Page 266 of What We Become

“I don’t know.” My voice sounds weirdly thin to my own ears. “It smelled good for like half a second and then suddenly I wanted to die.”

Micah comes in from outside at that exact moment, cold air slipping in with him. He’s got an armful of split wood against his chest, curls wind-tossed, cheeks pink from the cold. He takes one look at my face and sets the wood down with a clatter.

“Baby girl?”

“I’m fine,” I say automatically.

All three men make identical expressions that clearly communicate “liar.”

Holden’s eyes sweep over me. “How long?”

I blink at him. “How long what?”

“Have you felt sick?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t.” I think about it. “Not like this. Maybe a little off the last few mornings? But I thought I was just tired.”

Milo and Micah stare at me.

Holden goes utterly still.

And then from outside, Knox opens the door, steps in shirtless and carrying more wood, and the entire room turns toward him with such synchronized intensity that even he pauses.

His gaze lands on me first.

“Fury?”

I open my mouth and hesitate before saying, “I threw up because of French toast.”

Knox sets the wood down slowly.

“I’m fine.” My voice pitches on the last word, and even I don’t believe it.

Knox crosses the room and presses the back of his hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel warm.”

“Could be a stomach bug,” Micah says. “There’s one going around. You should go back to bed. I’ll bring you something bland—crackers, maybe some broth.”

“I’m fine, seriously. I’m probably just⁠—”

“Pregnant,” Milo says with a solemn nod.

Holden spits coffee across the table, a full, pressurized spray that hits his phone, the salt shaker, and the strawberry French toast heart in a wide arc of caffeinated panic. He coughs, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, and stares at Milo like he’s announced the building is on fire.

“The fuck, Milo?”

“What? I’m just stating the obvious.”

“But she’s on birth control,” Eli says from the doorway, still looking half asleep. He rubs a hand over his already messy hair, and even with my stomach staging a revolt, I still take a moment to appreciate him in nothing but gray sweatpants. “She’s been on birth control since⁠—”

“Doesn’t mean it always works,” Milo says.

“He’s right,” Micah says quietly. “No method is a hundred percent. If she’s nauseous in the morning, especially with food aversion⁠—”

“That doesn’t mean she’s pregnant,” Holden says. “That means she’s nauseous. It could be anything. Food poisoning. A virus. Stress.”

“When was her last period?” Eli asks, looking at Milo because we all know he tracks my cycle in his custom app.

“It’s been irregular all year,” Milo says matter-of-factly. “We went to the gyno and she said stress can⁠—”