“But what if he says yes?” Tachina removed her hands from her face and met the wide-eyed gaze of her friend.
Addison blinked then smiled.
“I already told you I would throw the cutest sprinkle shower the city has ever seen,” she declared. “And if he does say yes, then you need to figure out if your hormones are the only thing talking or if your heart is sneaking into the conversation.”
Tachina swallowed hard. That was the question she had been avoiding. She wanted another baby.
Bad.
That was the real part. It was undeniable that she wanted another child to love. She had enough to go around, and Kian deserved a sibling.
But the father she wanted…
The one man she trusted…
The one she’d chosen…
Was Vic.
And that meant something, right?
Maybe more than she was ready to admit.
Tachina sat in the obstetrician’s waiting room with one hand resting protectively over the small swell of her stomach. The late-morning sun filtered through the blinds. She eyed the posters on the wall and sighed. Everything was pastel andcheerful, like pregnancy was a guaranteed parade of glowing cheeks and happiness.
But all that seemed to surround her was silence.
She’d looked around the room, pretending to scroll on her phone and pretending to be unbothered by what she saw.
Couples.
Everywhere.
Partners holding hands. Partners rubbing bellies. Partners whispering something private and tender that made the pregnant women laugh. One man kissed his girlfriend’s temple, while another rested his hand on the back of his wife’s chair in a protective manner.
Tachina swallowed hard and tucked her purse closer.
She was alone.
She had told Vic that she had an appointment that day. Just a routine checkup, nothing urgent. He’d immediately asked if he should come, and she’d said no before he’d finished the question. He’d had a huge meeting that day, and she hadn’t wanted to interrupt his work.
She didn’t want to appear to be needy.
Didn’t want to drag him into the day to day of a pregnancy neither of them had planned.
She’d promised to text him updates when she’d left.
A nurse called another couple back. The woman needed assistance getting up, and the man with her helped her up. They laughed at whatever joke he had told. She watched them walk with the nurse through the open doorway.
Tachina blinked hard, unable to stop her vision from blurring from unshed tears.
She wasn’t unloved. She wasn’t unsupported. Addison had gone with her to every big scan so far. Her mother called constantly, fussing over her like she was carrying the first baby ever created. She was not alone.
Not really.
But she wasn’t with the baby’s father.
No one warned her about that ache. The empty space beside her chair felt too loud. It was like someone held a spotlight on it to showcase that she was alone.