“Yes, I’ll be there,” I reluctantly acquiesced. All of our friends were super excited about it. Kinsley’s restaurant, Two Girls and a Guy, was even catering the event at the Book Nook. It was a swanky bookstore in Carrington Cove. Pretty much everything was swanky in the new town I resided in. I missed the normalcy of Pine Falls.
“We should go together.”
“Right.” I stepped into the car and went to shut the door, but Brock grabbed it.
He closed his eyes for a moment and gathered his thoughts before his eyes popped open and lasered in on me. “What I meant to say was, I would like it if you went with me.”
“I don’t even think you believe that.”
He leaned in. Our faces came within inches of each other, almost as if he were going to kiss me. His warm, minty breath brushed my skin, sending a wave of shivers through me.
“Dani,” he spoke my name like he treasured it, “I want you by my side tonight. I’ll see you at home.” Without another word he shut the door, leaving me feeling like I needed to catch my breath. I’d been feeling like that for weeks. I wasn’t sure I would ever breathe freely again. I had a feeling, though, if Brock and I ever got close enough to share the same breaths and breathe as one, I would feel whole again.
I couldn’t get my hopes up about that. For right now, I needed to focus on my baby and all the lies I would have to keep straight for the paperwork I needed to fill out. Dr. Paulson was a colleague of Brock’s, and she had promised that she and her staff would be more than discreet. Sure, there were HIPAA laws, but Brock was a national news sensation now, and some people, unfortunately, would use it to make a quick buck or two. There was no doubt my pregnancy was going to make headlines. The thought made me ill. If the spotlight shone any brighter on me, I might go blind.
When I arrived at the doctor’s office, I was shuttled in through the back entrance like a criminal. It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the discretion, but this wasn’t how I had pictured motherhood beginning for me.
I was placed in my own private exam room to fill out the paperwork. I couldn’t help but feel like I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. The exam room was too posh. It had real hardwood floors and dark bronze mosaic lighting fixtures. It almost felt like a spa, except the exam table had stirrups, which didn’t give me warm and fuzzy feelings. Not only that, this place didn’t hand out cheap paper gowns to cover up with. We are talking cotton gowns with probably a thread count of a thousand draped my body. So this was how the other half lived?
Once my paperwork was done, a nurse drew blood and checked my vitals and weight. I’d lost ten pounds since this ordeal had all begun. Hopefully, I would feel better soon and gain it all back and then some. I wanted this baby to be healthy and strong. We both needed to be. Our lives weren’t ever going to be easy. Not like mine ever had been, but the situation we were in now was a different kind of beast. One I couldn’t slay, only appease.
The doctor finally came in. She was a pleasant-looking woman with short gray hair, a sparkling smile, and piercing violet eyes that made her seem younger than her fifty-five years her bio claimed she was. Her presence instantly made me feel at ease. Which was saying something given my state.
“Dani, it’s so nice to meet you.” She held out her hand to me.
I took her hand and shook it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Brock speaks very highly of you.”
She smiled. “He’s very complimentary of you as well. Congratulations, by the way.”
“Thank you.”
She took a seat on the rolling stool and scooted close to me on the exam table. “Why don’t we go through your chart first and then we’ll take a peek at the baby.”
That was the best news I’d heard in a long time. “Sounds good.”
She pulled up her laptop and my chart. “Looks like we don’t have any health concerns to be worried about and we’re looking at an April thirtieth due date. Tell me how you’ve been feeling.”
“Tired and like I might die of nausea.”
“Sounds about right.” She laughed. “That should go away in the next few weeks. If it doesn’t, let me know.”
Oh, happy day. Hopefully that meant ten days sooner than her calculations, since I was further along than I claimed to be.
We went through every little piece of information I’d written down, and she answered all my questions. Then it was showtime. Her nurse came back in with an ultrasound machine. I got uncomfortable in the stirrups, and Dr. Paulson proceeded with the vaginal ultrasound. I held my breath, waiting to see my little peanut on the screen. It didn’t take long for the most beautiful sight ever to appear before my eyes. Tears ran down my cheeks as I admired my tiny baby. When I heard the heartbeat, I full on started to bawl. Suddenly, all the pain and struggle didn’t matter. All that mattered was the small creature moving on the screen.