I'm resurrecting one of my older titles for Throwback Thursday, but rather than my standard excerpt I'm giving you a juicy moment from the middle. If you haven't read it, I hope you'll check it out here:
Natalie was irritable and sleeping all the time. The first week
of January, she barely wanted to get out of bed. It wasn't until she started
throwing up in the mornings that it occurred to Alex what the problem might be.
He left her alone for a few minutes while he went to the
store, and when he returned he slapped a small box on the nightstand next to
her bed.
"What is that?" she asked groggily.
"An early pregnancy test. Read the instructions and
take it." Try as he might, he knew his tone was not pleasant.
Natalie appeared surprised. "Why would I…we said we
were going to wait…" she looked at him. "Oh my God."
He felt his eyes brim with tears. "Just take it,
please. I have to know. We have to know."
She sat up and looked at the box. "Oh, Alex, no. It
can't be. I can't be!"
He picked up the box and thrust it at her. "Go find
out."
She opened the package and read the instructions. "It
says to use first morning urine."
"We're not waiting until morning. Do it now."
She looked at him with wide, frightened eyes.
"Please," he added carefully.
She nodded and took the test into the bathroom, emerging a
few minutes later. "Five minutes."
"Okay." He nodded and paced the room.
"It never occurred to me," she said sullenly, and
sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked at her incredulously. "Didn't the doctor
talk to you about the possibility?"
She shrugged. "She asked me if I was on birth control
and I said yes."
He knelt in front of her. "Natalie, you're not.
Remember, we talked about this? Pills, diaphragms, whatevers…those are you
being on birth control. Condoms are me
being on birth control." He balled his hands into fists. "I told you
to talk to your doctor about getting you on something, dammit!"
"So you're saying this is my fault?"
"I never said that." He willed himself to calm
down. Okay, maybe I said it in a
roundabout kind of way. But I didn't
mean it. He looked at the clock. "It's been five minutes."
She stood up silently and he followed her to the bathroom.
She picked up the test stick. "Plus sign means yes, minus means no."
She looked at it. She studied it. She handed it to him, and he studied it.
"It looks like a freaking blue minus sign on top of a
pink plus sign."
"I thought so, too."
He tossed the stick on the counter. "So much for that
fifteen dollars. We know exactly what we knew ten minutes ago. Nothing."
She rubbed her hands over her arms. "I don't think you're
angry about the fifteen dollars."
He walked out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the
bed. "Gotta start somewhere."
"You're angry that I might be pregnant?" She
faced him.
"You're not?"
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Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for that post. I love your books!
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks Val!!!
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