Page 28 of The Single Father Upstairs

"I won't,” I promised.

“You look like I did when I was pregnant,” were her parting words.

Could I be pregnant? It wasn't like Stellan and I did anything to prevent pregnancy. But we hadn't been trying either.

On the way home, I stopped at a convenience store and bought an overpriced pregnancy test, the only brand they had. It was good having no choices, because as it was, it took me ten minutes of pretending I was looking at the other shelf before I had the courage to grab it. There was no reason for me to be so shy about it. I was an adult. I had a job. I had a place to live. There was nothing wrong with me being pregnant, but still, it was embarrassing.

At home, I took the test and set my timer.

“Marmalade, you might be a big sister soon.”

She must’ve sensed my nerves, rubbing against me until I picked her up.

The wait for the timer to go off was torture, and then when it did, I was scared to look.

I grabbed my phone and texted Stellan.

Can you come here?

Sure, is something wrong?

No. I want to show you something.

I felt bad vaguely texting him, but the alternatives all felt worse.

He knocked on my door less than a minute later. "What's going on?"

I grabbed his hand and pulled him into my room. "It's in the bathroom. I can't look at it. Come with me."

"You don't need to come.” He kissed the top of my head. “I'll kill whatever it is."

He went in before I could figure out a response, and he came back out holding the pregnancy stick. "You weren't asking me to kill a spider."

"No, I wasn’t. It felt like you needed to be here to see it when I did."

He closed the distance between us. “Let’s look together.” He turned the test around, revealing two lines. "You're pregnant."

I set my hand on my belly. "I’m pregnant. That okay?"

"Oh, sweet omega, it’s so much better than okay. We're gonna be dads.”

“But you're a dad already. What about Indie?"

"Go sit on the bed."

He went back to the bathroom and came out without the pregnancy test. He sat beside me. "She's not a toddler. Her dad and his mate are giving her a sibling. She’ll be happy.”

“Does she understand I’m your mate?" We hadn’t had a sit-down talk with her yet. I kept wanting to bring that up but had been leaving the parenting side of this to him.

"She understands that. It's not like she didn't know we were mates.”

I looked at him, confused. Had he told her? He must’ve, but then why didn’t he tell me?

"Everybody who sees this knows.” He placed his hand on his mark.

“You don't think she'll mind all the changes that are coming?"

"I know she won't. She was thrilled when she found out I liked you."