Kate & Ryke: Unexpected Encounters

December 2012. The sterile waiting room of an OB's office felt suffocating. Twenty-two and pregnant, Kate sighed, rolling her eyes at a magazine headline about sex during pregnancy. That wasn't a concern for her, not since Quinn had disappeared after she'd told him the news.

Her mom, Lynn, sat beside her, radiating a mix of worry and anticipation for the 18-week sonogram. They joked about finding out the baby's sex, a brief flicker of normalcy in the overwhelming reality of a single, unplanned pregnancy.

Across the room, a couple sat, the man doting on the woman's large bump. Kate pressed a hand to her own, much smaller, belly, a pang of sadness for the absent father. She'd thought Quinn was a good guy, but one conversation had shattered that illusion.

The nurse called her name, and Mom, ever supportive, was up before she was. The familiar hallway, lined with baby photos, seemed to mock her uncertainty. As she stepped onto the scale, then settled for the blood pressure check, the reality of what was about to happen hit her. The sonogram would make everything real.

In the darkened room, the exam table loomed. Anticipation warred with nervousness. She was going to have a baby. And in a few minutes, she'd know if it was Jackson Ryan or Harlow Lynn. She lay back, the cold jelly a shock against her skin, and watched the monitor, trying to decipher the swirls, unaware her life was about to change course in a way she couldn't possibly imagine.