Invisible String

45

The nurse came back in with a hospital gown and a cup. “We’re going to run a urine test first thing, okay? Just in case. I’ll give you a few minutes to change.”

I nodded, slowly swinging my legs over the edge of the bed while Travis helped me up. The cramps were relentless now, but I was trying to stay calm — for him, for me, for the tiny thread of denial I was still clinging to.

He helped me to the bathroom, hovering near the door like he wanted to come in and hold me upright but knew better.

“I’m okay,” I whispered, even though I really wasn’t. “Just give me a second.”

I shut the door and stared at myself in the mirror. I looked pale, a little clammy, tired — but more than anything, I looked terrified. My hands trembled as I changed into the gown and did what they asked. Just the act of sitting down and standing back up made me feel like my insides were pulling apart.

When I opened the bathroom door, Travis was waiting, and the nurse took the cup from me gently. “We’ll get this tested right away. Someone will be in shortly to check your vitals and order imaging, if needed.”

After she left, Travis helped me back onto the bed, then pulled a chair close so he could sit beside me. His knee bounced. He kept rubbing his thumb over mine like it grounded him — and maybe it did. Maybe it did for both of us.

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” I whispered after a long pause. “If I’m… if I’m pregnant…”

Travis looked at me, his expression unreadable for a second. “We weren’t trying,” he said quietly. “But we also weren’t careful. I think… maybe part of us wanted to believe it couldn’t happen.”

“We spent so long thinking it wouldn’t,” I murmured. “Years of trying. Years of heartbreak. And now…”

His hand tightened around mine. “Now we wait. And whatever happens, we deal with it. Together.”

The door opened again and a nurse came in, clipboard in hand. “Okay, Taylor,” she said gently. “We just got your urine test back.”

My breath caught.

She gave me a soft smile. “You’re pregnant.”

The words hung in the air, too big, too fast, too impossible. I stared at her, blinked once, then turned to Travis — whose mouth had fallen slightly open.

Pregnant.

The cramps. The no bleeding. The pressure.

A laugh slipped out of me, sharp and disbelieving. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The nurse’s smile didn’t falter. “It looks like you’re having contractions, sweetheart. We’re going to get you hooked up to monitors and an ultrasound, but… you might not be going home right away.”

Travis stood slowly, stunned, his eyes locked on mine. “Tay…” he whispered. “We’re having a baby?”

I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know if I should cry, scream, or laugh again. All I knew was the world had just shifted — again.

And I was already in labor.

Everything after that felt like it moved in fast-forward and slow motion all at once.

Within minutes, a second nurse came in to help get the fetal monitors strapped around my belly. My gown felt loose and strange, and the pressure in my lower back made it hard to stay still, but I kept my eyes locked on Travis, who sat beside me gripping the edge of his chair like he might fall out of it.

He hadn’t said anything else, not since the nurse told us.

Pregnant.

And already in labor.