Chapter Sixteen
Larissa was so nervous. She sat outside the doctor’s office and waited to be called. George said he was going to arrive very soon.
It had been a couple of weeks since the Erickson Sunday dinner, one of her most favorite. On most Sundays, her father was always busy with the church. So, unless she helped him out, she often was home alone on Sundays. They didn’t do the Sunday family lunch.
Most of the time, her father was exhausted, and he’d sit in his chair, reading a book, or doing something for the church. He was always a busy man. She would do what she needed to do. Study, or prepare for the day at work, or clean the house, or go to bed.
With her father still gone and George around, her life was a lot different.
It wasn’t bad. It was ... strangely good.
She liked having the company. George was there when she woke up, and when she went to sleep.
She sensed that he tried to be as quiet as possible, which was next to impossible.
It was nice having him around, and it was getting harder to hate him.
Right now, it was a little easier, because he said he was going to be here, but now he wasn’t here.
She glanced around the waiting room, and there were a couple of men and women.
Larissa pulled out her cell phone, then put it away.
She hated playing on her cell phone. She had never signed up for social media websites.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t like looking for something new, or watching a couple of videos.
She sat there, constantly looking at the door, waiting and hoping, knowing it was useless.
George had other responsibilities. Harlow had offered to go with her.
As had Hailey and Ava, and even Abriana.
Raven also volunteered, and what surprised her was a text from Carlos, offering to go with her.
The only person who hadn’t, was her father.
He had called her to wish her good luck, although she didn’t know why she needed to be offered good luck.
She wanted to put a hand on her stomach, to tell her child they’d handle it.
The burn suddenly appeared in the back of her throat, and she felt her eyes start to get watery.
The door to the doctor’s office opened, and she was so lost in her misery, she didn’t look up.
In fact, she didn’t pay attention until someone sat beside her.
She turned to see George was sitting right beside her.
“Hey, beautiful,” he said, taking her by surprise. Especially as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“You’re here.”
“I said I was going to be. I had a few appointments and they ran over. I went to collect you from the bakery, but Ava said you had already gone, and I had to get over here.” He blew out a breath.
“Then some fucking idiot in a truck decided to block off half the street, so I had to help get him to move his ass along. Trust me, I was getting more pissed off by the second. He was lucky I didn’t just kick his ass, but I wanted to get to you. How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
She couldn’t believe he had arrived.
“I’m not late, am I?” he asked.
“No. You’re not late.” She smiled at him. “No one has called us yet.”
“That’s good. I want to see our little guy or girl. Do you know what you want to have?” George asked.
She frowned. “I don’t think it is a case of knowing what you want. You kind of just have to deal with what comes.”
“That I totally get, but come on. I am struggling here. Part of me thinks if it is a boy, that will be a good thing, I was a boy, but then I know what I was like as a kid, and that wasn’t easy.
So, then it makes me not want to have a boy.
” He blew out a breath. “Do you see the struggle I have? But then, if I think about it being a girl, I think of all the guys that are going to be chasing after her.” He shook his head. “I am not going to win.”
Larissa smiled. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“What if our daughter is a wild one? What if she ... annoys the crap out of me? What if she hurts you? What if she is perfect? What if something goes wrong?”
She saw him panicking and she reached over and grabbed his hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“But none of us know this, do we?”
“I know we don’t know what the future holds, but the fact that you’re terrified kind of fills me with a little hope.”
“I am pleased that my ... fear pleases you.”
“It doesn’t please me, but it’s nice to know I’m not the only one panicking.”
“You don’t need to panic. You’re going to be a fantastic mother.”
“I don’t even know how to be a mother.”
“You know not to leave,” he said. “There’s that.”
She had no time to dispute him, as they were called into the doctor’s office. There were a bunch of questions, and some information that needed to be taken, before she was asked to get up onto the bed. Larissa was wearing a dress, along with some thick tights.
The doctor wheeled over the ultrasound machine, and she took a deep breath and was a little startled as George took hold of her hand. “I’ve got you,” he said.
Her dress was lifted up, and a small sheet placed across her lap. The gel that was squirted onto her stomach was a little cold. She had started to show. Her stomach was growing.
Then the machine was turned on, and Larissa didn’t know what she was looking at.
“It is still a little early, so we won’t be able to determine the sex of the baby yet.” The doctor moved the device around on her stomach, and Larissa didn’t have a clue what she was seeing. “There is your little baby.”
She smiled as she could make out something that looked like a very tiny baby on the screen.
Larissa looked toward the doctor, who was frowning. “Is everything okay?” Larissa asked, and started to feel herself panicking.
Doctors frowning like that meant it wasn’t good news.
“Yes, yes, everything is fine, I just wanted to be clear, as there appears to be two heartbeats.”
“Two?” Larissa asked.
“Yes, two heartbeats, and I suspect you will be having twins. Congratulations.”
“Hold up, twins? Like what Raven and Carlos have? Two girls?” George asked.
“It is still too early to determine the sex, but yes, two babies.”
Larissa looked toward George. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m good. I’m going to be dad to two babies.” He nodded his head, and she saw the fear. She got it, and understood it. This was scary.
The doctor printed the picture and arranged another appointment in a month’s time, which would put them just before Christmas.
They left the doctor’s office, with a great deal of silence. Larissa wondered if George’s thoughts had changed. Two babies were more than one.
“I understand if you don’t want to...” she couldn’t bring herself to finish.
“This doesn’t change anything. Nothing at all. I just ... two babies. Wow, two.”
She laughed and nodded. “Yeah, two.”
“I always knew I didn’t do things by halves, but we’ve got this. It just means I want to show you a couple of things,” he said.
This made her frown. “You do?”
“Yeah, one of them is not too far from here actually. We can walk.”
He offered his hand and at first, Larissa hesitated. While they had been dating, or what she thought was dating, she had immediately held his hand. It had been so natural to her to just hold his hand and be with him. Since learning the truth, this felt odd.
He went to lower his hand, and Larissa took it. She slid her fingers between his, locking them together.
“It’s all right,” she said. “Where are we going?”
She wanted to ignore the fact her heart was racing, and there was a little flutter in her stomach.
This didn’t mean she forgave him. They were not moving on.
They were going to have twins, not a marriage.
None of that. She was just going to give birth to two of his babies.
That was all this meant, and she could live with that.
At least, she thought she could live with that.
Two babies.
They walked for a good fifteen minutes, and then came to a stop in front of a house, with a FOR SALE sign outside.
Larissa had walked past this house many times, seeing it go from one week to another with no one taking it.
It was a townhouse, detached, with a small yard in the front and steps that led up to a lovely-looking archway front door.
At Christmas, she always thought it would look amazing with lights decorating that archway, and she still believed that.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ve been looking at available property within the area.”
“Property?”
“I know we can’t live forever with your dad, as much as you might want to. Two babies are going to be an even tighter fit. We both know this. The clubhouse is great, but I think we need a place of our own.”
Our own.
She didn’t want to get her hopes up, but she was loving what he was saying to her.
“So, I arranged for the realtor to show me this place. He’s got places to be, so he left me the key to show you around.”
“I didn’t think realtors were supposed to do that,” Larissa said.
“They’re not, but when you get this realtor a date with the woman of his dreams, it kind of means he owes you a favor.”
“Do you have a lot of favors to collect?” Larissa asked.
“I have enough. Fort Clover is my town. It’s where I grew up, and I never turned my back on it.”
She nodded.
“It’s a good place,” she said. It was a town she never wanted to leave.
He held up the keys. “Do you want to go and check this out?”
“Yeah, I do.” She didn’t take the keys, but walked up the small steps that led to the front door.
George was right there, behind her, and he slid his key into the slot, flicked the door open, and they stepped inside.
“You know, I have seen this place on the market for so long,” Larissa said, stepping inside, and she instantly fell in love.
There was a staircase a few feet in front of them, leading to the upstairs, and the main hallway had beautiful wood flooring. There was a small welcome mat, and she saw there was even a small table to take rings and some hooks for jackets.