Ritika sat in the ultrasound room, her heart racing as the machine hummed to life. The two lines on the test earlier had nearly stolen her breath, but she needed more than that. She and Shashank had planned for this, had waited for this moment, and she couldn’t let uncertainty linger. Blood tests would take too long, and patience wasn’t an option today.

She barely remembered how she made it home, how she carried the ultrasound printout with trembling hands. All she knew that she had to tell him now .