Only Mine Read Online Free PDF

herself to blame. Regardless of her mother’s opinion, she’d gone ahead with the paperwork and had already been vetted by the agency she’d chosen.
    â€œYou know my period has always been difficult forme,” she began. While her sisters sailed through “that time of the month,” Dakota had suffered from a lot of pain.
    â€œYes. We went to the doctor a few times about it.”
    Their family doctor had always said everything was fine. He’d been wrong.
    â€œLast fall things seemed to get worse. I went to my gynecologist and she did some testing.” Dakota finally raised her gaze and looked at her mother. “I have a form of polycystic ovarian syndrome and pelvic endometriosis.”
    â€œWhat? I know what endometriosis is, but the other?” Her mother sounded worried.
    Dakota smiled. “Don’t panic. It’s not all that scary or contagious. PCOS is a hormone imbalance. I’m handling it by keeping my weight down and exercising. I take a few hormones. On its own it can make getting pregnant really difficult.”
    Denise frowned. “All right,” she said slowly. “And the pelvic endometriosis? That means what? Cysts or growths?”
    â€œSomething like that. Dr. Galloway was surprised I had both, but it can happen. She cleaned things up so I don’t have the pain anymore.”
    Her mother leaned toward her. “What are you saying? Did you have an operation? Were you in the hospital?”
    â€œNo. It was a simple outpatient thing. I was fine.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you tell me?”
    â€œBecause that was the least of it.”
    Dakota swallowed. She’d been so careful not to let anyone know. She hadn’t wanted to have to listen to sympathy, to hear people say it would be fine when she’d known it wouldn’t be. She’d been in a place where words would only make things worse.
    But weeks, then months, had passed and the old cliché about time healing all wounds was nearly true. She wasn’t healed, but she could finally say the truth aloud. She should know—she’d been practicing in her small rented house for days now.
    She forced herself to look into her mother’s concerned, dark eyes. “The PCOS is under control. I’m going to live a long, healthy life. Either condition makes it more difficult to get pregnant. Having both of them means it’s pretty unlikely I can get pregnant the old-fashioned way, as you said. Dr. Galloway says it’s about a one-in-one-hundred shot.”
    Denise’s mouth trembled and tears pooled in her eyes. “No,” she whispered. “Oh, honey, no.”
    Dakota had half expected recriminations. A cry of “Why didn’t you tell me?” Instead her mother stood, then pulled her to her feet and held on as if she would never let go.
    The warmth of the familiar embrace touched Dakota’s cold, dark places. Those buried so deep, she hadn’t even known they were there.
    â€œI’m sorry,” her mother told her, kissing her cheek. “You said you found out last fall?”
    Dakota nodded.
    â€œYour sisters mentioned something had upset you. We thought it was a man, but it was this, wasn’t it?
    Dakota nodded again. She’d gone into work after finding out what was wrong and had started sobbing in front of her boss. While she’d never told him the cause, her grief hadn’t exactly been subtle.
    â€œI shouldn’t be surprised you kept it to yourself,” her mother told her. “You were always the one to think things through before talking to anyone.”
    They sat back at the table.
    â€œI wish I could fix this,” Denise admitted. “I wish I’d done more when you first had these problems as a teenager. I feel so guilty.”
    â€œDon’t,” Dakota told her. “It’s just one of those things.”
    Denise drew in a breath. Dakota could see the determination returning to her