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Harper picks up her water glass and takes a few sips. “So, what about you and your family? Do they all live here?”
“Yes and no. I grew up not far from here with my parents. You’ve met my brother who comes over sometimes. Mostly to raid my fridge, but he’s a stellar student and just started college last year, so I can’t complain.”
Harper chuckles. “Sounds like an interesting relationship between you two.”
I grin because it’s my little brother we’re talking about here. “He wasn’t born until I was a teenager and busy with school and training for the Olympic Games, so I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him until he was older. My grandpa died a few years ago, but my grandma refused to leave her beloved home. So my parents moved to Southern California to help her, and Zane stayed with me so he could finish high school.”
“I’m sorry about your grandpa.”
I swallow. “Thanks. He was a really good guy. Came to as many meets and competitions as he could.”
“I love that. You guys sound like a tight family and like you take care of your own. That’s special.”
My heart speeds up at her words. Not a lot of people understand what family means, or at least not what family means to me. The fact she didn’t grow up in a traditional family yet still feels like this is even more amazing.
I nod my approval. “It’s what family does. Even if it’s not always easy or convenient.”
And now we’re forming a family of our own. Not a traditional one, but we’re connected, nonetheless.
My gaze flickers to her midsection, even though there’s nothing to see yet. “So . . . how far along are you now? It’s been what? A month since New Year’s?”
“Yeah, it’s been about four and a half weeks, which makes me around six and a half weeks pregnant.”
Trying to understand what she just said, I rub my chin. “Uh, I’m pretty sure I was never that bad at math.”
Harper smirks. “I was thinking the same. Apparently, pregnancies are counted from the first day of your last period and not the date of conception, which is usually around two weeks later. I had to look it up because it made no sense to me. So when you conceive, you’re basically already two weeks pregnant.”
“Interesting.”
“Yup.” She’s still grinning, clearly basking in my confusion over this.
“What else do we know so far?”
“Not much at this point. Only that the due date is September twenty-third.”
“They already know that?” Anything pregnancy related truly is like a foreign language to me.
Her cheeks turn a healthy shade of pink. “It’s . . . uh . . . it’s easy to calculate since we know the conception date one hundred percent.”
“Oh.”
The tips of her ears are pink now too. Talking about your sexual bouts in any capacity with a near stranger—especially when you’re pregnant—probably isn’t at the top of anyone’s to-do list. She already told me the other day she hadn’t been with anyone but me since her ex-husband, and I believe her. And the ex-husband topic? That’s for another day.
Harper clears her throat and looks down at her water glass, her thumbs wiping up and down the glass. “Mmm, that reminds me, there’s also a non-invasive paternity test we can take some time next month. Some places say at seven weeks, others nine, so I’d rather wait until I’m nine weeks to make sure it’s accurate.”
I’m so stunned she’s brought this up that I stay quiet.
“They only need a cheek swab from you, that’s it.”
A paternity test.
It’s not like that idea hasn’t crossed my mind, but to have Harper bring it up like this is unexpected.
She bites on her lip over and over until I’m ready to go over there and drag it out of her mouth myself.
Focus.
Paternity test.
