Chasing His Kickass Luna Back Chapter 351

Abby

I step out of Damon’s office with the yellow flower still pressed between my fingers. There is a bittersweet smile on my face, but not for the reasons that Damon seems to believe. After all, I’m not really smiling because a handsome prince has just given me a flower.

Rather, I’m smiling to keep the tears at bay—because the daffodils just remind me of Karl.

As I wander down the hallway, I stare down at the yellow petals and let out a small sigh. It’s almost poetic, really: the last vestige of my love for Karl in one hand—the flower—and a pregnancy test in the other hand.

Maybe something is budding inside of me, too. And if it is, then there’s another vestige of my love for Karl.

A baby.

But I still can’t bring myself to believe that I am, indeed, pregnant. After all, I have been led to believe for years that it would be extremely difficult to get pregnant due to my dead ovary.

In fact, the doctor made it very clear all those years ago that it might even be impossible.

So how could it be possible that it just… happened like this? That it’s just one big happy accident?

“Maybe Dr. Armitage’s serum worked,” my wolf repeats for what feels like the thousandth time in my head. “Maybe that’s why…”

“Or maybe I’m just sick. Food poisoning.” I almost laugh at the notion. Chef Abby, food poisoning extraordinaire. I guess that would be poetic, too. Sometimes, it feels as if food poisoning follows me everywhere these days.

And yet, I can’t deny the way that my hands shake as I reach for the handle of my team’s private chambers.

But then, I pause for a moment before opening the door. I hear voices inside. Shit. Everyone is awake already. I quickly stuff the pregnancy test box under my sweater, hiding it beneath the bulk, before taking a deep breath and heading inside.

The last thing I need right now is to be answering questions.

“There she is,” Daisy calls out as I enter the room. “We were wondering where you got off to so early.”

I smile a bit and shrug as nonchalantly as I can muster. “Just went on a walk,” I reply casually.

Ethan’s eyes fall, then, to the flower that’s still pinched between my fingers. “Did some flower-picking while you were out?” he asks.

“Dummy,” Daisy says, nudging him with her elbow. “Daffodils aren’t in season.”

Ethan chuckles. “Okay, that just makes it even more intriguing,” he says.

I didn’t realize it, but I am, in fact, still holding the daffodil. An undeniable heat creeps up into my cheeks as I look down at it now. “I, uh… found it,” I lie.

But Chloe knows better. She smirks at me from behind her cup of coffee, her mischievous eyes flashing dangerously. “You found it?” she asks. “Or maybe it was given to you?”

“Ooh,” John chimes in. “I thought I noticed that Abby and this Prince Damon were hanging around each other a lot…”

My blush deepens at their teasing. “No, guys, it’s nothing like that—”

“You know, Abby, you never told us what your dinner with the prince was like that first night,” Anton teases before I can finish. “Were there candles? Roses, perhaps?”

I feel my heart race even faster at their words. Their teasing makes me anxious, and not in a good way.

But it’s not because of the implications; it’s more so because there had, in fact, been candles at our dinner. And Damon has made multiple insinuations already. And… I miss Karl more than I want Damon. So much more.

Chloe, realizing that her initial teasing just went too far and that I’ve effectively gone completely frozen in my place, suddenly waves the others off. “Alright, alright,” she says. “Let the poor woman be.”

I let out a soft sigh of relief that the others don’t seem to notice. While they return to their coffee and chatter, I mouth a silent “Thank you” to Chloe before slipping quietly into my room.

A moment later, I’m standing in my private bathroom, staring down at the unwrapped pregnancy test in my hand. I swallow hard, noticing the rather large lump that’s just begun to form in my throat.

“Just do it,” my wolf urges. “Get it over with.”

I swallow again, which does nothing to dislodge the knot. “Yeah.”

When I’m finished a few minutes later, I carefully set the test on the counter and quickly turn away before I can see the results. “Three minutes,” I mutter under my breath. “The box says three minutes.”

My wolf snorts in the back of my head. “You know it usually doesn’t take that long.”

I purse my lips. “I’m waiting for three minutes.”

“Whatever helps you feel better…”

Chewing my lips, I wander over to the large claw foot tub and sit on the edge. I look around at the opulent bathroom to occupy myself, taking in the sheer drapes, the skylights, the ornate wallpaper and the marble floors. Real marble, not linoleum.

“Fancy place, especially for a guest bathroom,” I say with a slight chuckle. “I guess he is a prince after all.”

My wolf hums in agreement. “You think you want to live here?” she asks.

I swallow once more and wipe my sweaty palms on my knees. “It’s… tempting,” I say quietly. “But you knew that already.”

The truth is, it is tempting—really tempting. Even more so after what Damon had said to me last night. To think that, if I were to wind up a single mother, my child could live comfortably here… I could have a solid career, a place to live, a fresh start, and a secure future for my child.

In so many ways, it just makes sense.

“But you want to raise a child with Karl by your side,” my wolf says; more of a statement than a question.

I take in a shuddering breath and nod. “I do,” I admit, although once again, she already knows that. She knows it well, too, because I haven’t stopped thinking about it in days.

The fact of the matter is that I just can’t envision myself raising a child without Karl.

When he had first mentioned the possibility of the fertility treatments, the concept of single motherhood had crossed my mind. But I never really thought that it would be a possibility. Even if I did somehow manage to get pregnant, I guess I’ve always known that Karl would be there. That we would do it together.

But now… now I’m not so sure.

I don’t know what I want anymore, or what’s best, or what’s a good decision or a bad one. I don’t know if I want to forgive Karl, even if it was his going behind my back that helped me get pregnant. I don’t know if his repeated going behind my back is something that I can ever get over. I don’t know if this is an ‘ends justify the means’ sort of situation.

But I do know one thing: the three minutes is up. My future is waiting for me, right there, on the marble countertop. My future is one line or two.

Slowly, I stand on shaking legs and cross the room. The pregnancy test comes into view in front of me, and the results are as clear as day.

A gasp escapes my lips.