My best friend thought she might be pregnant, so I went with her to the hospital for a check-up.

We had just stepped out of the OB-GYN office when we ran straight into the on-duty SWAT captain.

The moment Annie saw him, all the color drained from her face.

"Oh no! It's my brother! If he finds out I'm pregnant before getting married, I'm dead!"

Before I could even react, she shoved her pregnancy test report into my hand.

The next second, her brother's tall shadow blocked the hallway light.

"Jay," she blurted out, forcing a smile. "I'm just here with Mina.

"That boyfriend of hers... he's so irresponsible!"

Under his piercing gaze, my throat went dry.

Later that night, Jayceon showed up at my place.

"Mina," he said, voice shaky. "We were together for six months, but we never slept together.

"So... who's the father?"

***

When Annie Dackham shoved her pregnancy test report into my hand, I was totally taken aback.

Then she begged in a hushed voice, "Please, help me."

By the time I snapped back to reality, Jayceon Dackham had already walked over to us. The young nurses passing by stole glances at him.

Dressed in a black SWAT uniform and standing 186 cm tall, he exuded a commanding presence. His features were sharp and well-defined, and his skin had this nice tan from all those workouts—he just radiated masculinity.

Jayceon must have been on duty nearby. He looked a bit surprised to see us at the hospital, too.

"Oh, hey, Jay! What are you doing here?"

Annie stepped up with a big smile, trying to shift her brother's focus away from the situation.

Jayceon replied briefly, "A colleague got hurt, so I brought him here."

His eyes darted to the sign behind us, where the words "OB-GYN" were blazingly clear.

"Why are you here..."

"We're here for a check-up!" Annie quickly came up with an excuse. "We just got off on the wrong floor. We're looking for the gynecology office, not this one..."

Without thinking, I tightened my grip on the pregnancy test results and discreetly hid them behind my back. His presence was overwhelming.

I stole a glance at him, and our eyes met. I froze.

Just then, a young nurse came out of the OB-GYN clinic and smiled at us. "Got your pregnancy test papers? The doctor is on her way now; please wait just a moment."

Jayceon's scrutinizing gaze bore into us again.

Annie and I had been best friends for over ten years, so I knew her pretty well, and I also knew that the one person she feared most was her brother.

They had grown up in a single-parent household. Their mom worked tirelessly to support them, which naturally meant she was rarely around.

Jayceon was five years older than Annie. Ever since they were little, he had taken care of her more than their mother ever could.

When Annie was in junior high, their mom passed away from an illness. From then on, Jayceon took over as her sole guardian.

Jayceon was steady, stern, reserved, and unsparingly tough in his approach.

Upon learning that Annie's high school relationship began to undermine her studies, Jayceon grabbed the young man and brought him right up to Annie.

The poor boy was terrified. He kept insisting that he didn't like Annie at all and that he was just messing around with her. He promised that he'd steer clear of her from then on.

This incident absolutely devastated Annie's school romance fantasies.

And because of that, Annie, now a working adult, still hadn't dared reveal that she was in a committed relationship.

Her boyfriend had even proposed to her a week ago, but Jayceon had no clue.

Annie said, "He's busy with work and rarely comes home. I can't find a chance to talk to him about it."

But I knew the real reason went deeper than that.

She was worried Jayceon would put her boyfriend through one of those intense tests like he had done before.

She had never expected the pregnancy. Still, she had decided to keep the baby.

One day she'd tell Jayceon, but now wasn't the right time.

Annie, clearly scared of her older brother, shoved the pregnancy test report into my hand and blurted out without thinking, "I'm just here with Mina."

She went on with a mix of anger and concern, "That boyfriend of hers... ugh, I don't even want to start on him.

"He's such a jerk! A total loser!"

She was so wrapped up in her rant that she didn't notice Jayceon's expression getting darker by the second.

His eyes were fixed on me, making me feel uneasy.

Jayceon asked casually, "So... she has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah! I've met him before!" Annie replied earnestly.

Jayceon went quiet all of a sudden. The vibe in the room got kind of strange.

Just when I was about to lose my patience and leave, another guy in a SWAT uniform came running over.

"Captain, Oliver's awake."

Jayceon's face turned serious. "I need to go check on him."

It was urgent, so he didn't have time to say anything else before he turned and left. Annie let out a big sigh of relief.

When she looked at me and saw that I was still lost in thought, her eyes filled with tears of gratitude.

"Mina, you're really my hero!

"How about this? Let's go somewhere private so I can properly thank you. Otherwise, I'll feel really guilty about it."

Her words made me chuckle.

Over the years, I had taken the blame for her more times than I could count, so one more time hadn't really bothered me.

In her view, a real friend was someone who stuck by you, even if it meant putting aside their own feelings.

I gave her a light tap on the head. "Okay, go see the doctor now."

She was pretty sharp. She picked up on my mood and tried to comfort me. "It's fine. You don't know my brother that well. He won't care too much.

"We just need to get through this right now. I'll fill him in later."

A nurse came out calling for her name, so Annie grabbed the pregnancy test report and headed inside.

I stood at the door of the clinic feeling a bit dazed.

I turned to look where Jayceon had gone off to, and Annie's words kept ringing in my ears. "It's okay. You don't know my brother well..."

I let out a soft sigh.

I thought, "Don't know him well?

"On the contrary, we actually know each other way too well."

Annie and I went our separate ways after we left the hospital. Her boyfriend, Matteo Harlan, came to pick her up. They probably had a lot to discuss.

I got home and took a nap, and when I finally woke up, it was almost dark outside. My stomach was growling with hunger, so I decided to order some takeout.

I'd only had the TV on for a little while when the doorbell rang. I thought, "Wow, is the food here already?"

I rushed over and flung open the door. Then I just stood there in shock.

Jayceon was at my doorstep. He'd ditched his black uniform for a simple white shirt that made him look way less stiff than usual. Maybe he hurried over because there was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead.

He took a few deep breaths before looking me in the eye.

"What? Aren't you going to invite me in for a seat?"

Annie had no clue that I actually dated her brother.

We'd been together for over six months before breaking up a month ago.

At first, everything I knew about Jayceon came from Annie. She would go on and on about how old-fashioned, cold-hearted, and tough her brother was.

I believed her, picturing him like some dangerous criminal. That's why I never dared to visit her house.

Later, when Annie and I went out, we accidentally fell into an abandoned sewer. The place was all damp and slippery, and we tried climbing out forever but couldn't make it.

Our throats got sore from yelling, yet nobody came to help us. We hugged each other in despair and cried our eyes out.

But then, suddenly, someone spoke from above us. "Oh, crying now?

"You look a mess when you cry. Hey, are you two hurt?"

I looked up and I was stunned.

When I was 15, I met Annie's brother for the first time—this so-called scary guy everyone talked about. Right then, I realized that Annie's opinions were always influenced by her feelings and maybe weren't totally reliable.

Back then, I wasn't sure if what I felt was the start of a crush or just plain curiosity about him.

I started to notice him more, whether I meant to or not. Whenever Annie complained about her brother, I'd ask a few extra questions, as it would help me get to know him better.

Jayceon graduated from the police academy. On graduation day, Annie said there'd be tons of cute guys there and insisted on dragging me along to check them out.

She got so into looking at all the guys that before long, she disappeared on me. But I found Jayceon hanging out with some classmates on the playground.

They were teasing him. "Come on, man, stop looking so serious all the time! You're not bad-looking. Girls just don't seem into you, maybe you should figure that out!"

"Look at us, we've all gotten gifts from girls except you."

"Jayceon, aren't you jealous?"

I stared at them, totally confused.

For some reason I can't explain, I pulled out the birthday gift my parents had just given me from my schoolbag. I ran over and handed it to Jayceon.

His classmates looked at each other, and finally one of them asked, "Hey, little girl, are you even an adult yet?"

I thought, "I am an adult.

"I just turned 18 yesterday!"

But instead of helping Jayceon out of that awkward moment, I ended up getting him called in for a talk. Later on, I quietly went to apologize to him.

He wasn't mad at all. He just looked really puzzled and asked, "Why did you give me a pink doll?"

I didn't know how to respond, so I hesitantly said, "Should I get you another gift instead?"

"No need," he replied—and surprisingly enough, he smiled. "Thanks! I'm actually really happy today."

That's when I got Jayceon's contact info. From that point on, I started to really get to know this guy.

The only reason I managed to win Jayceon over was because of my own fearlessness.

Eight years went by, and I had told him how I felt seven times.

It wasn't until the eighth time that I finally got through to him. But honestly, that relationship barely lasted a year before it fell apart.

I was the one who suggested we break up.

There were a bunch of reasons for it.

But what I actually said to him was: "We're just not right for each other."

Snapping back to reality, I glanced at the guy in front of me and felt a bit awkward.

Just then, there was a loud knock at the door—it was the delivery driver.

"Hello, your delivery's here!"

I walked over to grab the takeout and brought it inside. It was a hot, fresh pizza, still steaming. But honestly, now didn't feel like a great time to eat it.

Trying to ignore my hunger and cravings, I asked Jayceon, "Did you come here for something?"

Jayceon glanced at the takeout and asked, "Is this all you're eating tonight?"

I nodded, a bit puzzled by his question.

Then Jayceon's voice got serious. "You're pregnant, and this is what you're having?"

Oh no, I totally forgot about that.

My eyes went wide as I stared at him. I was trying to think of how to explain everything without spilling Annie's secret when he suddenly stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

He yanked the door open, stepped outside, and threw back one quick line. "To buy groceries."

15 minutes later, Jayceon was back.

Half an hour later, he had whipped up three dishes and a soup—loaded with both meat and veggies. They were very nutritious and healthy.

I was blown away by how fast he was.

"Go ahead and eat first," Jayceon said, crossing his arms with a cold, sharp tone. "We can talk after you're done."

I ate until I couldn't anymore. When I finally looked up from my plate, I caught Jayceon staring at me.

"All done?"

"Yeah."

Then there was this awkward silence hanging in the air.

I decided to break it first. "About... me being pregnant, actually it's..."

"Who's the dad?"

Jayceon's voice wasn't as steady as before. When I listened closely, I could hear it shaking just a bit. I froze for a second and then met his gaze.

He took a deep breath and asked again, "Who's the dad?

"We were together for eight months and four days, and I never laid a finger on you.

"So, your current boyfriend, you guys knew each other before we broke up?"

It took me a second to wrap my head around what he was saying.

He thought I had cheated on him, which is why I decided to break up with him. And now he assumed this baby was from someone else while we were still together.

I felt a surge of anger right away.

I thought, "Is that really how he sees me?"

I shot him a glare, so mad that I couldn't even find the words for a long time.

"If you're not gonna say anything, I won't push it." He slumped back in his chair, looking pretty downcast.

He fidgeted with his fingers, and once he calmed down a bit, he looked at me again.

"Annie said he's irresponsible. So does that mean he doesn't want this baby?

"What about you? Do you want to keep it?"

He changed the subject so fast that I didn't have time to catch up.

I was really torn between just going for it and telling him about Annie's situation. It would definitely be better than suffering through this alone.

But Jayceon took my pause as a sign that I was giving in. It looked like he had made a big decision.

He got up and slowly walked over to me. "If you're up for it, we can go get our marriage license tomorrow."

His eyes gradually dropped down to my stomach.

"I'll treat this kid like my own."