Read Online Finding Purgatory by Kristina M Sanchez - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kristina M Sanchez
Ads: Link
months ago. She could be responsible for another human being for the length of a pregnancy.
A ni knew she wasn’t being as attentive as she should have been. She’d been trying not to think about Tori’s first doctor’s appointment, but now that she was sitting in the waiting room, she couldn’t escape the anxiety that tainted her bloodstream, making her jumpy and distracted.
Just as she was about to turn to her sister, Ani heard a high-pitched giggle, and her head snapped in the opposite direction. She saw a head of bouncing brown curls streak by and the chuckle from the adult shape that followed her. Ani was struck breathless by the sight—a daddy sweeping his dark-haired daughter up into his arms.
The ache at the center of her chest was so bad, Ani felt as though she would pass out from the spike of intense pain. It was all she could do to remember how to breathe.
She tried not to remember, but the memories came anyway.
It had been two weeks between her visit with Dr. Two-Pink-Lines and her appointment with her ob-gyn. Ani could hardly sit still in the waiting room.
“What if the test was wrong?”
Jett smirked. “All three of them, honey?”
She made a face. “I know it’s not likely, but it’s possible.”
“Mmhmm.” He leaned close, nuzzling the side of her hair with his nose. “So there’s another reason for your missed period, then?”
“That could be anything.”
Jett wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve passed out at the table the last three days. You almost face-planted in your soup last night. There’s another reason for that?”
“So I’ve been tired.”
His chuckle was warm on her cheek. “And last night, when you wouldn’t let me get near the girls because they ached too much? I assume you have an excuse for that, too?”
Ani huffed. “What if—”
He shushed her. “Baby.” He dropped his hand down to her stomach, pressing his palm firm against her shirt. “Baby, baby, baby. We’re going to have a baby.” His grin was so wide, Ani couldn’t help but smile back. Giddiness washed over her.
“We’re going to have a baby,” she repeated in wonder.
“Victoria Kane?”
Ani’s mind vacillated between present and past. She tried to remain grounded. As Tori stood, she looked back at Ani, her expression a plea. Some part of Ani’s inner programming recognized her sister needed her. She wasn’t going to let Tori go through this alone, so she lurched to her feet, following the nurse into the back room.
The nurse’s questions to Tori faded in and out as Ani’s mind wandered. On autopilot, she responded to the tension in the air. She squeezed Tori’s shoulders, hoping the gesture might comfort her sister. When the nurse asked Ani if they were friends, she responded late enough to make the silence in between awkward. “Sisters. We’re sisters.”
Try as she might, Ani could not shake the image of the daddy and daughter out in the waiting room. Her thoughts spun a mile a minute, none of them settling for very long. The panic she’d begun to feel on Tori’s birthday, when she realized what she’d agreed to, began to flood into her with the violence of a ship taking on water.
What she thought she was doing, Ani didn’t know. She hated being here in this office where so many other women had sat with their babies safe in their bellies. She couldn’t stop thinking about Mara and how hopeful she and Jett had been as they imagined all the wonderful moments and milestones. It had been a room like this where she’d realized she would be someone’s mother forever. She and Jett were parents—an irrevocable bond. Marriage, relationships, didn’t always last, but Mara would be her daughter for the rest of her life.
Now her baby was gone forever. She had an ill-advised tattoo on her ankle she would take to her grave, but she would never see her baby again.
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t watch her sister’s baby grow, couldn’t take on this
A ni knew she wasn’t being as attentive as she should have been. She’d been trying not to think about Tori’s first doctor’s appointment, but now that she was sitting in the waiting room, she couldn’t escape the anxiety that tainted her bloodstream, making her jumpy and distracted.
Just as she was about to turn to her sister, Ani heard a high-pitched giggle, and her head snapped in the opposite direction. She saw a head of bouncing brown curls streak by and the chuckle from the adult shape that followed her. Ani was struck breathless by the sight—a daddy sweeping his dark-haired daughter up into his arms.
The ache at the center of her chest was so bad, Ani felt as though she would pass out from the spike of intense pain. It was all she could do to remember how to breathe.
She tried not to remember, but the memories came anyway.
It had been two weeks between her visit with Dr. Two-Pink-Lines and her appointment with her ob-gyn. Ani could hardly sit still in the waiting room.
“What if the test was wrong?”
Jett smirked. “All three of them, honey?”
She made a face. “I know it’s not likely, but it’s possible.”
“Mmhmm.” He leaned close, nuzzling the side of her hair with his nose. “So there’s another reason for your missed period, then?”
“That could be anything.”
Jett wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “You’ve passed out at the table the last three days. You almost face-planted in your soup last night. There’s another reason for that?”
“So I’ve been tired.”
His chuckle was warm on her cheek. “And last night, when you wouldn’t let me get near the girls because they ached too much? I assume you have an excuse for that, too?”
Ani huffed. “What if—”
He shushed her. “Baby.” He dropped his hand down to her stomach, pressing his palm firm against her shirt. “Baby, baby, baby. We’re going to have a baby.” His grin was so wide, Ani couldn’t help but smile back. Giddiness washed over her.
“We’re going to have a baby,” she repeated in wonder.
“Victoria Kane?”
Ani’s mind vacillated between present and past. She tried to remain grounded. As Tori stood, she looked back at Ani, her expression a plea. Some part of Ani’s inner programming recognized her sister needed her. She wasn’t going to let Tori go through this alone, so she lurched to her feet, following the nurse into the back room.
The nurse’s questions to Tori faded in and out as Ani’s mind wandered. On autopilot, she responded to the tension in the air. She squeezed Tori’s shoulders, hoping the gesture might comfort her sister. When the nurse asked Ani if they were friends, she responded late enough to make the silence in between awkward. “Sisters. We’re sisters.”
Try as she might, Ani could not shake the image of the daddy and daughter out in the waiting room. Her thoughts spun a mile a minute, none of them settling for very long. The panic she’d begun to feel on Tori’s birthday, when she realized what she’d agreed to, began to flood into her with the violence of a ship taking on water.
What she thought she was doing, Ani didn’t know. She hated being here in this office where so many other women had sat with their babies safe in their bellies. She couldn’t stop thinking about Mara and how hopeful she and Jett had been as they imagined all the wonderful moments and milestones. It had been a room like this where she’d realized she would be someone’s mother forever. She and Jett were parents—an irrevocable bond. Marriage, relationships, didn’t always last, but Mara would be her daughter for the rest of her life.
Now her baby was gone forever. She had an ill-advised tattoo on her ankle she would take to her grave, but she would never see her baby again.
She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t watch her sister’s baby grow, couldn’t take on this
Similar Books
