Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156145 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 781(@200wpm)___ 625(@250wpm)___ 520(@300wpm)
If he dropped this bombshell?
He might lose her forever.
Aaron cleared his throat. Just because I love her doesn’t mean I have to tell her. Not yet. “I’ll talk to Cameron tomorrow before the doctor’s appointment, and call Trish after. Though we’ll have to get her set up in a place, otherwise she’ll move in here and take over the spare bedroom.”
“My room.” She rolled her eyes at his look. “Okay, fine. I haven’t slept in that room in a month, so I guess it’s not technically my room for the time being.”
For the time being.
She kept putting qualifiers on what they were. She couldn’t seem to help herself.
He set aside his frustration just like he had every other time and focused on finishing dinner. Becka was in his life and in his bed—for now. He’d do whatever it took to keep her there and ensure she didn’t let the past poison the possibility of their future together.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BECKA COULDN’T STOP pacing as they waited for the doctor to arrive. It had been bad enough during the last appointment, sitting by herself in the consulting room with the knowledge like a rock in her gut that everything had changed and there was no going back. That was before her body had started actually showing changes. Now her stomach had a definite curve and she could actually feel the baby move regularly.
This was real.
It was happening.
She should sit down. Should be able to handle this despite feeling like she was one sharp move away from coming out of her skin. She couldn’t. Nerves kept her moving despite Aaron’s increasing stillness. He’d stopped watching her several minutes ago and had taken up staring at the door as if he could summon the doctor faster through sheer willpower. Knowing Aaron, it was entirely possible.
She was fucking this up, but she couldn’t stop. The future sat like a weight around her neck, threatening to take her to her knees. She might be able to forget the circumstances that had brought her and Aaron back together when they were going about their lives. Playing house. There was no forgetting in that clinic room. The truth was in every diagram on the walls and the table with its thin paper laid over it. It was in the sterile hospital smell that even places like this held. It was even in the quiet murmur she could hear from beyond the walls on either side of them and in the hall as nurses led other patients through the warren of rooms.
I’m having a baby.
I’m having a baby with Aaron.
A knock on the door brought her up short. Dr. Richardson, a short Filipina lady who’d been Becka’s gynecologist since she was sixteen, poked her head in and smiled warmly. “Becka, it’s good to see you again.” She stepped into the room and closed the door softly behind her before turning and extending a hand to Aaron. “Dr. Richardson.”
“Aaron Livingston.” He gave what appeared to be a firm handshake and sat back.
The doctor motioned to the table. “Shall we?”
Becka sat on the table and suffered through having her vitals taken while Dr. Richardson asked her the normal questions. No, she had no concerns. Yes, she was taking her prenatal vitamin. Yes, she was getting enough sleep. No, no weird cravings for nonfood items. Unsurprisingly, her blood pressure was significantly higher than normal.
Next, she lay back as her doctor measured her uterus and felt around. Becka stared at the ceiling, just wanting the whole thing to be over. Until next month when I have to come in again. She held her breath as Dr. Richardson brought out the machine to listen to the baby’s heartbeat.
This was it. The moment when there was no denying how real this whole fucked-up situation was.
But as the seconds ticked by, Dr. Richardson’s dark brows drew together. “Your little one is being difficult today.”
“Is that normal?” Aaron hadn’t moved from his chair, but his question sliced through the air and made Becka wince.
The doctor gave a reassuring smile. “The baby can be in certain positions that make finding the heartbeat challenging, but we’ll do an ultrasound just in case.”
In case the baby’s heart isn’t beating.
Becka’s breath hitched in her lungs, and she couldn’t seem to find the strength to exhale. She blinked blindly at the ceiling as her doctor wiped the slimy shit off her stomach and helped her sit up. Dr. Richardson squeezed her hand. “Don’t panic, Becka. I’m sure everything’s fine.”
The world snapped back into focus, and she wheezed out a breath. She latched onto the doctor’s hand. “I need my baby to be okay.”
“I know. Just give me a few minutes to see when we can slot you in for the ultrasound.” She slipped out of the room, leaving Becka staring after her.