It was the day of their first ultrasound, Veronica prayed that she was further along than she thought, prayed it would be the day of truth. She hoped with everything that she had that she was far enough along that a paternity test wouldn’t be necessary, that the child she carried was Liam’s and that today’s ultrasound would be enough to prove that the child she was carrying was the heir to the throne. She couldn’t bear to think what it would mean if the child she was carrying was the result of an impulsive decision, a decision she’d regret for the rest of her life no matter who the father of her unborn child was. She didn’t want to think about what it would mean to Liam, their marriage if the child turned out to be Drake’s. She knew it would break him, and Drake would try harder to drive them apart. She only wanted Liam, didn’t she?
Her stomach was twisted in knots, her nerves were so frayed and exposed she felt like she was shaking. She just wanted to know, she needed to know her marriage wasn’t damaged beyond repair.Just let it be Liam’s. Let me be farther along. Please let it be Liam’s. Her thoughts consumed her as she begged the universe. Her hand rested on her still flat stomach, she loved this child already, but it could mean the end of her marriage if it was Drake’s. Her marriage was already barely being held up by its crumbling foundation, the result of her bitter lies and hurtful betrayal. Could her marriage survive the blow of the baby not being his? She had never felt more nervous before in her life, she wished she could just pinch herself and wake herself from this horrible nightmare.
Liam was terrified, this was the only chance they had of finding out the paternity without needing to do testing. He visited the old wishing well nearly every day whispering ‘Let the baby be mine. Let there be no doubt it’s mine.’ into the old well. The well he was so happy to show his then fiancé and now he knew she had just been with Drake, his only good memory left of that night shattered into a million pieces. He couldn’t bear to think what it would do to his marriage, his friendship to Drake if the child wasn’t his. Both relationships were already damaged, if it wasn’t his, if Drake continued to fight for her—his wife, his queen, he knew it could likely spell ruin for what remained of the shaky relationships. He sadly shook his head, he couldn’t lose her.
The ride to their appointment was silent, both feeling like they were silently marching to the death of their marriage. What should have been a joyous occasion was tainted by a stupid tryst that never should have happened. They should be smiling, happily chatting about seeing their child for the first time. The drive should have been spent planning their future, discussing getting ready for their baby, their heir. The uncertainty made them both too afraid to plan their life as a family, if the child wasn’t theirs it could likely destroy their marriage. Instead of holding hands, sharing smiles and kisses they both sat facing forward, hands clasped in their laps, both silently praying that this wasn’t the beginning of the end for them.
At the office they were quickly ushered back to an exam room, they checked her vitals before exiting the room telling her the doctor would be in shortly. Veronica sat on the exam table nervously biting her lip, mindlessly picking invisible lint from her top, her eyes pointedly avoiding looking at Liam. This was breaking him, she couldn’t bear to see the longing in his eyes—the moment it would surely turn to heartbreak if she was right about how far along she was.
“Good afternoon Your Majesties, are you ready to see your baby?” The doctor asked as she entered the room.
“We can’t wait.” Liam replied, fake smile plastered on his face, his heart clenching in fear.
The doctor sat in front of the ultrasound machine, “if you could pull up your shirt your majesty.” The doctor stated.
Veronica nodded as she pulled her shirt up, exposing her still flat stomach, her stomach felt like it was housing a million butterflies all trying to escape, the moment of truth.
The doctor grabbed the tube of ultrasound gel, “this will be a little cold.” She stated as she squirted the ultrasound gel on Veronica’s stomach.
The doctor grabbed the ultrasound wand, rubbing it against Veronica’s stomach through the gel, she looked at the screen as she glided the probe across her abdomen.
Breath caught in her throat, Veronica locked her eyes with Liam for the first time all day, fear evident in his blue eyes. He reached for her hand, grasping it as he gave it a gentle squeeze, a silent reminder that he still loved her even after all the pain. She gave him a small smile, tears welling up in her eyes threatening to spill—how could she have hurt this man? His love for her was so true and pure and all she did was rip out his heart and stomp on it by falling for and sleeping with his best friend. He didn’t deserve all the hurt and pain she caused him and she didn’t deserve his pure selfless love.
The sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room pulling their eyes from each other and to the screen.
“This is the sack, and this is your baby.” The doctor said pointing at the screen.
“How far along am I?” Veronica asked, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“By the measurements and the results of your previous blood test is put you at 7 weeks, roughly 5 weeks from your last period.” The doctor answered as she continued to stare at the screen taking measurements.
Veronica’s tears spilled from her eyes as her heart sunk to her stomach, she couldn’t bring herself to look at Liam and see the heartbreak written on his face. His grip on her hand relaxed slightly as he felt the world crumbling at his feet, it could still be Drake’s.
Liam cleared his throat, readying himself for the words he must ask. “If a paternity test needed to be done how soon could it be preformed?” He asked.
The doctor turned to face them, she struggled to cover up her surprise at his question. “W—well there are several options. You can wait until the baby is born and we would collect and test the umbilical blood. After you’re 8 weeks along we can collect the mother’s blood and using a special technique we can preserve and analyze the baby’s DNA, this method is 99.9% accurate. Between 10 and 13 weeks we can do a chorionic villus sampling, CVS, where we collect these small finger-like pieces of tissue attached to the uterus that contain the same DNA as the baby as they come from the same fertilized egg. Or at 14-20 weeks we can preform an amniocentesis, where we would use a long thin needle guided by ultrasound to collect amniotic fluid—this method has risks, the hole may continue to leak, you could experience cramps, or in extreme cases you could lose the baby.” She explained.
Veronica finally allowed her gaze to fall on Liam, she needed him to know she couldn’t risk the baby. Before she could express her concerns Liam spoke, “so we could test after next week with no risk to the baby?”
“That’s right your majesty.” The Doctor replied.
“And the DNA from the father’s?” Liam asked his heart continuing to crack.
“A simple swab of the mouth from each of the possible father’s.” She replied.
“I’m assuming both of the potential fathers would need to be present.” Liam responded.
“That is correct your majesty.”
“And it would be kept confidential?” He asked.
“Of course your majesty, we do not discuss anything about any of our patients.”
Liam nodded, “would we come here to do the testing?” He questioned.
“That is correct, we can set you up an appointment for next week if you’d like.”
“Please.” Liam stated.
***
The trip back to the palace was as quiet as the trip to the appointment. With the tension from the unknown slightly lifted, they held hands clinging to the other for comfort as they hoped they weren’t about to come to a bitter end. The knowledge that Drake could very well be the father weighing heavy on their hearts, they just hoped they could survive whatever the results would eventually bring.
At the palace they parted ways so Liam could do some work. As he shut the door it was pushed open by Drake, shutting the door behind them.
“What the hell Liam?! I find out from James you had an ultrasound appointment!” Drake shouted, his jaw clenching in anger.
Damn it James! Liam mentally noted to talk to his assistant about sharing such appointments with Drake in the future. “Yes Veronica and I got to see the baby today.” Liam replied, the words dripping with condescension.
“I should have been there! I’m the father!” Drake exclaimed, his hands balling into tight fists by his sides, blunt nails digging into the palms of his hands.
“You might be the father Drake, all we know is you’re the man who betrayed your friend, your king. I’m her husband and as such until we know further I will be treated as the father.” Liam replied, his eyes full of an angry rage.
Drake narrowed his eyes as he took a step closer to Liam, his blood boiling in his veins from contained anger.
“What are you going to do Drake, hit me?” Liam challenged.
“Maybe I am. It’s not like you didn’t punch me.” Drake countered.
“I’m not the one who betrayed our friendship! You slept with my fiancé, after you saw her behind my back for the engagement tour. What fucking her while I was stuck pretending with Madeline wasn’t enough for you? You had to sleep with her after we were engaged too?” Liam sneered.
“All we did was kiss until the homecoming ball—”
“So you waited until she was officially off the market to fuck her? That makes it so much better!” Liam said cutting him off, a joyless laugh ringing through the room. He trusted Drake to look after her, to protect her, and in return he tried to steal her from him.
“Why aren’t you mad at her, she had a hand in it too!” Drake responded.
“Why couldn’t you say no?! Why did you have to have a fling with her?” Liam questioned, ignoring Drake’s words.
“Why didn’t you say no? Why did you give her permission?” Drake countered.
Liam sighed, “I’d already hurt her, disappointed her so much, I couldn’t say no to her no matter how much it hurt me to say yes.” he replied, running his hand through his hair roughly.
Drake felt the anger deflate from him, he had wanted her so much that he hadn’t even thought about how his actions might effect Liam. He felt like the biggest jerk in the world, but he still wasn’t ready to let her go.
