As always, my sincere thanks to MsAmbrosia and Browns. I drive these ladies batty with my constantly changing tenses and my repetitive words. Yet, they stick by me and encourage me every step of the way. I 3 them. Read their stories!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

BPOV

I huffed, sitting back on my heels. My iPod was missing and I'd just spent ten minutes tearing apart my room looking for it. I swore I had it with me when I left for work that morning, but it was nowhere to be found. My last guess was that it had fallen under my bed, but there was nothing more there than a few dust bunnies and an old condom wrapper.

Edward would hear about that one later.

I groaned as I stood, the wrapper in my hand. After our weekend in Canada, we realized we hadn't quite been as careful as we should've been. Getting caught up in 'I love you's' and the hormones had caused us to bypass the birth control conversation. Even a week later, I was still cringing about our lapse in judgment.

At twenty-seven, I definitely should've known better. I was an educated woman who knew the dangers of sexually transmitted infections. And, as much as it skeeved me out to think about, Edward had been with...a number...of different women. Instead of getting caught up in love and sex, we should've sat down and had a very adult discussion about protection, tests, and all the stuff no one ever wants to talk about, but should definitely talk about anyway.

I worried slightly that our actions may have led to a pregnancy, but I tried to block it out. I would worry about it if I needed to. Until then, panicking wouldn't help. Edward offered to find me a doctor and it was almost too easy to let him be the one to take care of this for me. He was the expert, after all.

The moment we arrived home, Edward had an appointment scheduled for me with the best gynecologist in Seattle. My appointment wasn't for another three weeks, but Edward only wanted me to have the best and refused to have me go see another doctor who might get me in sooner. He said he didn't mind using condoms, as he had always used them with his partners in the past, but we both agreed we'd rather not rely on them solely if we didn't have to. I had been on the pill when I was with Joe and only stopped taking them because I was in the hospital. There had been no reason to go back on them once I was released.

I walked out into the living room, dropping the condom wrapper in my bathroom garbage on the way out. I was halfway up the hallway when I heard the knock at the door.

My eyebrows drew together in confusion. I couldn't imagine who it could be. Alice was at the shop, putting last minute touches on things and I was supposed to meet her there in a little while. Edward was working until eight and was coming by when he was done. I had no idea who'd been knocking on our door at four o'clock on a Thursday afternoon.

The minute I opened the door I knew something was wrong.

Edward stood there, pale as a ghost, with a look of shock and devastation on his face.

The look reminded me much - too much - of the look on Charlie's face when I had woken up in the hospital.

My hand immediately went to my throat, almost as if I'd stop my heart from flying up into it. "Edward?"

He was over the threshold and had me in his arms within seconds. His grip was tight, worrying me further. He turned his face so it was tucked into my neck and I panicked even more when I realized he was avoiding looking at me.

"Edward, please..." I begged him, although for what, I wasn't sure. Reassurance? Information? I just wanted him to say something.

The minute he spoke, I wished he hadn't.

"Tanya's pregnant."

I knew I heard him wrong.

"I...what?"

I stepped back, pushing on his shoulders. I needed to see his eyes when he told me this.

He reluctantly let me go and there was pain written all over his face. "She showed up today and told me that she's three months pregnant and that..." He took a deep breath. "It's mine..."

I stumbled back, the shock of what he was telling me overwhelming. My head dropped under the weight of his announcement.

"I don't..." I couldn't think enough to actually say anything worthwhile. How do you respond to something like that?

The man I loved was having a baby with another woman.

"Bella, please..." I lifted my head to look at him. The pain was etched in every line on his face and he suddenly looked ten years older.

"How...I don't understand," I whispered. I knew he wanted to hold me, as his hands were reaching out toward me, but I needed some space so I could think. His words were still echoing in my head.

"Tanya's pregnant."

Edward's hands dropped to his side and he shook his head. "She's lying. I know she's fucking lying."

He started pacing, his movements suddenly manic and exaggerated. "I was always careful, always. I didn't want anything like this to fucking happen, so I was extra careful. I told you Bella, I tried to have a relationship with her, but I never wanted children with her, so I was cautious. I was so fucking careful! I always used protection! How could this happen?"

He turned toward me, to where I was still standing in the kitchen. His eyes were frantic, wild. "It's not fucking mine. She can lie with the best of them, I've fucking seen her. She's lying now. She's a manipulative fucking bitch and I know she's fucking lying about this. It's not mine. There's no possible fucking way that it's mine."

His voice had dropped low by the last sentence and there was no way to mistake the doubt and confusion behind his statement. He didn't want to believe Tanya's pregnancy had anything to do with him, but he wasn't absolutely positive.

I took a deep breath, trying to pull my thoughts together so we could have a coherent conversation. "What...what did she say?"

Edward ran a hand through his hair. "She handed me a sonogram picture and told me she thought I'd like to see my child."

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I just...blinked.

Edward scoffed. "Yeah. Then she told me that she doesn't expect anything from me, that she just wanted me to fucking know."

I ran my hands over my face. "I don't..." I blew out a breath. I had questions, but I didn't know where to start.

Edward slid to the floor, his back against a kitchen cabinet. He drew his knees up to his chest and rested his arms over them. His head dropped and he took a shuddering breath. All the anger that had been there just moments before was gone.

Hating to see him in so much pain, I dropped to the floor next to him. We were close enough to touch, but didn't. We just sat there in silence, lost in our own thoughts.

What does this mean for us? What should I do? What should I say? Is he going to leave me to go back to her? If we stay together, what will this do to us? Will I be okay knowing he has a child with another woman?

The last question gave me a distinct pain in my stomach, and I threw my arms across my torso, as if it would somehow stop it. Now that I'd found him, I didn't want to let him go. Ever. I could see myself with him for a very long time. The thought of babies hadn't really crossed my mind, other than in a not now kind of way. However, now that reality was knocking, the thought of Edward's child growing in some other woman's womb made it hard to breathe.

The only person I wanted to be able to have Edward's babies was...me.

I tried to stop my tears, but I was no match against the hurt and pain I was suddenly feeling. He hadn't cheated on me, but he might as well have, it hurt so badly.

Edward turned toward me and with a quiet, "Shhh, baby." He gathered me up and placed me on his lap. His arms wrapped around me, my head dropped onto his shoulder and I cried.

It took me a few minutes to realize he was crying with me. That alone was enough to slow my sobs.

I moved my hands up so I could wipe the tears from his face, but he wouldn't look at me. His head was bowed, his shoulders shaking from the force of his crying. I hadn't seen a reaction like this out of him before; Edward ran pretty mellow most of the time. I was the moody one, while Edward was Mr. Laid-Back-Take-It-As-It-Comes. To see him come undone so completely frightened me.

My own tears stopped and I focused completely on Edward, running my fingers through his hair.

He took a deep shuddering breath, trying to pull himself together. "I'm...so...sorry. I don't know how...this could...have happened."

I didn't say anything, just continued to run my fingers through his hair. We sat there in silence for an undetermined length of time. We had both stopped crying at that point, but we were lost in our own thoughts. My ringing phone brought me back into the moment.

I crawled off Edward's lap, and he let me go, although his arms had tightened briefly before they dropped. I stood, my hip aching from the position we had been sitting in. Stumbling to the counter, I picked up my phone, glancing quickly at the caller ID. It was Alice.

"Hey," I said quietly.

"Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago? Are you okay?" Alice was yelling and I could only imagine how angry - or worried - she was right now.

"I'm sorry. Something came up and...it's complicated."

"What could be complicated..." Alice trailed off. She was silent for a minute while I debated what to tell her. "Is Edward okay?"

"He's...fine." What else could I have said?

"You're lying. He's not hurt, is he? Was there an accident? Did something happen at the hospital?"

"Ali, he's not hurt, there wasn't an accident." I heard Edward scoff from the floor, but I ignored him. "He's actually here right now; I'm not sure if we're going to make it there tonight."

Alice was silent and I knew she was angry. I felt horrible ditching her like this, knowing the biggest moment of her life was arriving in two days and neither her brother nor I were in any shape to help her. I was a terrible friend. "Alice, I'm so sorry. I can't explain -"

She cut me off. "It's that bitch isn't it? She fucking did something, didn't she?"

I sometimes forgot how perceptive Alice was. I swear to God she was psychic. "Um, it's...complicated."

"I'll bet it is. Look, take care of what you need to there. I'll...figure something out here. Maybe Em and Rose are around."

I placed the hand that wasn't holding the phone to my forehead. I felt torn in two directions and I didn't know what to do. Part of me wanted to stay with Edward and talk, but another part of me wanted to get away from him and just think for a little while. I felt overwhelmed and, stupidly, I felt betrayed. I knew it didn't make any sense, but there it was. I made my decision in an instant.

"I'll be right there."

"Bella -" I hung up on Alice before she could say anything more.

I dropped my phone, avoiding Edward's gaze. Walking swiftly to my room, I grabbed my purse and wiped the rest of my tears from my face. I was doing what I did best - running - but I was in no shape to help Edward through this right now. I had to get things straight in my own head before I could even begin to deal with him - and us.

I met Edward's eyes as I walked back into the kitchen. He was standing at the counter, grief and anger written all over his face, staring at me. I picked up my phone and put it in my purse.

"I have to go help Alice at the store," I said quietly.

"You're leaving?" His voice was cold.

I fiddled with my purse as I nodded. "I promised her."

"Bella, I..." His voice broke. "I need you."

A sob broke free and I covered my mouth with my hand. "I need some time to think."

"We haven't even talked about this yet. Don't you think we should talk before you walk out on me and leave?"

I shook my head. "I need...to think."

"And I need my girlfriend to support me! Do you understand what I'm going through here? My fucking life just got flipped the fuck upside down and you're walking out on me?" He was yelling, and I was crying.

"I'm sorry. I know...I just...I can't...I...I don't know what to do. I need to think! I can't think right now!"

"Think? What do you need to think about? I need you, Bella, and you're fucking running away from me!"

We stood there, facing off across the kitchen counter. I was sobbing, and Edward was breathing heavy, his face an unnatural shade of red. I had never seen him so angry...or hurt.

And I had caused it.

My knees buckled and I grabbed the counter for support. What the hell was I doing?

"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I don't know..."

Edward was around the counter in an instant, pulling me up and into his arms. They wrapped around my waist and he buried his face into my hair. "Don't leave, please. Just don't leave. I need you, Bella."

I cried as he held me, wondering what I had been thinking. Running was not going to fix this, or make any of it better. I would just be abandoning the man I loved when he needed me and how could I ever be okay with that? How selfish could I possibly be?

I calmed and pulled back from him so I could see his face. His eyes were red and filled with so much sorrow and pain, I gasped. I helped do that.

I reached up, taking his face in my hands. I ran my thumbs over his cheeks, trying to comfort him. "I'm so sorry. I can't...I panicked. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Edward's eyes slid shut and he leaned forward so our foreheads were touching. "Please don't run. I need you. We need to talk about this. But I can't lose you, Bella. Don't run away from me."

"I won't. I'm sorry. I'm here."

We stood there for a few more minutes, just breathing in each other, me still trying to calm my stuttering sobs. Edward was holding my hips, but otherwise was still. My hands were running up and down his back gently, trying to soothe me as much as him.

I finally dropped my hands and backed away. "I'm going to call Alice and tell her that I'm not coming."

Edward nodded. "Is it okay if I go..." He pointed in the general direction of my room.

"Of course. I'll be there in a minute."

Edward kissed my forehead and left me in the kitchen.

I opened my purse, digging deep for my phone. I picked it up only to find missed calls and text messages from Alice.

I swear if U show up here, I'll kick U out.

Em & Rose R on their way. We've got things under control.

ISABELLA U not answering me better mean UR staying put!

I typed back a quick reply. I'm sorry. Staying here w/ Edward. Talking. Love you.

I flipped the phone shut, placing it on the counter. I braced my arms against the edges, my head falling down, with my hair sweeping over my face. I wanted to cry, to rail, and part of me really still wanted to run, but I needed to go be with Edward. I needed to hear what Tanya told him.

I needed to know what it all meant for us.

I straightened up and walked slowly back to my bedroom, wondering what I would find when I got there.

Edward was nowhere in sight, but I heard water running.

I debated for a half a minute before following the sound.

Edward was in the shower, his back to the room, hands braced against the tile wall. The water was raining down upon his head, and his position mirrored the one I had been in when I was in the kitchen. My heart pounded painfully in my chest and I had to blink back the tears. I wanted to strip off my clothes and join him, not for sex, but for comfort. I wasn't sure if that was what he needed right now, but I needed to feel him, and I had a feeling he needed me that close too.

I quickly shed my clothes and stepped into the shower with him. His head turned slightly as I opened the door, but he didn't move otherwise. Once I shut the door behind me, his head returned to its original position and the water continued to cascade over his hair, down his neck and his back where it rolled off in different directions.

Walking up behind him, I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my cheek against his back. We stood there silently before Edward turned swiftly, pulling me tight against him.

"Bella, please...baby, I need you. I can't lose you over this. Please tell me we're going to be okay. Show me that we can survive this." He dropped to his knees before me. He reined kisses over my abdomen and down lower until he was kissing the most intimate part of me. His tongue slipped inside and I was lost to the sensation.

I cried as I came, his name a chant falling from my lips. He stood and gently pulled me into his arms, kissing my neck, running his hands up and down my back as I came down from my orgasm.

Once I had regained some semblance of thought, I pulled him over to the bench against the shower wall and tugged on his hand until he understood what I wanted and sat down. I straddled his waist, running my hands up over his chest, his shoulders, over his neck and into his hair. His head was thrown back, his eyes shut and his hands were gripping my waist so tightly I was sure there would be bruises on them the next day. I didn't care. I needed to make him feel good - if only for a moment - I needed to comfort him and be as close to him as I could possible. Taking one hand out of his hair, I reached down, grasped his penis firmly and guided it inside of me.

My rhythm was slow, as I gently rocked against him. We kissed slowly, languidly, our tongues intertwining only to separate so Edward could nibble my lower lip. His hands caressed by back, before moving around to fondle my breasts. My hands moved from his hair to his shoulders and then back again, as if I couldn't make up my mind about where they felt best.

We didn't speak much, letting our hands and bodies do the talking for us. Our eyes locked as I moved my body up and down on his length. Edward's hand left my hip to come up and tangle in my hair, pulling it so he could turn my head and ravage my neck. I felt my body tighten as my second orgasm approached and Edward let out a long moan as I contracted around him. It didn't take him long to follow my orgasm with one of his own.

We sat there for as long as we could stand, the shower still running, trying to catch our breath. I wondered if the comfort he needed - that we both needed - had been received. It hadn't been the way I intended it to happen when I joined him, but it happened just the same.

I stood, gently detangling our intertwined limbs. Edward continued touching me as he rose and reached over to turn off the water. The silence was almost deafening after having the water running for so long, but neither of us made any move to break it. We stepped out of the shower; me first, followed by Edward, who was still touching my bare skin with his hand. I stood on the mat in front of the sink, refusing to look in the mirror as Edward reached over with one hand and grabbed a towel. He finally removed his hand from my body, only to replace it with the fluffy material, and run it over my body. He took his time, making sure one patch of skin was dry before placing a kiss there and moving on to the next. When he finished, I turned and took the towel from him so I could return the favor. I could feel him watching me as I ran the cloth over his skin. Once I was done, he placed one hand back on my hip and used the other to drape the towel over its rack. When it was in place, he picked me up and carried me into the bedroom.

He set me down as we neared my dresser, but refused to stop touching me. Using one hand, he pulled out a pair of scrub pants he left here and one of his t-shirts. He pulled the t-shirt over my head, running his hands over the cotton once it was in place. Taking a deep breath, he stepped back to pull on the pants. The minute they were on, I was back in his arms.

"I love you," he murmured against my hair.

"I love you," I answered back. Despite the turmoil we were in, that was still true. It always would be, no matter what happened.

Edward sighed. I reached up and smoothed back a piece of hair that fell across his forehead and he gave me a small smile.

"I'm going to go brush my hair. When I come back, we can talk?" His smile fell at my words.

"No."

I looked at him, surprised. "Edward -"

He shook his head. "No, I didn't mean that we shouldn't talk, just that I didn't want you to leave." My heart broke at his words.

"Oh, Edward, I'm just going in the bathroom to brush the tangles out of my hair. I'll be right back. I promise."

He hung his head, looking more like a child than the thirty-year-old man he was. "I just don't want to be that far away from you."

I sighed. "Come with me then."

I took his hand and we walked back into the bathroom together. I grabbed my brush from the drawer, but Edward took it from me right away. He led me back into the bedroom and over to the bed. Sitting down, he patted the space in between his legs, motioning me to sit down. I did so, my back to him, and he began running the brush through my hair.

We were silent for a few more minutes before he began speaking.

"She's been looking for me since last weekend."

I stayed quiet, letting him go at his own pace. There was little I could contribute anyway, not until I had the whole story.

"I was avoiding her, not wanting to deal with whatever she wanted. When we...broke-up...she was angry and promised me I hadn't heard the last of her. I expected shit when we got back to work, but she stayed out of my way and I stayed out of hers. When I heard she was looking for me, I figured she was trying to start something, so I avoided her. She caught up with me today. She handed me a sonogram picture and asked me if I wanted to see my child."

I bit my lip, trying not to cry at the sharp pain I felt in my stomach.

Edward drew the brush twice more through my hair before he stopped. His arms came around me and wrapped tightly around my waist. I felt him rest his head on my shoulder blade as he took a shuddering breath.

"I don't know if I believe her, Bella. It's all too...convenient."

I nodded. "But you don't know if you don't believe her either," I said quietly.

Edward was quiet and there's no doubt in my mind that with his silence, he had answered my question. Moments passed before he spoke again.

"I don't know. She's definitely pregnant, or at least wearing a very real looking pillow. She may have been able to doctor the sonogram picture..."

He sighed. "I don't know what to believe. The Tanya I saw today did not act like the Tanya I know...or thought I knew. She claimed she just wanted me to know...that she didn't expect anything from me if I didn't want to involve myself."

"What do you want?" I asked quietly.

"I want this to go away. I want to prove that she's making this up or lying to me. I want to go back to twenty-four hours ago when this never happened..."

I shut my eyes. I knew exactly what he meant. Tanya's news hadn't just rocked Edward to his core, but me as well. There was a part of me that wanted to run, to forget this was an issue and let Edward deal with it. Maybe if I pretended it wasn't real, I could make it go away. I could pretend that nothing had changed and Edward and I were just happy and in love. There would be no Tanya...and no baby.

I knew better though. I might bury my memories of the accident and I might pretend that having to get in a car didn't freak me out or that my nightmares didn't interfere with my life, but this was in a completely different league. Forgetting about Tanya and her pregnancy and how it would affect Edward was not a possibility. I knew Edward well enough to know that he would never turn his back on his child - no matter how much he disliked the mother.

I was worried about the toll this would take on him, and selfishly, on us. How would we survive this?

Will we survive this?

"Baby, what are you thinking?" Edward asked quietly before kissing my shoulder.

"I honestly don't know. I'm just...blown away."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," he said, sarcastically.

I was running my hands across his where they lay over my stomach. It crossed my mind how different this moment would feel if I was the one expecting a child with the man behind me, if our hands were covering the life we had made together in love.

For all I knew...maybe they were.

For a moment, a feeling of hope and contentment bubbled up inside of me. The thought of being pregnant with Edward's child - something that only hours ago had seemed terrifying - now suddenly didn't seem so bad. If he were going to have a child, I'd want it to be with me and only me. Having this news thrown at us suddenly made some things very, very clear.

I loved this man. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him and only him. And I wanted to be the mother of his children.

I was getting lost in the fantasy when Edward pulled me right back down into reality.

"She offered to get a paternity test after the baby is born."

My heart sank. There was no way Tanya would offer that if she wasn't completely sure it'd come back in her favor. The tense silence that had fallen around us led me to believe that Edward thought the same thing.

"So we'll...wait..." I whispered.

Edward's arms tightened around me. "You'll stay with me? You'll be with me while I figure this mess out?"

I turned around in his lap so that I was facing him. Taking a deep breath first, I finally spoke. "Tanya is possibly pregnant with your child. Are you sure you don't want to be with her?"

Edward looked as if I had slapped him. He replied without hesitation. "Fucking positive, thank you very much. Jesus, Bella, did you think I was going to leave you and go back to her?"

Great, I pissed him off.

I slid off his lap, needing some space. I started pacing the room. "I didn't know, honestly. I've never dealt with this before, Edward. I don't know what is going through your head. I know you, I know how you were raised, and I know enough to know that walking away from your child is not an option. You'll take responsibility -"

He stood, his jaw clenched tight. "Of course I'll take responsibly for my child! I can't imagine that you'd think -"

I stopped pacing. "If you'd listen to me rather than jumping down my throat, you'd see that I know that and didn't think anything differently, even for a second. My concern is what kind of relationship you want with Tanya," I explained. "I...I don't know what you're thinking here..."

The silence stretched as he just stared at me.

"I can't believe you just asked me that," he said softly. The look on his face broke my heart, but I didn't regret asking the question. I needed to know. Even knowing he loved me, I still didn't trust him not to leave me. It had happened before...

"Some would consider it doing the right thing..." I answered him.

"The right thing for me - and for any child I may or may not be the father of - is to make sure that I'm living in a healthy, happy environment surrounded by the people I love and whom love me. That scenario definitely does not include Tanya and most certainly does include you. How could you think I'd leave you and go back to her?"

I ran my hands over my face before looking at him. "I don't know. There's a part of me that is having a hard time believing that I could keep you after hearing this...news. Even with all your confessions about Tanya and how you feel about her, a baby could trump that. There is no way you would turn your back on your child, not even if the mother was someone you couldn't stand."

Edward let loose a huge sigh. "I can't believe you doubt me. I thought you knew how I felt about you and that you could trust me when I told you I would never leave you."

My eyes slipped shut. "I do believe that, but sometimes circumstances change and people change their minds with -"

He exploded. "I am not your fucking ex-boyfriend, Bella! I'm not going to leave you - ever. You are it for me. Nothing will change that. Nothing. I'm in this completely. Are you? Because you're sure as hell not acting like it. I'm scared shitless that you're going to leave me over this, but I'm trusting you and in your love for me that you won't. That you love me enough to take this fucking mess I've created and love me and support me in spite of it. Can you do that, Bella? Can you tell me the same thing I've just told you and stay by me no matter what?"

I was sobbing while Edward yelled. I had never seen him so angry, but I wasn't scared of him. I was thinking of everything he just said and how it must look to him - me ready to run at the first sign of trouble, questioning whether or not he was going to leave me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew they were valid questions I had every right to ask. I also knew that his questions, and his worry were equally valid.

How do we fix this?

We stared at one another, Edward breathing heavy in his anger, me still crying in my confusion and fear. I seriously considered leaving the room, trying to give us both of us a minute to breath and think before we said or did anything we couldn't take back. I didn't though, knowing that would not help the situation in the least. Instead, I lowered myself to the floor, pulling my knees up to my chest and running my hands through my hair. I breathed deeply, trying to calm down.

"Jesus, baby, I'm sorry." Edward knelt in front of me, holding his hands out as if he wanted to touch me, but was afraid to. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm so sorry. Baby, please..." He pled with me.

Shaking my head, I reached out and grasped his hands with mine. "No, don't apologize. You were right. Everything you said...you were right to ask." My tears had slowed and I was able to talk now that my breathing was more under control. I took another deep breath. "But I also think I was right too. We both need those answers from each other, as much as I think we both wish we didn't have to ask...we did. We do. We both need to know where the other one stands."

We were both silent for a minute until Edward asked, "Are you going to leave me?" His voice was anguished and I felt my tears start once again.

I shook my head. "No. I don't think I could even if I wanted to...and I don't want to. I am in this relationship with you, one hundred percent. I know you might question that because of how I first reacted, but I was just scared and confused. My first thought was to just get some space, and I was wrong. Please don't doubt my love for you or if I will be with you during this...it's going to be hard..." I tried to block the image of Tanya's stomach growing large with Edward's child, but it came to me anyway. Mentally shaking it away, I continued. "It's going to be hard, but if you don't want me to go anywhere, I'm here. I'll be here as long as you want me to be."

He gathered me into his arms. "I want you - always. I never want you to leave. I need you to get through this, to help me make the right decisions and do what's right for you and us and...the...baby..." He choked on the last word and I knew in my heart that Edward might deny it all he wished, but somewhere inside of him, he believed Tanya was telling the truth.

"Then we'll get through this...together." I sighed into his neck, the tightness in my chest lessening the longer he held me.

I knew we hadn't even hit the hard part yet, and that life was about to get exponentially more difficult for us. I could only hope that we could take whatever came at us and use it to make us stronger, rather than tearing us apart.

For the first time since I was a child, I prayed before I fell asleep that night.