“Playing devil's advocate, I think you’d be gorgeous pregnant,” I say carefully as I begin driving to the pharmacy. “You’d also have more than enough hands to help. However, we have time before that happens. I also would get off my birth control so we can be pregnant together. May as well, right?”

Her eyes get shiny as she blinks away the tears threatening to fall. “It’s just, we haven’t talked about it. You’d really want to be pregnant with me?”

“How else will we talk each other down when we want to kill the fathers-to-be?” I tease her. “It’s you and me forever, baby. I want to do everything with you. However, I also need you to be able to chase after our kids outside, enjoy the sun on your face, and all of the other things in life. Your fears are valid becauseyour experiences created them. It’s up to the fuckers who did that to show you the world isn’t what your mind tells you it is.”

Brushing away a tear, she nods as she sighs. We’ve already come a long way, but I know we have more to go.

Three Weeks Later

JARED

“It’sgorgeous out and we have a long weekend coming up,” I say, leaning forward on my forearms as Rachelle and Liliana eat breakfast together. Lili works out with us and refuses to eat until Rachelle is up. It’s really sweet. “What do we think about a vacation?”

Spring break starts this weekend, it would be nice to do something where I can get away from distractions and hang out with her.