FORTY SIX - LEXIE

When I should have been shaking with fear, an overwhelming sense of happiness consumed me instead, bubbling up like champagne in my veins. My rational mind worked furiously to tamp it down. What exactly are you so happy about? my logical side sneered. You're twenty-three. You haven’t even started law school yet. You’re going to juggle a career and raising a child? That’ll be... interesting. I smirked at how condescending my own thoughts had become, surprising myself. I answered back, defensively, Yes, it’ll be interesting. And amazing. Ryder did it at nineteen, didn’t he? If he can do it, so can I. Besides, I won’t be doing it alone. Won’t you? A flicker of doubt pierced through my happiness, that thrill of uncertainty making my stomach quiver. I could almost see the future right in front of me, as clear as the positive sign on the pregnancy test. Ryder, standing in a hospital room, holding a tiny, wrapped bundle. From the folds of the blanket, a peaceful, soft face, tiny eyes closed,