Chapter 2

Ethan didn't come home until well after midnight.

I didn't turn on the lights. I'm not sure why.

Maybe I wanted to see his face in the moment before he could arrange it. Maybe I just didn't trust my own expression under a lamp.

The contract was spread open on the coffee table in front of me. I'd reread that one line so many times I could've recited it backwards.

He had three years to learn my face. He should know what's coming.

"Nina?" The hall light clicked on. His footsteps came toward me, slow and tired.

"Sweetheart, why are you sitting in the dark? You know that's bad for —"

I didn't answer. I just looked at him.

After a beat, he came closer, every line of his face arranged into something gentle and concerned, the role he'd been playing for three years and was very, very good at.

He bent down to kiss my forehead the way he did every night.

I turned my face away before his lips could land.

"Nina?" There was a small, careful confusion in his voice now. "What's wrong?"

"Ethan." I kept my voice level. "The contract from the maternity center arrived today."

"The due date is next month. And it says I'm carrying twins."

For half a second — just half — his face did absolutely nothing.

Then he laughed, soft and rueful, and crouched down in front of me.

He took my hand in both of his, the way he always did when he was about to talk me out of something.

"God, sweetheart, I was going to tell you about that today." His thumb traced over my knuckles.

"Their system glitched last week — merged two patient files together. I already called and chewed them out. They swore to me they'd fix it."

He looked up at me with the same warm, apologetic eyes I'd been looking into across a kitchen table for three years.

He squeezed my hand.

"Come on, baby. You're pregnant. You can't let yourself spiral over something like this. It's not good for her."

A week ago, I would've believed him.

A day ago, I would've believed him.

But this time, I was really looking.

And I didn't miss the flicker of panic at the bottom of his eyes.