Stay With Me 3

by Jessica Aniston

  “I have to get a degree in fashion so I know what I’m doing before I launch the line,” she says, mumbling into Declan’s bare chest as they lay in bed with only a sheet covering their naked bodies.

  “Mmm,” he hums. Even though he doesn’t say anything more, Karin knows the silence means that he’s thinking things through for her like he always does.

  “I’m glad we can do anything we want to now,” she says with a contented sigh. “Did you buy that little house in the country you wanted yet?”

  Declan’s face lights up at the mention of it. “Yes!” he says excitedly, “I’m closing the deal next Monday. You’ll be looking at a proud homeowner.”

  Karin’s heart overflows and she snuggles deeper into his embrace. “I’m glad we know what we’re going to do with the rest of our lives,” she says. It feels odd saying it when things can change in just a second.

  Things do change.

  Karin looks at the pregnancy test in her hand which somehow reads positive. It’s the sixth test she’s taken now and all of the others have given her the same impossible result. How could she be pregnant?

  A stab of cold fear runs through her body when she thinks about how the evidence of their relationship is now nestled somewhere in her belly. She already loves the tiny proof of her and Declan’s love, but how will this affect their future? It will be obvious that they’re in a relationship now.

  She has to tell Declan.

  Karin picks up the phone and calls him. He picks up after two rings, his voice light and happy. “Declan, I have something to tell you,” she says trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice.

  “Go on, tell me,” he urges her.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “So you’re sure we won’t lose the money?” Declan’s voice is filled with surprise and relief as they sit in Marietta’s office. Karin feels a weight lift off her chest and she instinctively places her hand on her stomach.

  “Of course not. If your relationship only started once the show was over, we have absolutely no issue with it. In fact, I think it would make a very sweet extra. The fake couple found love on our show! That would be a perfect way to end it.” Marietta twirls her pen and smiles at both of them in turn. “I think a lot of our fans were disappointed that you both were the fake couple. You may not have known it, but you had millions of fans rooting for you. I think they would take the news very well.”

  Karin and Declan exchange excited glances.

  “We have one more announcement to make,” Karin says an Marietta gives her a quizzical look. But before Karin can open her mouth to speak again, Declan jumps the gun, blurting out excitedly: “We’re going to have a baby!”

  Marietta’s jaw drops and she looks at them both for a moment.

  “Six weeks,” Karin says quickly to reassure Marietta that the baby was definitely not conceived on set.

  “We can definitely sell this!” Marietta exclaims. “Sorry, I meant congratulations!”

  “Thank you,” they both say in unison, beaming at each other.

  Marietta sits up on her chair and leans towards them, a serious look on her face. “So are you lovebirds ready to tell the whole country?”

  They look at each other and then nod. “We are.”

  The talk show host looks at them expectantly, waiting for an answer to her question. “So what’s the big news you want us to know?”

  Before Declan and Karin can finish the explanation they had prepared with Marietta’s expert guidance, the whole room erupts. There’s clapping and crying, and Karin can hardly believe that a group of strangers can be this happy about their relationship. She des understand. They were a part of their journey after all. She can feel Declan looking at her with adoration in her eyes, and she knows that her pregnancy has just started to show.

  A beautiful house in the country, a child, her own fashion line, and a lifetime with the love of her life; what more could she want?