Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) by Maureen Mayer Page B

in the dark, was the better option. It sure as fuck didn’t hurt as much.
    “Or we can go tomorrow,” she continued. “I can wait. It’s not like an extra day is going to change anything. The results will still be the same.”
    She was right. An extra day wouldn’t change anything. If it turned out that it was cancer, an extra day…week…month...wasn’t going to make a difference. It’d still be there, slowly stealing away my only reason for breathing.
    But an extra day could save her life.
    I looked over at her hand resting in the sand, and her ring sparkled as the sun’s rays hit the diamond at just the right angle. I gently brushed it off and turned it palm-side up, lifting her hand to my mouth. “I love you,” I whispered, brushing my lips along her slender fingers. My eyes locked on hers, and they sparkled just as brightly as the ring nestled on her finger. “I love you so fucking much. Nothing will ever change that.”
    She nodded, giving me a weak smile.
    “Do you believe me?”
    Her eyes fluttered back up to mine, and I could see that whatever words were about to come out of her mouth were sincere. “Yes. I believe you, Shayne.”
    “Good.” I slipped my hand behind her neck and pulled her to me, needing to feel the softness of her lips. “Because whatever happens, I want you to know that my love for you…for them,” I said, placing my hand over her stomach, “is constant. Whatever obstacles life throws our way, we’ll get through them together. I’m not going anywhere, not without you by my side.”
    “I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you. You’ve been so patient with me, dealing with my crazy hormones and then throwing this into the mix…” She shook her head, eyes glistening with fresh tears. “I just hate to be such a burden–”
    “Now I don’t want to hear any of that. You are NOT a burden. Do you hear me?” I cupped her cheeks and tilted her head back. “You could never be a burden. Your crazy hormones come with the territory, babe. You’ve got my kids stirring up trouble inside of you, and that alone would drive anyone crazy.” That brought a tiny smile out of her, and funny enough, she knew it was true. “Now it’s my turn to tell you to stop worrying. The rest we’ll just take in stride. One day at a time. Okay?”
    Brushing my thumb along the contours of her cheek, she leaned into my touch and nodded in agreement.
    I drifted forward, ghosting my lips against the shell of her ear, and whispered, “Sweetheart, I think we should go today.”
    Her big brown eyes shot up, flittering back and forth between my own, and I could see her nerves were getting the best of her. This wasn’t easy for me either, but sooner or later, the truth had to come out, and putting it off was only going to make this harder for both of us. Her fingers dug into my arms as I pulled her up and walked her up the beach to our house.
    “Why don’t you call the doctor back and let him know we’ll be in today. Is there anything you need to bring with you?”
    She started to shake her head no, but stopped short and turned back to face me. “Just my lucky rabbit’s foot.”
    Of course…that mangy old rabbit’s foot. It unexpectedly brought us luck the day we found out we were pregnant with twins, and I prayed our luck hadn’t run out yet.
    God, please. If you’re listening, tell me it hasn’t run out yet.

    Two hours later, we were sitting in the waiting room and anxiously watching the minutes tick by. It felt like an eternity before Liberty’s name was called, and I was about ready to pull my hair out when a nurse finally came out for us. Yeah, that Rogaine I mentioned a few days ago…I was thinking about throwing that on their tab. It was the least they could do for the hell we’d been put through these last few days, not to mention the patches of hair I’m sure were missing from my head.
    The nurse led us back to a room plastered with medical degrees and faces of smiling