Our eyes meet, and we both explode with laughter. I’m holding the white stick like it’s a magic wand.
“Hurry up!” Zee cries. “Get it under there and pee on it before Belle wakes up!”
Glancing up at her, I can’t resist. “Is this what my life will be like?”
“No. You’ll have a team of maids and nannies. Your baby will know you about as well as Belle does.”
My lips tighten, and I take a deep breath. “I will not!” I shout.
“Just pee on it,” she shouts.
Hunching forward, I stick the device under my crotch. “Is that what Cal says to you?” I tease.
“Gross. We are not into golden showers.”
“I don’t feel like I can pee,” I say, nervous energy surging through my belly.
My sister’s eyes flash, and I start to go. We both wait a second, and I pull it out. “Where’s the cap?”
Zee takes it away, and I quickly clean up and flush. We’re in the bathroom in the very back of the royal suite with both the bedroom door and the bathroom door closed. A knock on the outside door makes us both scream.
“Ava?” Rowan’s deep voice is muffled on the other side of the heavy wood. “Are you okay in there?”
Zelda and I collapse on each other and start to giggle. Her head pops up, and she puts a finger over her lips. Grabbing my face, she whispers directly in my ear.
“Do you want to tell him now?”
She leans back, and I glance down at the stick. “You go. Let me tell him alone.”
Her face goes pouty, and my eyes narrow. “I’ll text you the minute I’ve told him.”
“The second,” she orders.
“The second,” I relent.
She runs to the door and unlocks it. Rowan stands in the doorway still in his suit and tie. One dark wave has fallen over his forehead, and he’s wearing his glasses. I melt against the bathroom counter when he smiles.
“What’s going on in here?” His voice is gentle, and my stomach is twisted in a million knots.
“I just…” I turn back to the counter, and I see the stick is showing a result. Only, I don’t know what it means. “Shit!”
“It actually smells like jasmine,” Rowan says, and I burst out laughing.
“No!” I cry, dropping to my knees and digging around in the small wastebasket. “I have to find the box. Zee threw it away after she read it.”
My husband comes closer to where I’m standing, and he glances at the counter. “Is that…”
The box is in my hand, and I pop up quickly. “Shh!” I hold my hand just above his lips. “Don’t say anything.”
“Why not?” he whispers.
“I have to read.”
Turning to the counter, I block his view with my body. The stick is facing up, and the box has a diagram on it. One line means not pregnant, two lines means pregnant, I read silently. Closing my eyes, I take a slow breath to calm the flying in my chest.
My hands shake as I lift the plastic wand. My eyes search the small window on the side, and it says…
* * *