Surprised, I look at her in shock. My parents have been gone for so long that sometimes it’s easy to forget they had friends who missed them as well. Dr. Kay and my mother grew up together so she has known me all my life and been my doctor for years. I trust her completely, which is saying a lot. “I love her,” I find myself admitting.

“I could see that from our first meeting. I’m here for you both,” she replies just as Lia walks back into the room. I stand and help her back onto the table, receiving a smile of approval from Dr. Kay. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Dr. Kay has removed the cast from Lia’s now pale wrist and is massaging it. “Your wrist will still be tender and stiff for a few weeks, but normal mobility should return soon. Now, have you had any further issues with headaches since your last visit?”

“I’ve felt fine,” Lia assures her. I had downplayed to Lia how concerned I was when the doctors discovered she had swelling on her brain after her attack. Luckily, they were able to treat it with medication and were not forced to surgically relieve it, which could have caused more complications.

Dr. Kay makes a note in her chart. “That’s excellent. At the first sign of anything unusual, I want you to contact me. Even if it’s just a minor headache. I don’t expect any problems, but it never hurts to be overly cautious for a while.” As she is finishing her instructions, her nurse walks back in and hands her a slip of paper. I know it has to be the pregnancy test results. A quick look at Lia and I can see from her expression that she is wary.  Dr. Kay looks briefly at the paper before sticking it in the chart. “Congratulations, Lia and Lucian. It looks like you’re having a baby.”

I feel as if I’ve had the breath knocked from my body and Lia doesn’t look much better. “I’m pregnant?” Lia asks shakily. “Are you sure?”

Dr. Kay shoots me a look that plainly says, get your head out of your ass and show your girlfriend some support. Putting my own anxiety aside, I get quickly to my feet and go to Lia. I take her hand firmly in mine and smile reassuringly as she looks up at me.

“Your pregnancy test is positive, so yes, I’m sure. You will stop by our lab on the way out and have blood drawn so we can check your HCG levels for confirmation. Do you have an OB/GYN doctor?”

“I've never really had even a family doctor,” Lia replies, looking embarrassed.

I see Dr. Kay’s audible swallow before she says briskly, “No worries, dear. I can recommend a colleague of mine, Dr. Sitton.”

“Lia will need a female doctor,” I find myself blurting out. Lia squeezes my hand, hopefully in gratitude, while Dr. Kay just looks at me in amusement. Yeah, I’m a possessive man who doesn’t want another male touching my girlfriend and I don’t give a shit who knows it.

“Dr. Julia Sitton is a wonderful physician and I believe you will be very comfortable with her, Lia.” I smirk at Dr. Kay’s emphasis that the OB/GYN is female. If she thinks to shame me for my caveman tendencies, then she’s going to be sadly disappointed.

When we walk out the door of the doctor’s office, Lia is clutching my hand like a lifeline. I study her face and note she looks dazed and terrified. It makes me wonder why I’m so calm and composed. I had panicked for a few moments after Dr. Kay told us the news, but then something flipped inside of me, and I felt strangely centered. It was probably a case of shock, pure and simple. I open the passenger door of the Range Rover and help her up into the seat. When she just sits there, I lean over her to buckle the seatbelt before closing her door and going to the driver’s side to get in. Instead of starting the car right away, I ask, “Are you all right, baby?”

She doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, and I’m getting ready to repeat my question when she finally shifts in her seat and looks at me. “I’m pregnant, Luc. I never expected to hear that today.” Her hand falls to her stomach and she rubs it absently. “Everything feels just the same to me. I think she’s wrong.”

Fear rolls off her in waves. I unclip her seatbelt, drop my seat back, and pull her carefully across the console and into my lap. It’s a bit awkward and cramped, but I eventually have her settled sideways. I wrap my arms around her and attempt to absorb some of her distress. “I know you’re scared. I am, as well. But there is nothing we have to do today. We don’t even have to discuss it if you don’t want to.” I’m trying to give her a reprieve, even if it’s a brief one.

She sits quietly as if considering my words. She absently toys with the fingers on one of my hands before she says, “You know what I come from. What if having children flips some switch inside of me?”

“What kind of switch?” I ask, although I suspect I already know her answer.

“It could make me like her…my mom. For all I know, she wasn’t always the person she is now. Maybe I made her that way. I was probably a really bad baby and—”

“Lia,” I interrupt, not willing to let her do this to herself. My beautiful, selfless girl wants to assume the blame for her mother’s atrocities and I won’t allow that. Anyone who would abuse a child had evil in them from the moment they were born. “Nothing that happened to you was your fault. There are a lot of mothers who live through difficult circumstances each day and do not raise a hand to their children. I don’t care if you were a difficult baby or a bratty child; there is no justification for how your mother treated you.”