"Well, you're gonna take one when you get home. I don't care if I have to stand over you while you pee!" Terry's high-pitched squeak made me wince, but I nodded and pursed my lips thinly. "But right now, we'll focus on Laurie's party. I'll make you take it after."
"Yeah— yeah. I'm gonna make sure this party's awesome. She got the second highest score in her class, did you know that? And she's been working at the hospital's legal department, and she passed her probationary period. She's really on the up." Laurie and I hadn't spent copious amounts of time together, but she was truly close with Carl. We were nice, cautious, but nice to each other, and I knew it was simply because she was skeptical about me. That I was really a liar and a cheat, and she was just waiting for me to reveal my true colors.
I was patient, though. Even if Laurie never buddied up to me, I wanted her to at least be friendly with me.
"Does it make you want to find a job?"
My brows twitched at that, and I glanced over with a hum.
"Everyone's got a job but you. Isn't that boring?"
"It can be, I guess, but I do plenty, I think. I like not having a job. It gives me time for my hobbies."
"Watching every single show on Netflix isn't a hobby, Mel. I guess it really doesn't matter anyway— if you're pregnant—" I cringed internally, but Terry didn't notice as he gasped excitedly. "You know what'd be really cool? If you took up a real hobby like knitting or something. Something you could just do by yourself to occupy your time."
"I'm not gonna get ahead of myself, Terry. I could just be psyching myself out." But I really don't think I am. It could go either way with Carl, honestly. Being pregnant totally defeated the purpose of taking things slow. Things were going great, but our relationship was still so new... "Maybe you're right, though, and I should try it, at least."
Epilogue
Carl
"Hey, Mel? What're you doing here?"
She popped up from her seat and surprised me. Melissa's face flushed pink up to her ears, and I leaned on the entryway to the back rooms to cross my arms.
"What's up?"
"My birth control failed!"
My brain misfired at her high-pitched, raspy squeak, and goosebumps washed my arms and across my chest. Sucking in a sharp breath, I could only blink as my heart dropped to my knees. Gazing at me with bright, worried eyes, Mel's lower lip wobbled dangerously, and I opened my mouth only for nothing to come out.
"O-oh... I can't prescribe you a new implant... I'm not a gynecologist."
Her green eyes widened, her face absolutely flaming until I could barely make out her smattering of freckles.
"There's one right across the hall. I can introduce you."
"No... N-no, Carl... my birth control failed." Speaking slower, Melissa inhaled shallowly, and a deep crease formed between my brows.
"Yeah. I can't do anything about that. I'm not that kind of doctor." I pushed off the door frame to walk over to her, and Mel huffed hotly. "Come on. The OB/GYN is right down the h—"
"I'm trying to say I'm pregnant, you dummy!"
My ears rang with Mel's declaration, and I tensed when she grabbed my bicep and squeeze.
"My birth control failed, and I'm pregnant."
All I could do was stare at Melissa as she became increasingly agitated, and the ringing in my ears became louder and shriller. Mel's birth control failed? What does that even mean?
"Oh no— baby, you can't. I'm not trained for that— I—" My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and I clamped my hand over my trembling lips briefly. My heart made a bid to burst out of my ribs, and Mel's whole face drooped a little as I blinked furiously. "Holy shit— holy shit—"
In slow motion, the world moved around me as I dropped into a chair to hold my head between my knees. A dense lump formed in my throat, and my scrambled brains threatened to seep out of my ears. My chest tightened, and my knees bounced furiously before realization slammed into my gut.
"Wait...!" Mel jumped three feet in the air when I straightened sharply, her gasp overly loud in the silent waiting room. "You mean failed failed— failed?"
"...Yeah."
So, that means she's pregnant. Somehow, the connection sparked in my head, and I opened and closed my mouth mutely. But I'm a pulmonologist. I can't change my specialty.
"But how? I'm a pulmonologist—" A horribly loud, abrasive cackling broke me out of my daze, and my head whipped up as Mandy slammed the receptionist window shut. I couldn't feel my face, and my hands shook as I rubbed my palms together hard. She laughed and laughed, and even though the walls I could hear it clearly. No amount of drywall could muffle the sound, and I scrunched up my nose to shake my head viciously.
"Carl...?" Inhaling sharply through my nose, I glanced up warily as Melissa sat next to me, concern shimmering in her eyes. "Do you need a minute?"
"Are you seriously pregnant? For sure? Did you take a test?" Rasping a little, I cleared my throat, but it seized up when Melissa ducked her head in a nod. A cold sweat broke out under my clothes, and my lungs screamed from the air that staled in them. "Holy shit— really?"
"Yeah, really, really. I'm one hundred percent pregnant, no doubt about it."
Oh, God— what do I do? I wasn't gonna ask Mel to marry me, for sure. Even my frazzled mind knew that was exactly the wrong thing to do.
She wouldn't move in with me, either, and she never let me sleep over even after so long because she was so embarrassed about having to use her CPAP machine.
"I— I... I don't even... I—" Sputtering wildly, I rubbed my mouth and down my jaw and neck as the carpet blurred into a solid grey. "What do we do? What do you do?"
"I thought you could come over tonight and we could talk about it. I wanted to tell you first instead of just dumping it on you and expecting a full-fledged plan over pasta."
I gulped harshly, and Melissa placed a hand on my back soothingly.
"You said you didn't have any appointments today, but... I've had this feeling for a while, and I wanted to wait until after your sister's party. I didn't think it'd throw you so hard."
"I suck at handling personal crisis, okay— just... give me a minute..." Leaning back against the wall, I closed my eyes and took huge, heaving breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth. "Okay... okay. We'll definitely talk about it. Talk about what? Keeping it? We're gonna keep it, right?"
"Um— yeah?"
My shoulders jerked from the relief that gripped my spine in a vice, and I exhaled hotly.
"I mean... I think— you know, it's more... it's more of a logistical problem..."
"Good... good. Me too. That's my thinking, too... yeah..." This would not be the end of our relationship. I didn't know jack shit in this moment, even my own fucking name, but I knew that this wasn't the beginning of the end. This— this was simply the beginning of something better and great. "So... I'm... I'm gonna go back to my office, and— and I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah. Um— make a l-list... that's what I'm gonna do, I think..." Melissa nodded firmly.
I clenched and released my jaw as I watched her stand up hastily.
"So— okay. Six o'clock?"
"Six o'clock, yes."
And she was gone. Staring, unblinking, at the place she'd just been standing, I struggled to come to terms with what just happened.
Mel was pregnant— One hundred percent, without a doubt, definitely, positively pregnant.
I'm gonna be a dad.
Hope you liked this story! You will also love my other book, Forbidden Prescription, which is book 1 of the Forbidden Medicine series! You can grab it here!
Thank You
Stephanie Brother writes scintillating stories with step-siblings as their main romantic focus. She's always been curious about the forbidden, and this is her way of exploring such complex relationships that threaten to keep her couples apart. As she writes her way to her dream job, Ms. Brother hopes that her readers will enjoy the full emotional and romantic experience as much as she's enjoyed
writing them.
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Rest of Forbidden Prescription Series
Forbidden Prescription: A Stepbrother Medical Romance
Forbidden Prescription 2: MFM Ménage Stepbrother Medical Romance
Forbidden Prescription 3: MFM Ménage Stepbrother Medical Romance
Forbidden Prescription 4: A Stepbrother Fake Marriage Medical Romance
Forbidden Prescription 5: A Stepbrother Plastic Surgeon Romance
Forbidden Prescription 6: A Stepbrother Fake Girlfriend Medical Romance
Box Sets
Forbidden Prescription: A Stepbrother Romance Box Set Volume 1
My Forbidden Doctor: A Secret Baby Medical Romance Page 11