Jamie sighed. Out with it then. “I think you’re pregnant.”
A silence descended on his kitchen, as Claire stared daggers at him and he fought to not shrink away from her gaze.
She huffed. “You bastard. How could you say that to me?”
She tried to push by him, but he laid a steady hand on the counter, blocking her path.
“Claire, it would explain…”
“I’ll be damned if you’re going to say something that…cruel to me every time you think I’m being…hormonal!” She shoved him, and he finally took a step back, letting her pass.
“Will ye take a test at least?” He said to her back, and she froze.
“I explained this to you, in detail. That is not in the cards for me, and you said you understood.” A dark chuckle escaped her. “What, did you think you’d be the exception? That somehow with you, it’d be a better match, and I’d magically get knocked up? And you want me to pee on a stick on the sick hope that maybe everything I told you wasn’t true?”
“That’s not what I’m saying!” He roared, his fist slamming on the counter. “There’s something wrong with ye, and you’re just ignoring it! Do you think your hiding how many times you get sick each night? How about the dark circles under your eyes from no’ sleeping?”
“You don’t own me because we’re fucking!”
Jamie’s heart dropped to the bottom of his stomach, where he felt it shatter and dissolve.
“We’re just fucking now, are we?” He said quietly. “Good to know.”
She grabbed her jacket and purse and headed for the door. Thank God, Jamie thought, because he couldn’t stop the tears running down his face.
He watched her fumble through her purse for her keys and phone. He wanted to beg her to stay, but the anger and pain coursing through him held his mouth shut. Her shoulders heaved, and she turned, not meeting his eyes.
“I’m going home. I need to think.”
“Aye.” He choked out. “You’ve already gutted me, woman. You may as well finish it.”
Where We Begin, at chapter 14, @laythornmuse
