Page 88 of Mountain Trial

“I made a mistake, Kat. I’m sorry. I thought … I thought I was being selfless, but I was wrong. I want us to be together.”

Kat’s beautiful eyes filled with tears, but still she didn’t say anything.

Luc cleared his throat. “I hope it’s not too late to―”

“What you did was … cruel,” she said. “You made a decision for us that you didn’t have a right to make alone.”

“I know. And I’m sorry for that.”

“We will be equal partners or not at all.”

It took a moment for him to realize what she’d said.

“Equal partners,” he said, inhaling sharply. “I can do that.”

“Oh, Luc,” she said. Her beautiful eyes filled with tears.

“Je t’aime, Kat. Plus que ma vie.”

“I love you too, Luc.”

“You do?” He hadn’t dared hope this much.

“I do. But there’s something I need to tell you and I don’t know if―”

His earlier fears came back to the forefront.

She’s sick.

Something’s wrong with her.

He thought he might throw up all over her rug.

“No,” she said, as if reading his mind. “It’s nothing like that. I’ll just come out and tell you. I’m pregnant.”

“You’re …”

“Pregnant,” she repeated firmly.

The word still took an instant longer to register.

“You mean we’re … having a baby, you and I?” he stammered.

“I understand that’s how it usually works,” she said. “I only found out this afternoon. I thought it was the flu.”

“But it’s not the flu,” he repeated, densely.

“It’s not the flu. Tess bought me a test. Two, really,” Kat said. “I’m pregnant.”

“We’re having a baby.” Stunned didn’t begin to describe the way he felt. He remembered a conversation with the doctors years earlier. Spinal cord injury patients who didn’t ejaculate needed additional support in order to―

“We are,” she confirmed.

He pulled her gently towards him. Her belly was at eye level with him. Being in a wheelchair meant he would get to see her belly grow, that he’d be able to―

“Breathe, Luc, breathe.”

He gasped, breathless. “Sorry. I just …”