Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103620 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 414(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Why not?”
“Because we’ve been kinda busy?”
“Right, yeah,” he says. And then I see him working through it in his mind. I can’t decide if I want to start volunteering a bunch of random thoughts or let him ask questions, but the indecision results in me saying nothing so I wind up going with the latter of the two by default.
“When was your last period?” he asks. It’s funny hearing it come out of his mouth. Like, it’s such a simple, easy question, but it’s just not the kind of thing Danny Fortnight usually talks about. So, watching him sitting here, naked on the floor, fumfering around the subject of my cycle like an awkward teenager is kind of sweet. And maybe just a little bit hilarious.
“I don’t know. Honestly. As noted, I’ve been distracted. But it’s been a minute.”
He nods, considering. “Who’s… or who, uh, do you think…?”
This is, of course, the real reason he’s so nervous. The only reason he’s not calling Nigel in here with a bottle of champagne at this very moment.
If I am pregnant, he’s going to want to know exactly whose it is. His or Alec’s. Not that he’d care so much necessarily, I don’t imagine. Especially not with us all back together again. Presuming we make it out of this set of circumstances alive, it very much feels like we’re together again. For good. For better or worse. In sickness and in health and all that. But still, it’s the kind of thing I figure someone might want to know. I can tell Danny does.
“Well…” I begin. “Again, I haven’t taken a test yet, but as I’ve been through it once before and all the signs are pointing to this being what I think it is…” I take a long, long pause to make sure we’re connected. “I can say confidently… it’s yours, Danny.”
My mind goes into overdrive, running at a lightning pace through my memories—such as they are—the second I see the look on Danny’s face. Have I ever seen Danny Fortnight cry? No. No way. I don’t think I have. Not possible.
Have I ever even seen him tear up? Maybe once or twice? But, if so, not in a long, long, long time.
I don’t think he’s opposed to the idea of it. I just think it’s not something that comes naturally to him. Some people just aren’t wired for that kind of emotion. And some other people, like Danny, probably are, but have had to train themselves not to experience the emotions they have for the sake of survival.
In either case, his eyes get a little misty now. It’s always easier to tell when someone with blue eyes is all in their feelings. The hint of redness that emerges contrasts with the blue of their iris in a way that they can’t hide. And Danny’s eyes are the bluest blue I’ve ever seen.
He takes another deep inhale, lets it out through his mouth and starts to say, “How do you—?”
“Because,” I interrupt, “I’ve only been with you for the last… however long.”
His eyes narrow, trying to work out what I just said. “Uh, no,” he says, “that’s not… I mean, just a little while ago…”
“Um, I’m not gonna be showing signs of being pregnant in, like, two hours, Danny. Do I need to explain to you how babies are made? Because that very much feels like something you should have learned by now.”
“No, yeah, no. Obviously.” I like watching him struggle for the right thing to say. It’s cute. “I’m just saying,” he goes on, “the three of us have, y’know, at least three times since we found Alec and…”
“And, in all of those times, you’re the only one who’s, candidly, come inside me.”
If there were a sound to accompany the expression on Danny’s face it would probably be like a phhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhoooommmp. The sound of a realization landing hard and crashing into a person’s brain.
“Seriously?” he says, after a moment.
I nod. “Yeah. We were alone together on the boat. Obviously. When we were in London, when I told you I was off birth control, Alec was… well, he was… not on the right side of a body in order to get a person pregnant.” This is a weird conversation to have to have, but if Danny can’t remember it himself, then I have to kind of spell it out, I suppose. “And, since I said that out loud, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s made a point of… keeping his distance. From that part of it. Or me. Or… whatever. At least it certainly seems that way. When he, y’know, put us together in Belfast yesterday, for example, that felt… deliberate.”
I stop. Because suddenly a thought occurs to me. That’s true. What I just said. Alec really has been keeping away somewhat. Being here with us, but putting me and Danny together first. Making sure that Danny and I are the ones who…