Page 71 of Code Violation

“Ves …” I warn. “What the fuck is going on?”

She just chuckles, and I breathe an internal sigh of relief. She wouldn’t be amused if whatever she needed to tell me was bad.

“So, you know how we got a negative result the other day?”

She reaches into her bag and pulls out another pregnancy test. At first, I conclude that it’s the original test Vesper took, but as she turns it around and shows me the display, the lines don’t look like they did before.

“Vesper …” My voice quivers. “Are you …”

She presses her lips together. “I thought I was getting my period, but when it never came, I took another test this morning, just to be sure. It came back positive. I’m pregnant.”

Men are often told that they shouldn’t cry, that it’s a sign of weakness.

Fuck that.

I pull her into my arms, burying my face in her neck. “How are you feeling?”

“Like this is the craziest but also the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I take her trembling hand into mine. “You’re shaking.”

“No,” she whispers, “I’m excited. When the first test came back negative, I was freaking gutted, Silas. I guess I should’ve realized that taking a test so soon after we slept together was always going to be inaccurate. Even though I had the most irregular cycle, I thought my period was due.” She motions between us. “But you and me, raising a child together? It was like this door to a whole new world opened up and then got slammed shut in my face. And now … and now it’s reopened.”

I fucking kiss her because that’s all I can do. Words aren’t enough at this moment, so I give her my mouth.

Breaking the kiss, I rest my forehead against hers, both of our chests heaving.

I wish she didn’t have to go to work, that we had all night to absorb the news.

My hand finds Vesper’s stomach. “I’m going to be a dad.”

“These past three years have been steeped in regret for me, Si. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve hated myself for going back to a man who didn’t deserve another chance.” She rests her small palm over the top of my hand. “Thank you for knocking on my apartment door that day and telling me what you did. Tossing that pill and not taking it was the best choice I’ve ever made, even if it feels like the scariest one.”

Our mouths meet again, and she parts her lips for my tongue.

The temptation to point out the obvious—that friends don’t kiss and definitely not like this—is strong. But her lips are on mine, and my baby is growing inside her.

I’d say that I’m moving in the right direction.

“Silas,” Vesper murmurs against my lips.

I smile onto hers. “Yeah?”

“I need to get to work.”

I slide my hand from her stomach to the back of her head. “You could always just … not go?”

She shakes her head. “No. I love my job, and I want to work every shift available to me between now and when I go on maternity leave.”

Her reaction is exactly the one I predicted and I laugh to myself.

“Why are you chuckling?” she asks, sounding annoyed.

I kiss her again, smiling like a fucking fool. “Just you. I don’t know if you’ve worked out yet why I love you, but that sentence right there sums my feelings up perfectly.”

“Be more specific,” she presses.

Vesper might need to leave for work, but she’s going to spend at least five minutes in my lap. I’ll drive her to work myself so she isn’t late.