Seventeen
Pen blew out a breath, lying on a table in the doctor’s office and not feeling the least little bit relaxed. Today she and Zach would learn if they were having a son or a daughter and the anticipation was almost too much to handle.
She hadn’t told Zach that his mother had stopped by to chat. Reason being, she wasn’t sure how to broach the topic. The Lonna Story was his story to tell, and frankly, that he hadn’t told her was...well, telling. Pen and Zach were in deep together. They were engaged—kinda—expecting a baby and he’d pretty much decreed that she wasn’t moving out.
Yet when it came to divulging his personal past, he was silent. Which could only mean one thing. Zach had been hurt and quite possibly wasn’t over the mysterious Lonna.
“How are you doing, Ms. Brand?” The doctor stepped into the room. Dr. Cho was young and beautiful, her silken black hair tied back at the base of her neck. Her kind, almond-shaped eyes swept to Zach and she nodded in greeting.
Zach promised Pen that Dr. Cho was the best in Dallas. He’d insisted on the very best care and Pen hadn’t argued. She might not relish the idea of piles of outrageous baby clothing, but she agreed that the best care for their child was the only care.
“I’m nervous,” Pen admitted.
“Nothing to be nervous about.” Dr. Cho squirted clear goo onto a flat plastic ultrasound paddle and warned it’d be cold. “How about you, Dad?”
Pen’s eyes clashed with Zach’s and he held her gaze while he said, “Doing just fine.”
“Good.”
Cold, definitely, but the shock of the chill faded as Pen searched the image on screen for her baby. And there it was. A whooshing sound of the heartbeat and what actually resembled a human being.
Incredible.
Tears pricked the corners of her eyes but accompanied a resilient smile. Zach breathed a “Wow” next to her, his gaze glued to the screen, his mouth ajar.
It was a miracle.
An unexpected, unrelenting miracle.
After a few minutes and measurements, Dr. Cho asked if they’d like to know the sex.
“Yes,” Pen and Zach answered eagerly—both on the same page. This little gem had given them enough surprises.
Pen held her breath and wondered if Zach did the same. Then Dr. Cho told them the sex of their baby.
* * *
“It’s incredible, isn’t it?” Zach said on the ride home from the doctor’s office. Hearing the heartbeat had been one thing, but seeing their child on the screen and knowing a little Ferguson would soon be entering their lives was unbelievable.
Pen was lying back against the headrest, the A/C cranked up so high her hair blew in the air coming from the vent. August in Texas was hell. But Zach didn’t mind the heat or the fact that he had to lift his voice to talk over the vent forcing out cool air. He was on cloud nine.
In spite of today’s announcement ruining a particular surprise.
He pulled into the garage of his new house and rounded the car to open Pen’s door for her. She wore a long white dress and heels, but her shoes were lower heeled than her normal nine-to-five wear. His favorite part of the dress was the wispy material that slitted up both sides showing peeks of her smooth calves when she walked as well as the off-the-shoulder straps that showcased not only a gorgeous collarbone but also cleavage that was going for the World’s Record for holding Zach’s undivided attention.
Inside he gave her the bad news. “I had a surprise planned, and now it’s not as good of a surprise unless you want to leave the house for a day or two so I can fix it.”
She slanted her head and narrowed one eye, her smile playful. “What’d you do?”
He shook his head in chagrin, but found his smile wasn’t going anywhere, either. “You’re gonna laugh.”
“Now I have to know.”
Here went nothing. Time to own it.
He led her through the house and upstairs to the baby’s room. His designer had come in and furnished the room with a crib and dresser and changing table—the same furniture that Pen had pointed out at Love & Tumble. The style was what he preferred: clean, simple, warm. No pastels or frilly anything. His designer had insisted on beige with white crown molding running along the center of the wall, which he at first protested. She’d argued it was “the perfect blank palette ready for a splash of color” for when they found out the sex. When he’d first showed Pen, she loved it. Zach turned the knob, gave Pen one last lift of his eyebrows and pushed the door wide.
He was right about the laughing.