Chapter 46

• Rain hammered against the glass, a steady rhythm that matched the thumping of Amara's own heart. She sat at the edge of the bed, her fingers shaking as she held the small white envelope. "Congratulations" stared back at her, the words running together as tears fell down her face.
• She had known, of course, weeks previously. The missing periods, the morning sickness, the manner in which her body struggled against itself. But to see it in print, in black and white, official and absolute, was something else entirely.
• "Amara?" Leo came in, softly and hesitantly. He had worked late at the office, as he sometimes did, and she had waited up for him, unable to be alone with the news.