She let out a heavy sigh. “I want you to know I…I didn’t plan this. We tried to prevent it. You had no way of knowing the condoms were suspect. That was my mistake. You offered to go to the store in the lobby, but I was too eager and vetoed that option with bad condoms. We made this fig together—”

“Fig?”

“In week eleven, the fetus is about the size of a fig. Anyway, it takes two, of course, but I was the one with the expired condoms and I’m the one who wants this baby with my whole heart.”

She tilted her head down and studied his camouflage shirt, unable to meet his gaze as she said the important part. “You didn’t ask for this, and I don’t want my baby to have an indifferent father. I’m not going to force this on you.”

A finger under her chin gently nudged her gaze upward until she had no choice but to look into his handsome brown eyes in the dim red glow. “I already said I’m in, and I meant it. We made this baby together. I will love our little fig with all my heart.”

And me, Xavier? Will you be able to love me, or will I just represent shame and regrets?

The thought surprised her, but then, she’d given up on the fantasy of falling in love with her baby’s father when he tried to destroy her career. The idea that a relationship with him could be back on the table was…not something she’d ever expected to wrap her brain around.

But then…this wasn’t a brain thing. It was a heart thing.

She had to remember that when it came to Chief Warrant Officer Xavier Rivera, she needed to let her brain take the reins and leave her heart out of it.

Fig was going to have a dad. That’s what mattered. “I’m just glad we’re talking, and you know I’m pregnant. That we’re both going to love our little fig means more than I can say. Yesterday, I didn’t know if that would ever be possible.”

“Thank you for giving me a chance.”

She placed her hand over his again, which had returned to her belly. “Thank you for knocking me up.”

He let out a sharp laugh. “I think it’s appropriate to say it was literally my pleasure.”

She smiled. “And mine.”

Xavier held Audrey, spooning against him for warmth, as she dropped into sleep. He guessed it was the exhaustion of hiking and cold and pregnancy that allowed her to slip into sleep at all, given the situation. For his part, he’d been trained to sleep when needed on an op, and only waited for her to drop off before he gave in.