I swear I would.
“Dev, you are most definitely pregnant,” Dr. Steiner said, turning the monitor around so I could see the screen.
Only I had no fucking clue what I was looking at. “What the hell is that? The surface of the moon? A Jackson Pollock painting? Help a girl out!”
Pointing to the screen, Dr. Steiner carefully said, “Here is baby A, and this is baby B. And over here is baby C?”
“You practicing your colors next, Doc?” I snapped, turning to Claudia. “What the hell is he talking about? A, B, C?”
“Uh, Devlyn, you are pregnant with triplets.”
I blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“Triplets. Three babies.”
“I’LL KILL HIM!” I screamed.
Slamming my apartment door shut, I walked over to my couch, plopped my ass down, and groaned. Placing the little brown bag on my coffee table, I looked around my apartment and wondered what the hell I was going to do now.
I was most definitely pregnant.
Not just pregnant, but I was carrying a litter.
Three babies.
What in the hell was I going to do with three rugrats?
The knock on the door came sharp and insistent, jerking me out of my spiraling thoughts. I rolled my eyes, dragging myself off the couch, and grumbled under my breath. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have enough to deal with already. Swinging the door open, I found Claudia standing there. Her face was an odd mix of sternness and concern.
“Don’t glare at me like that, Devlyn,” she said, stepping inside as if she owned the place. “We need to talk.”
“Talk about what?” I muttered, slumping back over to the couch.
She sighed, pulling up a chair across from me. “You need a plan.”
“A plan?” I scoffed. “I barely have a clue how to take care of myself most days, Claudia.”
“Well, you better start figuring it out quick, because those babies don’t have the luxury of waiting for you to get your act together.”
I groaned, burying my face in my hands. She wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t make the sudden weight of responsibility sitting on my shoulders any lighter.
Claudia leaned in, her voice softening just a touch. “Listen, Devlyn. You’ve always been tough, but this? This is going to take all the strength you’ve got and then some. But I know you. You can handle it.”
Her words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken truths. And as much as I wanted to argue or push her away, I realized she was right. I didn’t have a choice. These babies were counting on me, and I had to figure out how to rise to the occasion.
Claudia, always one to cut to the chase, stood up and dusted off her hands. “Get your mind right. I’ll be back tomorrow with some stuff you’ll need.” She paused at the door, throwing me a pointed look. “Don’t wallow in self-pity too long, alright?”
And with that, she was gone, leaving me alone with my thoughts, my fears, and the faintest flicker of determination. My fingers brushed the edge of the brown bag on the table, its contents suddenly feeling like the smallest piece of a much larger puzzle. I leaned back against the cushions and stared at the ceiling, wondering if I could really pull this off.
The answer?
I didn’t know yet.
But I sure as hell was going to try.
Right after I hired a hitman to kill me a gator!
