By the time they arrived in Ferrowland, it was already the next morning. The moment she stepped off the plane, Susanna received a call from Stella. "Do you want to come over for breakfast?" Stella asked. "I had the kitchen prepare all your favorites."

"I can't make it right now. Don't wait up for me, go ahead and eat."

"Are you not here yet?" Stella asked.

"I'm here. I need to head to the hospital first to confirm if I'm actually pregnant, or if it's some kind of tumor."

On the other end of the line, Stella was struck speechless. Her expression went completely blank, and silence stretched between them for five long seconds.

"Excuse me, what did you just say?"

A tumor? A baby? What kind of wild connection was that?

"I need to go to the hospital to confirm if it's a baby or a tumor," Susanna repeated.

Even though Percy had said it was highly likely to be a pregnancy, Hull had planted the word 'tumor' in her head, and now she was second-guessing everything. Especially after feeling that small, hard lump on her stomach, she really wasn't sure anymore.

If it was a baby, she would jump for joy. But if it was a tumor... wouldn't they need to surgically remove it immediately?

Stella took another few seconds to process the absurdity. "Are you seriously comparing a baby to a tumor?"

Who on earth made that kind of comparison?

"Huh?" Susanna murmured.

"A baby is a baby. How did a tumor even enter the conversation?" Stella asked. She had truly never heard of anyone confusing the two before.

"Well, what exactly does a baby feel like? And what does a tumor feel like?" Susanna pressed. Stella remained silent. "Is there even a difference?"

It suddenly dawned on Susanna that Stella was pregnant—she should know this better than anyone, right? The entire flight over, she and Hull had been riding an emotional rollercoaster. They were genuinely terrified it was a medical crisis.

But Stella was completely baffled by the question. "A baby is a baby, and a tumor is a tumor."

What was the difference? They were entirely different biological phenomenons! Susanna sighed. Asking her was clearly useless. Whatever, she would just go get the scan done herself.

The two exchanged a few more words before hanging up just as Ronald made his way downstairs.

Seeing Stella Sitting obediently at the dining table, a fond smile touched his lips. Dressed in comfortable slate-gray loungewear, he looked unusually relaxed. He took a seat right next to her and began peeling a hard-boiled egg for her plate.

"Ronald," Stella said.

"Yeah?"

"Is there a difference between growing a baby in your stomach and growing a tumor?"

Ronald froze, his hands stalling over the egg. He looked up at her in sheer confusion. "What is that supposed to mean?" He couldn't make heads or tails of her question.

"Susie just called me," Stella explained. "She said she's heading to the hospital to confirm if she's pregnant or if she has a tumor."

Ronald was momentarily at a loss for words. "A baby is a baby, and a tumor is a tumor. One means you're pregnant, the other means you're sick."

If she insisted on a distinction, that was it. It was the first time in his life he'd heard anyone ask for the difference between the two.

าวน์*

Assuming the pregnancy hormones were just making her a little Ö scatterbrained, Ronald affectionately ruffled her hair.

"Oh," Stella murmured, still privately wondering what they actually felt like from the inside.

Meanwhile, Hull had rushed Susanna straight to the hospital, pushing for an immediate examination.

The test results were conclusive: she was pregnant!

The moment she saw the confirmation, Susanna let out a massive breath of relief.

"So a growing baby really does feel like a firm little bump."

She had been a nervous wreck the entire trip. From the initial burst of joy to the creeping dread that it è might be a medical crisis, the ordeal had terrified her. It wasn't entirely her and Hults fault for beingo suspicious, either. The little bump in the center of her stomach was just so perfectly round.