“I love you, too.” I feel my lip quiver as he drags his fingertips down my cheek. “Thank you for not assuming this is an anchor baby.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“You know, when a girl gets pregnant on purpose, so the guy has to stay with her. Or so she thinks.”

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

“I know, it’s dumb. And I wouldn’t do that.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t. I think I need to remind you that loving someone means you assume the best of them, not the worst. I wouldn’t jump to horrible conclusions when something unexpected happens in our lives. And I would hope you wouldn’t, either.”

“The people I’ve had in my life before would, Keegan. And it’s sometimes hard to rewire the way you think. But I’m working on it. And I’m grateful for you and your steady calm. I’m sorry that you thought I wasn’t happy about this.”

“I wondered if you wanted to end the pregnancy.”

I turn wide eyes up to him. “No, I don’t want to do that. I don’t need to do that. I just need some time to get used to the idea, that’s all.”

“Like I said, we have time. She’s not coming next week.”

“What if it’s a he?”

He laughs and hugs me to him. “You’re funny, you know that? He’s not coming next week. Nothing is happening right away.”

“And that’s good because I don’t have the energy to handle anything else right now. I’m tired all the time and can’t stop throwing up.”

“Do you need the night off? You can get some rest, and I’ll call Maeve into work. Her hand is all healed up. She’s right as rain.”

“No, I can work. Besides, it’s a Wednesday, it won’t be too busy. The weekends are hard because I work late into the night the rest of the week, but when I go to the other job, it’s super early in the morning. My internal clock is confused.”

“I bet. From now on, you won’t work Thursday nights so you have that and Friday to go to bed earlier.”

“That’ll help,” I concede. “I can work earlier in the day, just a short shift for the lunch crowd so Maggie isn’t there for so long.”

“That should work.” He nuzzles my temple. “Are we okay, then?”

“Yeah, we’re good. I feel better after talking it all through. Everything’s going to work out just fine.”

“It’s going to be bloody brilliant,” he replies. “Now, let’s get home so you can get a nap before work, yeah?”

“You read my mind. I also want chocolate chip cookies.”

“That’s all you’ve eaten over the past few days.”