This was so much worse than she’d thought. And Tess thought she had been sufficiently worried? Observant enough? She’d been so entirely wrong.
And she didn’t have a handkerchief on hand to offer her – she patted down her pockets helplessly – so eventually Tess gave up and put her arms around her sister regardless, supposing she could wipe her eyes and snotty nose on her sleeves or her shoulder if it came to it. It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered, except – Sage didn’t want to give it up. And Tess had not done her very best to keep this quiet out of any moral qualm – she would support an unwed mother or a bastard child with her life, no question – but she had printed enough pamphlets on marriage and childbirth and those who broke the rules around it to know that that route was never easy for the woman. Not if Sage wanted to keep her career at the hospital after. Not if the father was a cad, or even still nosing around, or wanted the child for his own and shut Sage out. There were so many ways keeping the child would only break her sister’s heart in the long run.
And Sage had every right to be emotional. Tess just wasn’t sure she was thinking. “I can’t imagine how – hard it is,” Tess said eventually, haltingly, not wanting to start a fight. “And if that’s what you want, I – would never stop you. But,” her mouth twisted. She didn’t know how else to say it. I think it would be a mistake.
And she didn’t have a handkerchief on hand to offer her – she patted down her pockets helplessly – so eventually Tess gave up and put her arms around her sister regardless, supposing she could wipe her eyes and snotty nose on her sleeves or her shoulder if it came to it. It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered, except – Sage didn’t want to give it up. And Tess had not done her very best to keep this quiet out of any moral qualm – she would support an unwed mother or a bastard child with her life, no question – but she had printed enough pamphlets on marriage and childbirth and those who broke the rules around it to know that that route was never easy for the woman. Not if Sage wanted to keep her career at the hospital after. Not if the father was a cad, or even still nosing around, or wanted the child for his own and shut Sage out. There were so many ways keeping the child would only break her sister’s heart in the long run.
And Sage had every right to be emotional. Tess just wasn’t sure she was thinking. “I can’t imagine how – hard it is,” Tess said eventually, haltingly, not wanting to start a fight. “And if that’s what you want, I – would never stop you. But,” her mouth twisted. She didn’t know how else to say it. I think it would be a mistake.
