My Husband Made Me Take a DNA Test While I Was Pregnant With His Baby novel · Chapter 2 of 24

Chapter 2: Thirteen Weeks

At the lab Britta counts Kristin's weeks out loud in front of a full waiting room, gives her blood for Nils's test, and Nils tells her in the parking lot that his mother has boxed up her things.

I slept in the guest room on Sunday night with the door locked.

Nils didn't knock.

On Monday morning he drove me to the lab on Superior Street without speaking.

Kristin was waiting on the sidewalk with a tray of three coffees.

"Decaf for you, Bri," she said, and held mine out. "I looked it up. You shouldn't have more than one a day now."

I took it. My hands wanted something to do.

"Why is she here?" I asked Nils.

"She's family," he said. "She wanted to make sure nobody was unkind."

Kristin touched my elbow. "I know this is awful. I just don't want you doing it alone."

The waiting room had a dozen chairs and a fish tank.

Eight of the chairs were taken.

A mother with a toddler on her lap. Two men in work boots. An older woman doing a crossword.

Nils sat at one end of a row. Kristin sat beside him and put her purse on her knees.

I stayed standing.

The receptionist handed me a clipboard and asked for the date of my last period.

I knew it to the day.

I wrote it down and handed it back.

"How far along does that make you?" Nils asked. His voice carried.

"Seven weeks and one day," I said.

He nodded slowly.

"And Kristin's is thirteen," I said.

The crossword stopped.

"Britta," said Nils.

"She's thirteen weeks on October 6th. Her post says so. You handed her your sample on August 18th, which is exactly seven weeks before the scan."

I said it evenly, in my work voice.

"Thirteen weeks is a baby that was made in July."

Kristin gave a small, wet laugh.

"Oh, honey," she said. "Everyone counts from different days. My doctor adds two weeks before the egg even meets anything. It's how they do it."

She looked around the room, not at me.

"She's had a terrible weekend," she said to the woman with the crossword. "She's not thinking clearly."

"Adding two weeks makes it nine," I said. "Not thirteen."

The mother with the toddler had stopped bouncing her knee.

One of the men in work boots said quietly, "She's right about how the weeks go. My wife had three."

"Thank you, sir," said Kristin, and her eyes filled. "I'm sure you mean well."

Nils stood up.

"You're doing this in front of strangers?" he said to me. "You're calling her a liar because you're jealous."

"I'm calling a date a date."

"You're embarrassing me."

That was the part that made me smile.

"Yes," I said. "I know."

A technician called my name.

The room was small and bright, with a padded chair and a rolling cart.

She asked me to roll up my sleeve.

Nils came in behind me. He had to be there, he said, to see the tubes labeled.

The technician checked his ID against his name on the form.

"Mr. Ekdahl, you'll have a cheek swab," she said. "Mrs. Ekdahl's is a blood draw. The lab matches fetal DNA in her blood against your swab."

"How accurate?" Nils asked.

"Above ninety-nine percent. It runs from week seven, so you're right at the edge. It's good."

She tied the band around my arm.

I looked at the wall while the needle went in.

"Results Friday morning," she said. "I'll call the number you gave me."

"Call me," Nils said. "Not her."

The technician looked at him over her glasses.

"It's her blood, sir," she said. "I'll call her."

I almost laughed.

He didn't say another word until we were in the parking lot.

Kristin had gone ahead to the car.

I could see her through the windshield, texting with her face turned away.

Nils stopped beside the passenger door and kept his hand on the handle.

"Before we get in," he said.

"What?"

"Mom went by the house this morning. She boxed up some of your things."

I stared at him.

"She had a key," he said. "I gave it to her."

"Why would you give your mother a key to my grandmother's cottage?"

"It's our house, Britta. My name's on the mortgage."

"We don't have a mortgage. Gran left it to me."

He didn't answer that.

"You're not coming back tonight," he said. "Pia can take you. I already called her."

"You called my sister before you told me."

"I'm telling you now."

Kristin rolled down her window and called, "Everything okay?"

Nils waved her off.

"Everything's fine," he said. "Britta's just getting her things."

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