Choosing Life

Chapter Fifty Four

"How...how soon before you can take the other test?" Chad asked, shifting his weight from side to side; regret gnawing at him for not being there when Ginny took the first test. He didn't think there was a false positive in this case though—when a literal Goddess was coming to speak to you, chances were there was nothing false about it.

Plus Mal knew how much Ginny wanted this. As the purple-haired Queen liked to say, she was wicked, not cruel.

Ginny's voice wavered as she spoke, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her shirt. "The instructions said to wait a week before taking another test," she explained, her eyes flickering with worry as the possibility of a false positive began to sink in. "They mentioned something about hormone levels needing time to return to normal."

"Okay..." Chad said softly, hating himself for having to be the one to dampen Ginny's excitement.

Ginny's voice trembled as she spoke, every word coming out in a rush. "So for this week...I'm pregnant," she announced, her hand instinctively reaching to protect her stomach. Her eyes darted to the small plastic stick in Chad's hands, hoping beyond hope that it hadn't tricked her. "And if next week, the test is positive again..." she trailed off, unsure of what the future might hold. The room fell silent, the weight of her words hanging heavily in the air.

"It'll be real," Chad whispered, walking over to Ginny and holding her close once more.

She couldn't help but smile, her eyes shining with anticipation. "I hope so," she replied, her voice tinged with both excitement and nerves. Her fingers fidgeted nervously with the hem of her shirt once more as she gazed into Chad's eyes, hoping that this moment would truly become a reality. She couldn't help her growing smile even as a mix of hope and doubt began to fill her heart. "I really hope so," she reiterated; the words echoing in the air between them like a prayer.

Chad reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. "I'm making this real," he said, his thumb tracing circles on the back of her hand as he tried to keep the slight tremble in his voice inaudible. He knew that Lady Eileithyia had come to speak to his wife, knew that she would only do so if there was only one possibility for them, but he also knew they wanted to eliminate all doubt. "And I promise you, Gin," he whispered, "this time next week, we'll be celebrating a positive pregnancy test."

Ginny's lips curled up into a soft, genuine smile as Chad leaned down and planted a light kiss on the top of her head. The days seemed to drag on endlessly, each second feeling like an hour, but finally the day arrived for them to retake the test. It had been a long, anxious wait, filled with nervous thoughts and restless anticipation. But the day was finally here.

Chad watched as Ginny paced nervously around the kitchen, waiting for the timer to go off on the second pregnancy test. The ticking of the timer seemed to echo loudly in the otherwise quiet room, the only other sounds being Ginny's light footsteps as she paced back and forth and the slight jangle of Bruno's collar as he kept his humans company.

"Gin, calm down," Chad said as he continued to watch her pace. If she was pregnant, there was no way that the nervous energy could be good for the baby."Did...did Lady Eileithyia give you a due date by the way?"

Ginny's pacing quickened as she spoke, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as she had done all week. "She said sometime in November," she said, her voice tinged with disbelief. "But that means it was a false positive, right? It's August right now. How could someone not know they're pregnant for so long?"

She let out a frustrated huff and ran her fingers through her hair, still pacing around the kitchen.

"Jane, Queen Rapunzel, Mal apparently from what Ben's told me," Chad listed.