“Well, I have some good news for you to share with your wife, sir. I got all the test results back, and everything seems, for the most part, normal. There shouldn’t be much trouble conceiving on her end. Though I do recommend she increase her calorie intake to get her weight up for the best chances to carry full term,” the doctor said happily over the phone. “I’ll email you a copy of the results in the morning.”

  “I see, I see. Well, before you fully submit those results, you are going to do something for me, doctor,” Luis interrupted, his voice low and cold. The doctor immediately sensed something was off. The strange, awful feeling when he came to examine and take samples from his Wife returned. The way Luis had stared at him while he worked made it hard to focus, like there was an invisible gun pointed at him the whole time. Just one mistake and his life was forfeit.

  “Ahem… oh? And what would that be sir?” He had never regretted switching to being a private physician until now. Why couldn’t he have just been happy at the hospital he used to work at? He made good money, the nurses were cute, and no one ever threatened his life. But it was too te for regrets now as he heard Luis ugh darkly.

  “Haha, don’t be so nervous, doc. It's simple really. I will even pay you three times what you were going to charge me. All you need to do is workshop that little test of yours. Throw in some of your doctor mumbo jumbo and make it say she can never have children.” The fact that Luis said it like it was something completely normal only disturbed the doctor even more.

  “S-sir, that is highly unethical, not to mention I could lose my license by intentionally changing the results of a test.” Another ugh followed the refusal.

  “Hahaha, don’t get so honorable on me now, médico. Surely, it's easy enough to simply change a few lines in the document. Besides, I assure you that losing your license is the far preferred choice to what I will have to do should you deny my humble request.” There was a long moment of silence before the doctor finally responded again.

  “Sir, are you threatening me?” he asked, trying to at least argue a little and not just roll over like a coward.

  “Noooo, of course not. If I wanted to threaten you, I would simply come to 1490 Shepards Way and have a nice chat with Margaret and little Reilly.” The doctor's blood ran cold as the message was crystal clear. “You’re always so busy, and they are left home alone for so long. Maybe I should send some friends to pay them a visit and keep them company. Doesn’t that sound nice, Doctor? Haha.”

  “You stay away from my family, you bastard!” He started to hyperventite as the feeling of simply having this imaginary gun pointed at him evolved into it being pressed to his temple. Luis just cackled again at the pathetic rebuttal.

  “Then I think you know what to do, don’t you? Don’t disappoint me now. I expect everything by tomorrow evening. Adios.” With that, the line went dead.

  As silence enveloped the doctor, he pulled the phone away from his ear and suddenly threw it against the wall like it was va in his hands. He used a violently shaking hand to wipe the sweat from his brow and looked over at his computer screen that still had the test results for Jillian Lins up. He bit his thumbnail as he stared at it, every fiber of his being told him that Luis Vargas’s words were not mere empty threats. His gut told him that if he didn’t do as he was told, not only he but his family was going to be subjected to whatever that psycho could come up with.

  “I’m so sorry… I have a family, a little girl of my own to protect,” he mumbled as if Jillian could hear him through his screen. He then scooted his chair in and began typing away at the computer at a frantic pace.

  The next day, Jillian was rexing in bed, dressed in nothing but a long, see-through nightgown, watching some trashy rom-com on the TV in her room. There wasn’t much else to do until Luis got back from work. He had been acting a little odd these st few weeks. Not as close or sweet as he usually was. She knew he wanted her to have his child, and she was more than willing to get pregnant. But they had been trying for a while with no success, so st week she got tested for fertility. She wasn’t worried, as she had experienced a few pregnancy scares in the past, so she assumed that maybe Luis’s swimmers weren’t what they used to be, since he was a bit older.

  She snacked on celery and lemon water as she stared at the screen. Suddenly, she heard the sound of the front door smming shut loudly. She was confused since it was still a little early for Luis to be home. But sure enough, as the door to the bedroom opened, in stormed Luis.

  “Hey Papi, what are you doing home so…” Seeing the scowl on his face made the words die in her throat. “What’s wrong, baby? Why do you look so upset?” she asked, sitting up on her knees and turning to face him.

  “I’ll tell you why I’m fucking upset!” He shouted and threw a small stack of papers at her, hitting her in the chest. She flinched a little, but it didn’t hurt. She wasn’t happy that Luis was suddenly yelling and throwing things at her. But she grabbed the papers and started to look them over. Most of it was a lot of medical jargon, but a few sentences were circled with a red pen. So she focused on reading those.

  “In summary, the chances of the patient, Jillian Lins, conceiving a child and carrying to term are below one percent. Fertility treatments may raise this percentage, but not by a significant margin. Perhaps 2-3%.”

  Jillian’s hands started to shake as she held the paper. There was no way. She was in her prime, barely in her twenties, and her dream of a family of her own was already dead. It couldn’t be, and she refused to believe it.

  “T-this has to be some sort of mistake! The doctor made a mistake, Luis! That hack fucked the test up!” she screamed at him, already feeling her throat tighten and her eyes watering. But Luis only showed anger and disgust as he looked down at her. It was unlike anything she had ever seen from the man before. The man she fell in love with, who she loved, wouldn’t look at her like this.

  “I already had it double-checked, Roja. You are looking at the truth, pin as day in bck and white. How could you do this to me? We were gonna start a new family, a new generation to keep my legacy going.” He paced in front of her, his fists clenched tight in anger.

  “I-I-I,” Jillian stuttered out, trying to find something to say to that. What could she say? Was there anything? Her whole body felt numb as she barely held onto the papers. Just what could she do should this not work out? She had no skills, no talents she could think of aside from possibly sex. But that meant nothing when any other girl could provide that or more. It felt like her entire life had just been cut in half. A half that she had been looking forward to for most of it. Yet in mere moments, it had all been torn from her. She barely felt the tears as they started to stream down her face as she sat there in shock.

  “Are you even listening to me, Jill?!” Luis yelled in her face, making her flinch out of her stupor.

  “W-what?” she said out of reflex, but that only made him even angrier. Throwing his hands up in defeat, he let out a long groan of frustration.

  “I said, I don’t know if I can look after you anymore. After all I have given to you, the vacations, the vish home, the amount of money I have spent on jewelry for you! This is how you repay me. You know how important it is to me to have children before I get too old. I get tested every year to make sure I can still have kids at my age, and you end up the defective one.” This was a btant lie, but Jillian was far too distraught to catch even a hint of it. In truth, Luis had a vasectomy almost a decade ago. He had no desire to create more little bastards to try and bleed him dry like the other three leeches he had with his ex.

  Jillian’s eyes bulged at this. “W-what do you mean!? I know you want kids, but it's not my fault! I can’t control what my body is like. You can’t just abandon me!” she cried out, scooting closer to the edge of the bed, tossing aside those stupid papers that ruined everything. Despite her words, Luis just scowled viciously at her.

  “Oh, can’t I? Last I checked, I pay for everything here, including the roof over your head. I have no obligation to keep a freeloading good-for-nothing around. I don’t owe you a fuckin’ thing. In fact, if anyone owes anyone anything, you owe me, chica!” he said coldly, making Jillian’s jaw drop.

  “How could you say something like that? I never asked for any of this! I’m here because I thought you loved me!” she nearly screamed, reaching out and grabbing his arm. He quickly yanked it back, but his scowl softened as he did.

  “I thought I did too…” Like the flip of a switch, Luis suddenly switched from pissed off and cold to somber and sensitive. “I thought we could be a family, but you have to understand that I’m hurting as well, Roja. I’m starting to question everything. Like, should I really keep this retionship going if there is no future?” Jillian shook like a leaf at the thought of being tossed aside by the man she loved.

  “Luis… Papi, p-please, I…I can still be your future. I can still be your Mami. J-just tell me what I have to do, and I’ll do it! I’ll do anything, I swear!” She sobbed, reaching out for him like a desperate child. Luis barely managed to contain his smirk at her desperation, having to cover his face with his hands to hide it for several moments. Once he was able to force himself back into the proper expression, he let out a heavy sigh as he lowered his hands.

  “You have to know that providing all of this for you isn’t cheap…But,” he paused, walked up, and sat down on the bed next to her. “I still love you, even if you are defective. And you are right, I can’t just abandon you. But there will have to be some changes. I just hope you truly see just how much I’m sacrificing for you, Mami. I could easily move on and find someone else to carry my legacy.” Jillian nodded frantically to his words.

  “I do, I promise I do!” She clung to his arm, holding it tight to her chest. He looked over at her with a soft smile.

  “Good, just remember, Mami. I’m the only one who will ever truly love you. I even have a new neckce I wasn’t going to give to you. But the rest of the world is not so kind. Now come to me,” Luis said, and opened his arms for her. She quickly dove into them, wrapping herself around him and clinging to him for dear life.

  “Thank you, Papi. I know I don’t deserve you, but I don’t know what I would do without you,” she whimpered, crying into his chest. Luis couldn’t keep the smirk off his face as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him, whispering in her ear

  “You are precious, but nothing without me…remember that.”

  Five years ter

  Jillian sat in the examination room, the paper on the table crinkling under her butt. She had been having strange cramps tely and had gotten sick a few times. Mostly, she was worried that she had caught the flu or been infected by some strange bacteria tracked in by the kids. The only other thing that was bothering her was that she hadn’t gotten her period in a while after only getting it back st month. She knew she couldn’t get pregnant, but she was worried that she was losing her weight gain journey again. Even though the scale showed she was ten pounds heavier than she had been at her st visit.

  She was pying on her phone a bit when the doctor came back in.

  "Hey there, thanks for coming back. Sorry for the wait. I was just confirming that the b test results were accurate, " the doctor said with a smile as she walked over and sat down on her stool, setting the paperwork down on the counter. Jillian had been in earlier and gotten blood and urine samples taken and tested. Now she was back for the results. She quickly put her phone away and returned the smile

  “No worries. Were you able to find out what’s wrong with me? Do I need antibiotics or something? Lord knows my little brother touches everything, spreading his disgusting germs,” Jillian said with a soft chuckle. The doctor let out a slight ugh as well, but shook her head

  “Nope, but I do have a few questions first, if you don’t mind?” she asked sweetly. Jillian just shrugged and nodded. “Great. So first off, are you sexually active?”

  She was about to answer yes, but then paused for a moment, trying to think if it was the right answer since it had been a few weeks.

  “Yeah, kinda. My boyfriend lives in Florida, so it's been a bit since I’ve seen him.”

  “I see. Would you say it's been about three to four weeks?”

  Jillian blinked a few times in surprise at the accuracy of the doctor's guess.

  “Umm, no. He left about two weeks ago, but that's about when he arrived…What’s going on here?” She knew that something was up, but what the doctor was hinting at was impossible… wasn’t it?

  “Well, my other question is, when was your st period?” The doctor was undoubtedly being careful not to jump to conclusions. But Jillian was done pying games.

  “Are you trying to tell me I’m pregnant?!” Jillian finally just burst out, angry at the thought of the doctor messing with her. But she nodded all the same.

  “It certainly seems that way, Ms. Lins. We detected trace amounts of hCG in both your blood and urine.” It seemed the doctor was unsure whether to congratute or console her. “And if you’re already starting to have morning sickness while your period is more than a week or two te, I would say that more or less confirms it.”

  Jillian just stared wide-eyed at the doctor. So many emotions flooded her at this point that she wasn’t sure if she should ugh, cry, or scream.

  “I’m… pregnant? B-but do you think I can actually carry the baby without losing it?” Her whole body shuddered, imagining the pain of finally getting pregnant only to lose it partway through.

  The doctor thought for a moment but eventually nodded. “It’s always more difficult for those who struggle with Anorexia, but if you work hard on increasing your calorie intake and keep gaining like you have…I don’t see any issues past the general risks.

  Jillian’s heart beat so hard and fast that she could barely hear anything other than the thudding in her ears. After all the pain and suffering she went through, in the end, once again, she had been lied to and misled by that bastard of a man. Of course, Luis had faked the test results. He had faked everything else after all. She wanted to scream and curse his name, but as tears started to spill from her eyes, she found they were not ones of sadness or anger. This meant that she was no longer broken or defective. She was actually pregnant and carrying Jason’s child.

  As the man came to mind, she couldn’t help but panic about what he would think. They had just started dating, and she was already knocked up. She had inadvertently lied to him. Talking him into not needing a condom looked really bad now.

  But even if her boyfriend got angry, deep down, she knew that he wouldn’t simply deny that it was his child. She also knew that he was going to be mad, he was going to be so very angry that telling him was going to be one of the hardest things she would ever do.

  “I’m pregnant,” Jillian repeated, smiling through the tears and grasping her stomach. The happiness she felt at this new life was still the overwhelming emotion that flooded out of her. Her life had changed so much more in those two short weeks than she could have ever hoped or imagined.