Nothing Good Gets Away

Chapter 71

ROWAN STYLES

As the alarm on my phone sounds, I feel my heart stop before it starts to beat rapidly inside my chest. I stand so quickly from the edge of the bed that I feel light-headed for a moment, which forces me to stop and just take a breath.

I tuck my hair behind my ears and take brisk strides to the ensuite across the room, looking down at the pregnancy test on the counter. It's just a stick, yet whatever is on the other side of it will either make my life or shatter my hope.

"Okay," I exhale a controlled breath, looking back at myself in the mirror as I try and convince myself that either answer is fine before I flip the stick to check the small screen.

Clear as day, I see one singular, solitary, lonesome straight blue line. I'm not pregnant.

I swallow audibly and keep blinking when I feel my eyes start to sting. The fact that I'm crying, or trying not to, is absolutely ridiculous when I know this is the first month I could have possibly become pregnant in the first place.

I had my period right before the wedding and I'm supposed to get my period in the next two days. It would have made more sense for me to see if my period never came, but I was hoping I could be surprised and learn that I'm pregnant on my birthday instead. That would have been the best gift I could ask for.

"Hey, Row?"

Quickly, I sniffle and shove the test into the top drawer in the bathroom vanity before I leave the ensuite to see Harry letting himself into the room. He doesn't know that I took the test and doesn't seem to notice anything is off with me either.

"Yeah?"

He gestures to me with a light chuckle. "You're not dressed."

"Oh," I look down at my outfit of leggings and a hoodie. "Sorry, I got distracted and started organizing my drawers in the vanity."

He shrugs and falls on the bed to lie on his back. "It's your party. I'm sure we can be as late as we want to."

I simply nod and cross the room to get to our closet so I can pick out an outfit to put on just to have dinner at my parents' house. I was excited about this last week, but now I think I'd rather stay in my lounge clothes and sulk over the anticipation of my period coming sooner than a baby will be.

But in the end, I choose a plain grey sweater dress to pair with my favorite tall black boots and decide at the last minute to put my hair up in a strategically messy bun for a more casual look. Meanwhile, Harry is patiently waiting on the bed for me, scrolling through his phone.

"Okay, I guess we should feed Scout and go," I speak my thoughts aloud, and Harry takes it upon himself to go down first to fill Scout's food bowl while I roll my perfume on.

Before leaving the room, I give myself a look in the mirror, and it's not exactly a kind or happy one. When I'm not happy, it's mostly obvious and now I'm going to have to sit down with my family and my husband to celebrate my birthday with a smile on my face.

All I take from the bedroom with me is my phone before I meet Harry downstairs. He stands from the couch in my presence and calls Scout to come back inside while I find my keys by the front door. Per usual, I let him drive even though we're only just going down the street a few miles, and I'm just trying to act normal.

"You look nice," he says to me as he takes my hand to hold while he drives.

"Thank you," I glance at his outfit of a warm cashmere jumper and wool trousers. "So do you."

As we pull up to the house, I see Tom's Range Rover parked near the curb out front. Celine has been around less and less ever since our wedding, and even before then. She spends most of her time at Tom's house now, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she moves in with him.