A strong hand grips my shoulder. “Son,” a deep gravelly voice has me opening my eyes. Kensington’s dad is standing beside me, his eyes glassy with tears.

“Mr. James.” I hold my hand out to him. He shakes his head and pulls me into a hug. I’m reminded that she is all he has.

Stepping back, he says, “I heard you. Just now talking to your dad. I’m so glad she found you, Max. My little girl has been broken for so long. Since she met you, she smiles more; she’s actually living again. I cannot thank you enough,” he tells me.

“Don’t thank me, sir. Loving Kensington is as easy as breathing. I meant every word,” I tell him, referring to my one-sided conversation with my father. “Loving her is an honor and a privilege that I would love to have for the rest of my life.” I lay it out there for him. He might as well know my intentions.

“That’s a long time, son,” he replies.

“Yes, and it still won’t be long enough. I love her, sir. I want to ask her to marry me, give her my last name, babies, a house, a dog. Anything and everything she wants, I want to be the one to give it to her.”

“Are you asking my permission?”

“No, sir. Don’t get me wrong, I would be honored for you to give it to me, but I don’t need it to love her.”

He smiles. “You’re a good man, Maxton. I have no doubt you will take care of her. I would be thrilled to have you as a part of our family.”

“The family of Kensington James,” a nurse calls, walking in to the room. The four of us walk toward her. “This way please.” She leads us into a private room just like the one we were just in, only smaller. “The doctor will be right with you.” She turns and walks away.

The four of us stand and stare at the door, waiting for the doctor to give us even a tiny shred of information.

“Mr. James?” a tall slender guy says, walking into the room. “I’m Dr. Knolls. I’ve been treating your daughter. Is it all right to speak freely or would you prefer we step out?” he asks.

I grit my teeth. “No, these three are just as much her family as I am. What’s wrong with my daughter? Is she awake?” he asks.

“Yes, she’s awake and doing well. It seems she passed out. From the information we got from her, it was a panic attack. Not to mention she was dehydrated and hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning. She was able to give me her history. I want to admit her for observation and some IV fluids. She should be able to go home tomorrow. They’re getting her set up in a room, and then you will be able to see her.

“Thank you.” Her dad reaches out to shake the doctor’s hand. I do the same.

I try to relax. The doctor said she’s going to be okay. Leaning my head back against the wall, I close my eyes and silently thank my dad and her mom for keeping her safe. Now I just need to see her. To see with my own eyes she’s awake and then maybe this tightness in my chest will ease up. I won’t be able to breathe with ease until she’s back in my arms where she belongs.

I’VE ONLY BEEN in my own room for five minutes when there is a knock on the door. I expect to see Maxton, but it’s the doctor.

“Kensington, we got some of your test results back. I wanted to rule out a few things even though, from the history you gave me, I feel confident what you experienced was a severe panic attack. I did find something in the results,” he says, flipping through my chart. “Your blood test came back positive for pregnancy. Congratulations. I’ll have the obstetrician who is on call today stop in to make sure everything is okay with the baby from the fall. Where you aware that you were expecting?”

Pregnant. How? “I’m on birth control.”

“Are you using any other form of protection? Birth control is not one-hundred percent effective. Changes in things such as medications, antibiotics for example, can alter its ability to prevent pregnancy. And, at times, with no other protection being used there is still that chance.”

“No… no other protection, no medications.” I’m stunned speechless. Pregnant. Oh, God, Maxton, how are we going to raise a baby together and not be together? How am I going to be a part of his everyday life and not be his, him not be mine?

“Congratulations, Kensington. The obstetrician should be in to check on you and the baby within the hour. There are several people in the waiting room very anxious to see you. Shall I send them in?” he asks me.

“Nicole?” I croak out.

“There is a girl, two guys, and your father. I’ll send in Nicole,” he says when I don’t answer.

Pregnant. My hands cover my stomach. My mother would have been thrilled with this news. Yes, it’s earlier than I would have liked, but a baby. Even though I can’t have him, I will always have a piece of Maxton. The realization both breaks my heart and makes it soar at the same time. I will have to learn to be around him, or maybe I won’t tell him. I’ve already made my break. I can raise the baby on my own.

“Hey, how you feeling?” Nicole steps into my room.

I don’t know if it’s her question or just the situation in general, but my eyes well up with tears. She notices and is at my bedside in an instant. “Kens, we saw the letter. Honey, you don’t have to talk to him, ever.” She leans down and hugs me.

“It was just all too much, you know? I was already a wreck from seeing Justin and learning that he and Maxton are friends, then leaving Max.” A sob escapes me.

“Yeah, not a cool move by the way. We were worried sick. Max had another one of those feelings and he broke a few laws getting us back to the apartment. Why did you slip out in the middle of the night?”

“I just… I couldn’t stay and see his face when I told him we could no longer be together. I don’t want to make him choose, and I can’t deal with Justin being in my life,” I explain through my tears.

“I get that, Kens. I do, but did you ever stop and think that it’s not a choice for him? Maxton loves you. He was a wreck all the way here. There wouldn’t be a choice to be made; it’s you.”

“No. They’ve been friends for years. He’s known me less than one,” I justify my reasoning.

She sits on the edge of my bed. “You’re pushing him away. You’re his world, Kensington. You can trust that he loves you. This is not a game to him, and he would cut off his own arm before he did something to hurt you. I just spent the drive home with him, watching him battle the fear that something was wrong, along with the pain of you leaving. It’s tearing him up inside. Just like it is you. Don’t fight it. Let yourself be happy; let him love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

The room grows silent and I have a million thoughts running through my head. Will he feel the same way when he finds out about the baby? We had a scare after the first time, and he said no matter what happened he would be there, but did he mean it? “I’m pregnant.” I whisper the words.

“Did you just…?”

I nod. “The doctor just stopped in to tell me right before you came in. I had no idea.”

“Kens, you’re gonna be a mommy.” She smiles as her eyes well up with tears. “Are you going to tell him?”

She knows me so well it’s scary. “I don’t know,” I tell her honestly.

“Kensington, he deserves to know. You can’t keep something like this from him,” she scolds me.

“I just need some time to process it all. I just found out,” I reply defensively.

“He deserves to know. He’s sitting out there waiting to see you. Kens, you should have seen his face when you asked for me and not him. It crushed him.”

There’s a knock on the door. In walks a woman in a white coat pushing a machine. “Kensington, I’m Dr. Smith.” She glances at Nicole. “Is it all right to speak freely?” she questions. I nod in agreement. “Great. I’m here to take a look at your baby. I understand you were unaware that you’re expecting and you took a fall earlier.”