For a long, suspended moment, neither Amara nor Julian said a single word.
The room seemed to hold its breath along with them. Amara stared at the doctor as though she hadn't quite understood the language he was speaking, her mind racing backward, trying and failing to find the sentence again, to make sure she'd heard it right, while beside her Julian had gone utterly rigid, his hand still locked around hers, his eyes wide and unblinking.
"I'm sorry," Amara finally managed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Could you, could you say that again?"
The doctor's mouth curved into a small, knowing smile, clearly accustomed to this exact reaction. "You're pregnant, Mrs. Vale. Congratulations."
The shock came first, a great, disorienting wave of it, crashing over both of them at once, so total that for several long seconds neither of them could seem to summon a single word.
