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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.
Michelle stared blankly at the stick that was laying on the bathroom counter. She saw it. There was no denying it. There were two lines.
She was pregnant.
Her head was spinning. "How did this happen? We were so careful."
Danny. She had to tell him. But how? And what would they do? How would they deal with this? She dressed quickly, ran downstairs, and right out the front door, breezing past Carmen and Pilar on the way.
Thank God they had not seen her throwing up the past few days, or they would be suspicious.
"They can�t find out. They can never know," she thought as she sped away in her car.
Without thinking she found herself in the park, sitting on the same bench where Carmen had cursed Danny with the Santos legacy. How could she put her own child through this? Every fear she�d ever had came rushing back to her. All the reasons she pushed Danny away. All the reasons she fought her feelings for him. All the reasons she knew she could never be a part of this family. She�d lost the battle of loving Danny. There was just no way to keep from it. She�d accepted that to love him and be with him meant enduring his family, at least for the time being. But she could not, no she would not, allow her child to be corrupted by Carmen and her way of life.
She returned to the Santos house about an hour later. She walked in to the house smiling and discussing the beautiful weather. It was not unusual for Michelle to go out on sunny days, like today, so no one questioned her motives. She found Danny in the kitchen, drinking coffee with his mother.
"Michelle," he said. "I wondered where you were."
"I just took a drive, and a walk in the park. It�s really beautiful outside today."
He stood up from the table and kissed her, taking her hand in his.
"Mother, I think we can put off finishing this discussion until later. I�d like to spend the rest of the afternoon with my wife."
Carmen nodded, but, as always, there was anger behind her eyes. She would never forgive Michelle for taking her place as the most important woman in Danny�s life.
As they walked upstairs, Michelle spoke. "I�m glad we have a chance to talk privately. There�s something important I need to tell you."
They reached their bedroom, and Michelle silently walked into the bathroom. Danny followed her. She opened up a drawer in the vanity, pulled out the test stick, and handed it to Danny.
The look on his face devastated her. It was a look of complete and utter happiness. Pure joy. And considering what she was about to tell him, the look on his face broke her heart in two.