“No!” she wailed and wriggled out of his arms. Why was she blubbering like this? She wasn’t raised to blubber. “I mean, yes. But—but—look.”

Since her words wouldn’t cooperate, she held up the white stick.

Jeremy stared at it dumbly. “Um . . .”

“It’s a pregnancy test.”

His eyes widened.

She wiped at her tears. Swiped her nose with her sleeve. Enough with the crying already. “It’s positive.”

“You mean . . . ?” He searched her face for the truth.

“Yes.” She started crying again. “You’re going to be a daddy.”

Wonder transformed his expression, giving her heart a little lift. She managed a shaky smile, and he shouted a questionable word.

She swatted his arm. “Don’t swear.”

“Sorry.” He slid an arm around her waist and shook his head. “I couldn’t help it.”

Bea looked down at her stomach. “But she’ll hear you.”

He knelt so his face was level with her belly. “She, huh?”

Bea took a deep breath. She could do this. “Or he. Or one of each. Who knows?”

He stood and gave her a solemn look. “Hot coffee.”

“Exactly.” Her swollen eyes grew wide. “The hottest.”

He reached for her. “With a double shot of espresso.”

She leaned into him. “I just can’t believe it.”

He wrapped his arms tightly around her and laid his head on top of hers. She breathed him in, thankful for his presence. His strength. For a few minutes, it was silent in their tiny bathroom except for the drip, drip, drip of the faucet their landlord had never fixed.

When Jeremy spoke, his voice was heavy. “You’re sad because your mom’s not here for this.”

Bea nodded into his chest. Sometimes he understood her feelings better than she did, despite a childhood filled with dysfunction and neglect. Or perhaps because of it.

“She’ll never get to meet her. Or him.” Her husband’s cotton shirt muffled Bea’s voice. “She would’ve loved being a grandma.”

In some ways, the last two years had flown by. Their whirlwind romance. Jeremy’s college graduation. The wedding. But in other ways, it had been the longest two years of her life. Mom had been her best friend. Her confidant. The cancer took her so fast, it didn’t even seem real sometimes. How would she get through this without her?

“I’m scared.”

It wasn’t something anyone in her family ever liked to admit, but it was a relief to say the words out loud. Jeremy released his hold on her and touched his forehead to hers. “Me too.”

She avoided his eyes. “And you know what this means.”

He took a step back and sighed. “Don’t call him yet.”

“But—”

“Let’s just enjoy this for the weekend. I’ll take you to dinner tomorrow to celebrate, anywhere you want. You can talk to him Monday.”