Elena shoved the key into the front door of her house, relieved by the familiar scent that greeted her, some combination of dryer sheets and childhood security. She sighed heavily as she stepped into the dark house, unnerved by the silence there. This was the longest she’d been away from her home in her entire life; coming back to the dark, uninhabited house after almost two and a half months somehow amplified her loneliness. Like she’d really come back to nothing.

She set her luggage by the staircase at the front door and wandered through the house, flipping on lights, trying to make it feel full. Lived in. Like she’d never left. Pictures of her parents smiled down at her—family portraits dotting hallways, embarrassing school photos she’d never bothered to take down after her parents’ passing.

In the kitchen, she rummaged through her purse to find the small plastic bag she’d stashed there—the pregnancy test she’d spent way too much money on in an airport in Germany. As if the excessive amount of euros weren’t bad enough, she already knew what it would say. But she needed the confirmation—just to erase any doubt that this all still might be some apocalyptic premenstrual mood swing.

She headed for the bathroom then paused, checking the wall clock. Five p.m. Wasn’t she supposed to take these first thing in the morning? But hell—what was five p.m. pacific time anyway? After so much travel and screwy time zone hopping, she had no idea what cycle her body was on. And besides, she couldn’t wait any longer.

She sat on the toilet and lined the stick up, relaxing enough to pee and aim. After a shaky start, she nailed the test strip. She set it aside and finished up, eyes never leaving the tiny result window, hands shaking as she pulled up her pants.

Within seconds, the test screen showed a plus sign.

She gulped and then laughed and then started to cry.

* * *

Later that evening Aubrey stopped by with Mexican food, Chinese takeout, and two whole tubs of ice cream.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d want,” Aubrey explained, setting down several glorious-smelling bags. “I just know we need to comfort eat.” She paused. “For three.”

Elena laughed, hand drifting to her stomach. There was truly a seed germinating in there. And it was more thrilling than she could have imagined, even though it happened totally opposite from how she’d planned it. “Well let’s do it. I’m whooped after all this travel, so I want to eat and then pass out on the couch.”

“Sounds like a plan, sister.” Aubrey brought out the various boxes of food, and they got to work piling it on their plates, which they both took out into the living room for some Netflix. While Elena scanned the selections, Aubrey chewed thoughtfully on a piece of broccoli.

“Don’t you think you should tell Asim?”

Elena glanced over at her, unamused. “I’m not going to. It’ll just be a disappointment. That man doesn’t want anything besides pussy and…” She struggled to find the word. “And amusement. Telling him he has a bun in the oven won’t endear him to me. He’ll probably just send me to live in the harem where he keeps all the other women he’s knocked up.”

“Ouch.” Aubrey laughed. “I’ve never heard you so bitter before.”

“I’m not bitter,” she said, abandoning the Netflix hunt for a good movie. “I’m just being realistic.”

Aubrey shrugged. “He seems like he’d step up to the plate, is all I’m saying.”

“Well, I don’t think he’ll step all the way up. Not that I’d want him to. He’s a nice man, yes, but he doesn’t want a family. He doesn’t even want to be with me.” Emotion swelled and she paused, letting it subside. “I won’t tell him until someday down the road. Maybe then he’ll be ready for a family. The last thing I want to do is start a family with someone by accident, and then trap him into the obligation. I won’t do it like that. Not when he doesn’t want it in the first place.”

“Maybe he should have wrapped it up then,” Aubrey pointed out, lifting a brow.

Elena grinned, tossing a pillow at her. “Thanks for that.”

“I’m here to keep it real.”

“Well, I think I’m keeping it pretty real too. I might tell him once the baby is born. But not now. I already know what the outcome would be, and honestly, it would hurt too much.”

Aubrey frowned. “You know, you don’t have to raise this baby alone. I’m gonna be here to help you. Hell, I can be the second mom if you want!”

Elena smirked, scrolling through the action-adventure section. Still no good options. Why did it take a year and a day to find something good? “Oh, come on.”

“No, I’m serious!” Aubrey set her plate of food on her lap, leaning forward with serious eyes. “Look at me. I’m here for you, girl. We can even get married if you want.”

Elena snorted. “Oh yeah? You’d turn for me?”

“I mean, you’d have to be okay with me having a guy on the side. I’d be okay if you have a guy on the side. But would you be okay if Nasir was my side dude? He’d be my first pick.”

“You think you’ll ever see him again?”

“Eh, you’re probably right. Who knows where his LA house is. As long as we’re faithful to our sacred womanhood vows, that’s all I want.”

“That sounds a lot like what we already have going on,” Elena said, laughing.

“Yeah, I couldn’t go full lesbian,” Aubrey said, stabbing some chopsticks into the Chinese box. “We’ll have our own rooms. The kid will just think it’s normal. We’ll have to reveal to him when he’s eighteen that mommy and mommy have never even kissed.”

Elena laughed, the remote slipping from her hand. “What a confused child we’d have.”

They finally settled on a rom-com, one that made her laugh and cry in equal measure. Once Aubrey retired to the guest room to sleep, Elena made her way to her own bedroom, heart heavy with longing.

How can you miss him already? Each passing hour made her regret a little bit more how she’d slipped away without any word, without even saying goodbye. Even just snagging one more kiss would have been nice. Settling into bed, pulling her cold, familiar covers over her body, she curled into a ball, wishing his weight and heat were behind her.

A hand drifted to her belly, as she was sure it would many times in the coming months. Oh, little one, what will I tell you someday about your father? She could make up a story about his death…leave it vague and sad, but full of distant heroism. Or maybe she’d tell her future child the truth, however sordid—that their father fake-proposed to her on a whim, to further his own agenda, and then Elena slunk away to her homeland, scarred and heartbroken.

But that didn’t seem quite right either.

Maybe all she’d say was simply that she’d met their father in a faraway land…and that she’d loved him very, very much.

That, at least, contained part of the truth.