Surviving Love (LarssonSiblingSeries#6)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

"Oh." She cant stop her grin. "It's a Notebook kind of night."

"And La La Land," I reply, squeezing her into a long hug, then I slip out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"I'll bring the wine," mama shouts after me, but I'm not sure if alcohol will kill the gaping wound in my chest today.

***

"You think I'm what now?" I yell, causing the young doctor to chuckle as he folds his hands together.

It's almost two weeks after my first doctors' appointment where they sent off my blood samples for various illnesses, dumbfounded by my symptoms when the test for food poisoning came back clear.

I have to say that I was very glad about that one, considering my GP gave me a fright when he believed the bacteria had spread to my blood.

Doctor Richards smiles at me. "I don't think anything. I know that you're pregnant, Laine. Congratulations."

"But," I say, unable to speak for a second. "You did a urine sample that came back negative!"

I saw it turn blue with my very own eyes. "Yes, and we sometimes get a few false negatives, which is why I asked for the labs to check for pregnancy."

"Why did you leave it this long to tell me? Oh, my goodness, I'm pregnant?" I blurt, one hundred things going around in my mind.

Doctor Richards gets up from his big leather chair to get me a cup of water, sensing by my erratic mood that the news has stressed me out. "Yes, I'm sorry about that. The other lab tests came back clear first, then I asked for the hCG levels to be checked. Here, drink this."

I thank him, sipping the water slowly. Pregnant. I'm having a baby. Theo's baby. Alone. I'm a single mother. Again. "Any clue on how far along I am?"

He smiles. "From the test, they think you're coming in at close to ten weeks, but it isn't accurate. I can set you up with an appointment at the clinic for an ultrasound for a few days. Or you can let reception know when you're free."

"I'm pregnant," I murmur, speaking the obvious when I stand up to leave the room. "Thank you, erm, anytime this week will be fine as I'm working the weekend so I have days off in the week."

"We'll call you," he says, tapping away at his computer. "See you next time."

I don't know how I get to the car park, but I do, and watching Dexter jump out of his car after waiting patiently for me must mean that I look as scared as I feel. Olive jumps out of the passenger's side door and follows behind my brother who has his hand on my back.

"I'm pregnant," I whisper, watching the pair of them look at each other, then back at me. "Ten weeks or so."

Dexter grabs me into his arms on a loud laugh. "Laine, oh my gosh, congratulations."

Olive places her hand on the back of my head. "How're you feeling about it? Are you okay?"

I keep nestled into my brothers embrace. "I don't know how to feel."

"Let's go get something to drink at the park." Squeezing me a couple of times, Dexter guides me back to the car where I slide next to a sleeping Archie in his car seat. "I think that you need somewhere to sit down and think."

The plan was to take Archie to see Delilah who is now home and recuperating on her new meds that seem to be working way better than her other ones. I think she'll understand if we're a little bit late, but I text her in case, to which she assures is completely fine.

Olive plugs her seatbelt in before swizzling around to look at me. She smiles. "A baby, huh?"

I chew on my gum extra hard. "Liv, I don't know if I'm ready for a baby right now."