unexpected love [c.l.]

chapter one

"Good morning, sweet girl," Evie cooed as she lifted Poppy out of her crib. Poppy giggled, her tiny hands reaching out to touch Evie's face.

"Mommy!" Poppy exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with joy.

Evie kissed her daughter's cheek and carried her to the kitchen. "How about some breakfast, hmm? Pancakes sound good?"

Poppy clapped her hands in excitement. "Pancakes!"

Evie set Poppy down on her highchair and as she started making breakfast. The nausea that had been plaguing her for the past couple of weeks started to torment her again. She leaned on her forearms, taking deep breaths and trying to push it away. She had been brushing it off as just another bout of stress or maybe a bug going around.

As she was flipping the last pancake, a sudden knock at the door startled her. Evie frowned and looked at Poppy. "Who must it be, schat?" They weren't expecting anyone this early. She picked up Poppy and balanced her on her hip and went to answer it.

"Lando?" Evie asked, surprised to see him this early at her doorstep. "What are you doing here?"

"Lala!" Poppy exclaimed, reaching out so Lando could pick her up.

"Hi doll, did you sleep well?" Lando asked the little girl in his arms as he softly kissed her forehead. As Poppy nodded he turned back to Evie. "Can I come in?"

Evie stepped aside letting Lando in. "I was just finishing breakfast. Lan, is everything okay?"

"Well, not really," he put Poppy down and she ran to her little playpen. "Sunshine, I know this is unexpected, but I've been worried about you. I can see that you have not been feeling well, and I thought..." he extended a bag to her. "That maybe you should take one of these."

Evie's eyes widened as she peeked into the bag and saw several pregnancy tests. "Lando, you really didn't have to..."

Lando interrupted, his expression serious. "You had the exact same symptoms when you were pregnant with Poppy and I know how stubborn you can be, so I decided to take one for the team and buy them."

Evie sighed, looking at Poppy, who was happily flipping through a book. "You're sweet, Lan, but I don't think that's necessary."

"Just humor me, please?" he insisted, his eyes filled with genuine concern. "It's better to know, right?"

Reluctantly, Evie took the bag from him. "Fine. But just so you know you spent money foolishly."

"Don't worry about it, sunshine, I have enough."

Evie headed to the bathroom, the pregnancy tests feeling like they weighed a ton. Her hands trembled as she followed the instructions, just like she did two years ago, each second ticking by slowly.

She tried to keep her mind calm, but memories of that night in Miami with Charles kept surfacing. They hadn't talked since they walked out of that room together, they exchanged the casual texts here and there but nothing more and now here she was, in her bathroom taking a pregnancy test.

As the timer she had set came to life, she looked at the test and saw two pink lines. Positive. She was pregnant.

Her heart raced as she stumbled out of the bathroom, the reality hitting her hard. Lando was immediately at her race, his face full of concern.

"What did it say?" he asked softly, already guessing the result from the look on her face.

"It's positive," Evie whispered, her voice barely audible. "I'm pregnant."

Lando's arms immediately went around her, he pulled her to his chest. "Are you okay, sunshine?"

Evie nodded against his chest, tears welling up in her eyes. "I don't know how to do this again, Lan. I'm scared."