17 months later

Amelia stared at the pregnancy test, watching with a familiar sense of dread as the single line appeared. Again. Just like last month, and the month before that, and every month for the past year and a half.

Not pregnant.

She dropped the plastic stick into the bathroom trash, burying it under tissues before Niko could see it. These private moments of disappointment had become her ritual. Test in the early morning hours while he slept, hide the evidence, paste on a smile when ...