Pulse

Page 71

“Liv, I’m not worried about the show. ” She sighed, attempting to compute how twisted, yet hysterical her friend was. “Just tell me what you know. ”

“It’s called a noninvasive prenatal paternity test. The woman from the show said some company, DNA Diagnostic Center, performs them at their labs across the United States. They need a blood sample from the mother and a blood sample from one of the potential fathers. ” Olivia shrugged. “That’s it. ”

Emily shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. “How can that be? Everything I read online about the amniocentesis said you need amniotic fluid to perform DNA testing prior to giving birth. ”

Olivia took a sip of her frozen Frappuccino and leaned back. “I really don’t understand it myself. She said something about fetal cells in the mother’s bloodstream. That’s it, Emily. Within ten days of the lab receiving the samples, you can go online to the DDC’s website, and you’ll have your results. ”

Ten days. Ten. Simple. Quick. Days.

Emily brought her hand to her mouth, her voice a whisper. “My God, why didn’t my doctor tell me about this months ago? This whole time, we could’ve known. ” Her heart seared. Their nightmare shouldn’t have lasted as long as it had. Hell, at that point, Emily felt all kinds of fucked up about taking her doctor’s word for it without doing further research.

“It’s a relatively new test, and let’s be honest, your doctor’s relatively old. His office is a throwback to the seventies. Shit, he still performs sonograms. ” Olivia slid her chair closer to Emily and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Maybe he didn’t know about it. Either way, you do now. ”

Emily swallowed, trying to process what’d been dumped in her lap. There was truth in Olivia’s statement. Emily now knew about the test and soon Gavin would, too. They couldn’t take back the sleepless nights over the last several months. They couldn’t remove every second of the agonizing wait they’d endured. Six and a half months of worrying whether or not she and Gavin would spend the rest of their lives tied to Dillon couldn’t be undone. Armed with new information, Emily wasn’t about to let another wicked, unknowing minute tick by. Standing, she grabbed her purse, popped a kiss on Olivia’s head, and with a scared and heavy heart, headed out the door to go tell Gavin.

She only prayed their long-awaited answer would be the one they so desperately wanted to hear.

Nerves a tangled mess, Emily stepped from the elevator into Blake Industries.

Beaming, Gavin’s secretary stood from her desk. “Hey, Emily!” she chirped, gathering her into a hug. When she pulled back, her smile widened as she gave Emily a once-over. “Not too much longer. ”

“Yeah. Not much at all. ” Emily shifted in her heels, wondering why she was wearing them. Her swollen belly had nothing on her feet at that point. “I’m ready to be done with this pregnancy. ”

“I bet. The last few weeks can be brutal, but it’s so worth it at the end. Before you know it, you’ll have a little life in your arms. You’ll forget each second of discomfort. You and Mr. Blake won’t be able to contain your excitement. ” Emily gave her a weak smile. Natalie was on the long list of people who didn’t know the real scenario. With trepidation in her brown eyes, Natalie tilted her head. “Can I… feel?”

“Of course. ” Emily took her hand and placed it on her stomach. “He’s very active this afternoon. ” And he was. Emily swore her little man was doing cartwheels. Under the silk of her sundress, her flesh rolled in waves with his squirming movements.

“God, I remember this,” Natalie sighed. “Well, enjoy it. There will come a time in your life when you realize this was one of the best parts. ”

Emily gave another weak smile and glanced toward Gavin’s office. “Is he available?”

Natalie nodded. “Yep. He just finished up a meeting, so you caught him at a good time. ”

“Thanks, Natalie. I’ll catch up with you on my way out. ”

“Sounds good,” she said, reclaiming her seat, her attention focused on the ringing phone.

Nerves instantly spiking again, Emily headed for Gavin’s office. With a quick knock, she pushed open the door. Her heart clenched the moment her eyes landed on Gavin’s smiling face. Little did he know she was about to throw a corkscrew in his day. Phone in one hand, he signaled for her to wait with the other. She sighed, taking in his relaxed demeanor. Suit jacket off and tie loose around his neck, he lazily rocked in his leather chair, talking business. Dropping her purse onto his desk, Emily settled on his lap, hoping she wasn’t crushing him. He slid his arm around her waist, his hand massaging her belly. Trying to calm her anxiety, she ran her fingers through his soft black hair. God, she loved this man, but she couldn’t help but feel as though she was the devil about to deliver bad news.

“That’s exactly what I want to hear, Bruce. We’ll be in touch. ” On that note, he hung up, his grin contagious as he gazed into Emily’s eyes. “A midday surprise. ” He brushed his lips along her jaw. “Are you presenting yourself as lunch to me?”

Emily pulled in a breath, her mind telling her to just come out and say it. No skirting around. No hesitation. Just say it. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she pressed her forehead to his. Her eyes locked on those mystifying baby blues. “There’s a blood paternity test. It has no risks, and we can have the results in days. I know we’re almost at the end of this road, but we could find out a few weeks early. We can finally be done with this… this waiting. ” Emily watched his face pale. Watched those beautiful eyes cloud over, desolation replacing the playfulness they’d held less than a minute ago. She felt his strong, hard body sag.

His hand dropped from her stomach as he looked away… then his whispered words sank her, gutted her open. “I’ve known about the test for a couple of months. ” He brought his eyes back to hers.

His statement bounced around in Emily’s head. Staring at his face, bleeding something parallel to shame, she tried to swallow. She felt dizzy as she stood, resting her hand on his desk for balance. “You’ve known?” she breathed, her eyes misting over with tears and confusion. “You’ve known about it and didn’t say anything to me?”

Gavin rose and brought his hand to her cheek, but she flinched away. For a second, he found his voice trapped, felt his heart sink. He knew the lie he was harboring would upset her, but hell, her reaction was tearing him apart. He nodded, stepping back. “I have. ”

“For how long?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“After we found out it was a boy. ” Gavin looked at the floor, remembering the day he couldn’t keep his curious fingers from clicking around the internet. A son. His possible son had fueled a need so deep within him to see if there were other options, he’d thought he was going crazy. He spent half the day online. Once he found out they could have the answer so fast, fear shot through him. Frozen in front of his computer, Gavin realized the answer may not be what he wanted to hear, what he needed to hear. It also brought on a slew of fucked up emotions he wasn’t prepared to handle. For the most part, he felt Emily was carrying his child, but as he stared at the screen, his faith vanished.