Destined by the moon, Claimed by Three

Chapter 2: The Unexpected

The days following that fateful night blurred together in a haze of routine and exhaustion. Aisling threw herself into her work, burying the memory of Cade and the whirlwind of emotions he had stirred up. After all, it was just one night—a brief, reckless escape from reality. But as the weeks passed, she found it increasingly difficult to push him from her mind. The way his eyes had pierced into hers, the heat of his touch, and the cryptic note he’d left behind—it all lingered, haunting the edges of her thoughts.

It wasn’t until the third week that the nausea started.

At first, Aisling chalked it up to stress or maybe something she’d eaten. Working twelve-hour shifts in the ER, she was no stranger to feeling run-down. But this was different. The queasiness came in waves, hitting her first thing in the morning and then again in the afternoon. She tried to ignore it, to push through like she always did, but by the end of the week, even the smell of coffee—her usual lifeline—sent her running to the nearest bathroom.

“Maybe it’s a stomach bug,” her friend and coworker, Lila, suggested one afternoon as they sat in the staff lounge, sharing a quick lunch. Lila was a petite brunette with a no-nonsense attitude, and she had a knack for getting to the heart of things. “Or maybe you’re just working too hard. When was the last time you took a day off?”

Aisling shrugged, picking at her salad. “I don’t know. A while, I guess. But I’m fine, really.”

“Are you?” Lila eyed her critically. “Because you look like you’re about to keel over. Maybe you should see a doctor, just in case.”

Aisling forced a smile, though a flicker of unease twisted in her gut. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

But as the days wore on, the symptoms didn’t go away. If anything, they got worse. By the end of the fourth week, Aisling was exhausted, her energy sapped by the relentless nausea and the nagging worry that something was wrong. Deep down, a small, insistent voice whispered a possibility she didn’t want to consider, but she shoved it aside. It was ridiculous. Impossible.

But the voice wouldn’t be silenced.

It was late on a Friday night when Aisling finally broke down and bought a pregnancy test. She had finished a grueling shift at the hospital and was on her way home, her mind spinning with worry and doubt. The grocery store was nearly empty, the fluorescent lights casting a harsh glow over the aisles as she wandered aimlessly, trying to convince herself she was overreacting. But in the end, she found herself standing in front of the pharmacy section, staring at the rows of tests with a mixture of dread and disbelief.

After what felt like an eternity, she grabbed one, tossed it into her basket, and hurried to the checkout, her heart pounding in her chest. The cashier barely glanced at her as she rang up the purchase, but Aisling felt like everyone in the store was watching, like they all knew what she was about to do.

By the time she got home, her hands were trembling. She dropped her keys on the kitchen counter and stared at the small box as if it were a live grenade. Part of her wanted to throw it away, to pretend this was all just some paranoid fantasy. But the other part—the part that had been quietly screaming at her for weeks—knew she couldn’t run from this. Not anymore.

With a deep breath, she picked up the box and headed to the bathroom. Her apartment was silent, the only sound the soft hum of the refrigerator in the other room. The quiet felt oppressive, heavy with the weight of what she was about to discover. Aisling closed the bathroom door behind her, turned on the light, and tore open the box, her movements stiff and mechanical.

The instructions were simple enough, but her hands shook as she followed them, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts. What if? What then? What now? The minutes dragged by in agonizing slowness as she waited for the results, each second feeling like an eternity. She paced the small bathroom, her breath coming in shallow gasps, until finally, she forced herself to look.

Two pink lines.

Aisling’s heart stopped. She blinked, convinced she was seeing things, but the lines were still there, clear and undeniable. Her knees went weak, and she sank onto the edge of the bathtub, staring at the test in disbelief.

Pregnant.

The word echoed in her mind, over and over, until it felt like the walls were closing in on her. Pregnant. It didn’t seem real. How could it be real? She had been so careful, so sure that nothing like this could ever happen to her. But the proof was right there, in her trembling hands.

A thousand thoughts collided in her mind at once, but one question rose above the rest, chilling her to the bone: Who was the father?

There was only one answer, of course. Cade. The man she had spent that one wild, unforgettable night with. But even as she thought of him, a shiver of unease rippled through her. She didn’t know him—not really. He had been a stranger, a fleeting presence in her life. But now, he was part of her forever, whether she liked it or not.

Aisling’s mind raced, trying to piece together what this meant for her future. She had never imagined herself as a mother, not like this, not on her own. She had no idea where Cade was, no way to contact him, and even if she did, what would she say? “Hi, remember me? Turns out, we made a baby that night.”

The absurdity of it all was overwhelming. But there was no escaping the truth. She was pregnant, and whether Cade was in the picture or not, she had a decision to make.

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them back, refusing to give in to the panic clawing at her chest. She couldn’t afford to fall apart, not now. She needed to think, to figure out what she was going to do. Slowly, she set the test aside and stood up, her reflection in the mirror catching her attention. She looked pale, her green eyes wide with shock, her red hair tumbling around her shoulders in a disheveled mess. This wasn’t how she had imagined her life turning out. Not at all.

After a long moment, Aisling turned away from the mirror and left the bathroom. She wandered into the living room, her mind numb, her thoughts swirling in a chaotic storm. She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, teetering on the brink of an unknown future. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t see what lay ahead.

She sat down on the couch, wrapping her arms around herself as if that could hold her together. What was she going to do? She had always prided herself on being strong, on handling whatever life threw her way, but this…this was different. This wasn’t just about her anymore. There was a tiny life growing inside her, a life that depended on her, and the weight of that responsibility was crushing.

For a long time, Aisling just sat there, letting the reality of her situation sink in. She thought about her options, about what this would mean for her career, her future, her independence. She had worked so hard to build a life for herself, to create something stable and secure after everything she had been through. Could she really do this alone?

But even as the doubts gnawed at her, a small, stubborn voice inside her refused to be silenced. You can do this, it whispered. You have to. And as the hours passed, that voice grew louder, drowning out the fear and uncertainty.

Finally, as the first light of dawn began to creep through the curtains, Aisling made her decision. She didn’t have all the answers, and she knew the road ahead would be difficult, but one thing was certain: she was going to keep this baby. She would find a way to make it work, even if it meant doing it alone. She would be strong, for her child. She would protect them, no matter what.

And as she made that silent vow, a sense of calm settled over her, pushing back the chaos that had threatened to consume her. She didn’t know what the future held, but for the first time since that night with Cade, she felt a flicker of hope. A new chapter was beginning, and while it wasn’t the one she had planned, it was hers. She would write it, one day at a time, and she would make it a story worth telling.

But even as she resolved to move forward, a nagging question lingered in the back of her mind: Would Cade ever know about the child they had created? And if he did, would he even care?

With a heavy sigh, Aisling pushed the thoughts aside. There was no point in dwelling on what-ifs. She had a life to plan, a baby to prepare for. Everything else would have to wait.

As the morning light filled her apartment, Aisling stood up, squared her shoulders, and began to make a list of what she needed to do. She was going to be a mother, and no matter what challenges lay ahead, she would be ready.