THE BABY
JESS
The morning sunlight streamed through the thin hotel curtains, casting long streaks of gold across the room, but that’s not what woke me up because I wasn’t sleeping. The entire night, I lay awake thinking about what could have happened and where he could be. Somewhere, deep down, I knew he was alive, and so was Josh.
They had to be.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands, my fingers absentmindedly tracing the faint curve of my belly. I couldn’t hide it anymore. I was almost at 3 weeks–and I felt it. Felt him . or her, a tiny heartbeat tied irrevocably to Luke.
Luke.
The name lingered in my mind, a sharp ache that pulsed with every breath. He was everywhere and nowhere all at once. My hand automatically reached for my phone to text him before I remembered.
In the hollow silence that filled the space where his laugh used. to be.
Laura’s voice broke through the fog. “Jess? Are you even listening?”
I blinked and glanced up at her. She was standing by the window, arms crossed, her sharp green eyes fixed on me with a
THE BABY
mix of worry and determination.
“Sorry,” I murmured, my voice hoarse.
She sighed and sat down beside me, her knee bumping mine. “You’re shutting down again. I get it. I do. But you can’t ignore this.”
“I’m not ignoring it,” I said quietly, though even I didn’t believe it.
Laura raised a brow. “Jess. You haven’t eaten breakfast, you barely sleep, and you refuse to talk about…” She gestured vaguely at my stomach. “That.”
I flinched at her words, my arms instinctively wrapping around myself. “I don’t know how to do this, Laura. Any of it. How am I supposed to ” My voice cracked and I looked away, blinking hard against the tears threatening to spill. “How am I supposed to raise a baby without him?”
Laura softened, her hand covering mine. “You’re not alone, Jess. You have me. And you don’t have to figure it all out today. But right now, we need to make sure you’re okay. And the baby, too.”
Her words struck a chord, and I bit my lip, staring at the floor. She was right. As much as it hurt as much as I wanted to curl up and pretend the world didn’t exist, I couldn’t.
“I…” I started, hesitating.
Laura–smiled gently like she knew I’d give in eventually. “Good, because I already made the appointment.”
My head snapped up. “You what?
THE BABY
-288 Vouchers
“Don’t look at me like that. You’ve been dragging your feet for weeks, Jess. It’s time.” She squeezed my hand. “I’ll go with you. You don’t have to do this alone.”
A faint smile tugged at the corners of my lips despite the heaviness in my chest. “You’re bossy, you know that?”
“Someone has to be,” she quipped, standing up and grabbing her bag. “Now, get dressed. We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”
As she moved to the other side of the room, my phone buzzed on the nightstand. I reached for it, my heart skipping when I saw the name on the screen.
