“This . . . this is a positive sign, isn’t it?”
Katie nodded. For an untold period of time, they just stared at each other. He became distantly aware of how glaring the bathroom light was and how the silence seemed to roar in his ears.
“WHAT’S GOING ON?” Everett shouted, breaking the blank trance on Katie’s pale, tearstained face. Rill blinked and gently unclenched Katie’s fingers from her clutch on the cell phone.
“Everett?”
“Rill? Tell me what’s—”
“Everything’s okay. We’ll call you back.”
Rill ignored Everett’s loud protest and hung up the phone, then turned it off. He grabbed Katie’s hand, which was still hovering uselessly in a frozen position near her chest, and led her out of the bathroom. When they reached the living room, he urged her to sit down on the couch.
“Do you want some water or anything?” he asked once he’d sat down next to her.
She shook her head. He couldn’t decipher her expression. “Are you . . . are you going to be sick?” he asked dubiously after a moment.
“Quite possibly,” she whispered.
He cursed under his breath and put his arms around her. He leaned back, taking her with him. A spasm shook her, and the sounds of her soft sobbing reached his ears. Even though she cried, he was relieved to feel the tension in her muscles began to ease.
“Shhh,” he whispered as he stroked her upper arm and back with a hand that felt like it’d gone partially numb. “It’s going to be okay, Katie. Everything will be okay.” His tongue felt as rubbery as his hand, but he continued anyway, desperate to soothe that flattened expression he’d seen on her face in the bathroom a minute ago.
“I didn’t mean for it to happen. It was the last thing I expected. I thought . . . maybe I was . . . but that seemed so unlikely . . . and the test yesterday came back inconclusive, so I wasn’t sure. Then today . . . this test said . . . Do you think it could be wrong?” Katie rambled wetly against his chest.
“My understanding is that false positives are pretty rare. We’ll make an appointment at the doctor, though, just to make sure,” he said as he continued to stroke her.
She lifted her head and peered at him through teary eyes.
“I can’t believe you’re being so sweet about this. I thought you’d be furious.”
He cupped her jaw with his hand. “How can you think that? I told you I’d always care about you, Katie. Why in the hell would I be mad at you because you’re pregnant?”
A fresh wave of tears spilled from her eyes.
“Do you want to keep the baby?” he asked her gently.
“God, yes,” she whispered.
He nodded. “We’ll take good care of you, then. Everything is going to be okay.”
She nodded and gave him a watery smile. He tried to smile back, but his facial muscles didn’t seem to cooperate. Instead, he concentrated on trying to dry her cheeks with his thumb.
“Katie?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to tell me who the father is? If you don’t, I’ll understand.”
“What do you mean?” she asked slowly.
“The father . . . of the baby.”
He blinked in surprise when she straightened with a jerking motion. His embracing arms fell down around her hips.
“You’re the father, Rill.”
He knew he’d done the wrong thing immediately when he laughed. Anger sparked in Katie’s eyes.