She Woke Up Married by Suzanne Macpherson

she’d had with her friend Marla that she was indeed pregnant with Turner Pruitt’s child.
    She had about fifteen minutes to prepare herself and be ready for whatever Turner’s reaction was. She’d probably have a hard time convincing him to put the baby up for adoption, but if he had a brain in his head he’d see her point. She was going to have to be very, very strong with him. She took a few deep breaths. If she was going to be strong, she better pull her fear back into herself and use it to focus. No one, not Turner, not any man she’d ever known, or woman for that matter, could make her do anything she didn’t choose to do. When she made up her mind about a matter, it was written in stone, just like her heart. Her stone-cold heart.
    She’d be ready.

6
Catchin’ On Fast
    The little blue line didn’t just faintly hint: it glowed like a strip of neon as Turner stared. Paris glanced, then crossed her arms and braced her back against the white wooden chair.
    “So that’s it then?” she said.
    “That would be the fourth one, so I’d say that’s it.” Turner placed the test alongside the other three tests of various types they had lined up down the center of the dining room table across the Sunday funny paper section. Turner found that somewhat amusing at the moment, with each test taking up another square of the Garfield comic.
    “You’re smiling?”
    “I was reading the comics.”
    Paris sat forward in her chair. “Before you start with the bighearted speech I’m sure you have planned, I have something to say to you.”
    “Actually I don’t have a speech planned, Paris, I’m just going to take things as they come.” Turner reached for her hand, but she tucked it under her other arm, as if to keep herself from accepting comfort from him even if she weakened and reached out. He left his hands on the table. “I’m listening.”
    “You are the only person in this city that knows about this. You’re also the only person here that knows what happened with my mother and father. I know because of that you’ll understand that I can’t be a mother to this child.
    “I intend on going away somewhere until the baby is born, then finding a suitable family to adopt it. When it’s over, I’ll return to New York, pick up the pieces of my career, and get back to work. You and I are going to get a divorce, and I expect you’ll go back to where you came from. In nine months I’d like to be able to put this unfortunate mistake behind me and that includes you. Do you understand?” Paris let out a breath, as if she’d been holding it, and sat herself back against the chair again.
    “Yes, I understand. I understand that you’ve thought this through for the last hour since I left the apartment, and this is what you’ve come up with as a solution.”
    The look on Paris’s face told him she was going over what he said carefully. Good, she was paying attention, anyway.
    “So we’re clear on this? I can’t tell from what you just said.”
    “I have a few questions.” Turner laced his fingers together and looked at her with all the love he felt for her. “Do you understand that just because your mother had postpartum psychosis doesn’t mean that you will repeat that?”
    “I see that she and I have extremely similar temperaments. I’m not even willing to take a chance of that happening. The child needs to be placed away from me immediately. I’d like to arrange to have the adoptive parents at the birth and take the child home from the hospital. I don’t want to see it, bond with it, or anything. Don’t even think I’m going to change my mind about that, Turner. I’ve already given it up in my mind. I’ve suspected for a week at least that I might be pregnant. I’ll just be the carrier.”
    Turner had to keep himself from getting angry with her. It was his only chance to keep communication open between them. He bowed his head silently for a moment to regain his composure.
    “I’m only a little