Bella stood frozen, her breath catching painfully in her throat.
For a second, she wasn't sure she'd heard him right. That was how she'd been feeling for the past few seconds since she decided to tell him about Timothy.
Or was this a dream? She had to be sure. She told herself as she swallowed.
"You… can't have children?" she whispered, her voice small, trembling.
Jake nodded once, a short, heavy movement. His jaw tightened, his eyes glinting with something she hadn't seen before: shame.
"I can't," he said quietly. "I had a vasectomy."
The word hit Bella like a language she'd never heard before. "A… what?" she asked, her voice barely audible.
Jake's throat worked as he swallowed. "A vasectomy," he repeated, his tone clipped and hollow. "It's a procedure men undergo to stop themselves from ever having children. Permanently."
Bella's mouth fell open slightly. "You mean… you—" Her words faltered, disbelief trembling in her voice. "You made yourself… unable to have children?"
