Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Matthew gets up, his stance bigger than before. “But she fainted. She can’t be home. She needs care.”
“Matthew, love.” Parker walks to his side. “It’s normal. Now I’m going to go to the house and take care of everything and make sure you have food in the fridge. What is your favorite food?” she asks me and turns to Cooper. “We should get decaf coffee while we are out.” She leans down and kisses my cheek. “I couldn’t pick someone better for him.” She walks to Matthew and grabs his face and drags him down, “I’m so proud of you.” She kisses his cheek while Cooper goes to him and grabs him around his neck, bringing him in for a hug.
“You're going to be such a great dad,” he says, and it’s then that I see Matthew blink away tears.
“Je serai la marraine.” I’m going to be a godmother, Vivienne says while she kisses me on the cheek. “Now that I know you're not dying. We shop, oui?” She hugs me. “Je t’aime fort.” I love you so much, she says while walking out and hugging Matthew.
My father is the next one to leave. “I will make all the arrangements for the next couple of weeks,” he says to me, and I’m too shocked to ask him what arrangements. He hugs Matthew and then walks out of the room, leaving Matthew and I alone finally.
“What just happened?” I ask him, wondering if he’s in shock as much as I am.
He walks to me, sliding into bed with me, turning me to face him. “You’ve just made me the happiest man in the world. Well, for now. You still have to become my wife, but...” He kisses my lips. “We are going to be parents. We made a baby.” He smiles at me, his smile radiating. “I promise you that I will never let you or him down,” he says to me.
“Him or her,” I correct him, but knowing my luck and his sperm, all I’m going to have are penises running around the house.
“I promise you that I will always put your needs and their needs before mine.”
“Theirs? One Matthew at a time, please.” I cuddle closer to him.
“I love you,” he says. “I never thought I would find my piece till you.”
My hand goes to his face.
“You, Karrie, you’re my missing piece, the piece I need to live, the piece I need to breathe, the piece I need to go on.”
“I love you, too.” I lean forward to kiss him, his hands pushing me close to him. “We are going to have a baby,” I finally say out loud.
“Knock, knock, knock,” someone says, walking in backward, bringing in a big white machine.
“Karrie Cooney?” she asks and I nod.
Matthew gets off the bed to stand next to me while the technician sits on the stool she has brought from the corner of the room.
“So I hear we are going to see a baby today?” She smiles, sitting down and turning on some buttons. “When was the last day of your menstrual cycle?” she asks, and I start counting in my head.
“Oh my God, it’s been six weeks. How did I not know?” I smack my head. “It must have been all the traveling. I didn’t even notice.”
“So we are going to try to get a heartbeat, but it would be easier if we did internally.” She reaches down to grab a hospital gown. “Why don’t you change into that and we can do an internal?”
I turn to get off the bed, but Matthew is there.
“Please don’t do this now,” I beg him. He holds out his hands for me to grab.
“Thank you.” I change in the bathroom, coming out holding the back closed. I smile up at Matthew. “Let’s go see our baby!”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Matthew
“Let’s go see our baby!”
Words that will forever change my life. When she collapsed in my arms, my lungs burned with fear. Fear that she was sick, fear that she wouldn’t open her eyes, fear that I would have to live without her.
I walk up to the bed, seeing her get into it. The technician takes what looks like a wand in her hand, putting a condom on it. She squeezes a blue gel on it. “Okay, open your legs.”
“Hold on a minute,” I say out loud right before she goes to move up Karrie’s gown.
“Matthew,” Karrie says with clenched teeth.
“Will that hurt the baby?” I push her legs closed.
The lady laughs. “Oh, no, honey. The baby is so protected there isn’t a lot that will hurt it.” She smiles and waits for me to open her legs. “It’s going to be cold, but it’ll get warm in a second.” But I stop listening to her because the room is filled with what sounds like horses racing. Galloping. “That, you two, is your child’s heartbeat.”