20. Morgan
MORGAN
I stare at my belly in the mirror. My hand runs over the bump I swear I’m imagining as I turn to the side. There’s going to be no hiding it soon. We’re nearly sixteen weeks, and I seem to have popped overnight.
Thankfully, I have today off because I want to soak in this moment. It feels more real than ever right now. I know I’ll have to tell my father the truth soon. I’m not going to be able to hide it much longer. I blow out a breath, a problem for another day.
“Got the McMuffins and OJ,” my baby daddy calls out as he opens my door.
Creed’s loud footsteps echo throughout my apartment, and my heart races as he comes into my room, his eyes zeroing in on me immediately. His lips part in a soft smile when he sees what I’m doing.
“Holy shit. Is that…” He trails off as he comes closer, his gaze on my belly as he kneels at my side. “Morgan.”
I swallow the emotion growing in my throat. “I swear it happened overnight, and I was looking it up this morning, but I think those little bubbles—that almost fluttering I’ve been feeling—is the baby kicking.” Not gas like he assumed.
Creed’s eyes widen and he looks up at me, his hand sliding over the curve of my belly. “Really? You can feel our baby?”
“I think?” I tell him honestly and try not to cry as he rubs my bump. The look of awe and adoration on his face tugs at my heart. “I’ll ask at the appointment today. We’ve put it off too long.”
We never got in to confirm the previous negative test, and it took some time to get into a place for this first appointment.
Mainly because I was afraid of it showing up on insurance through my job.
Creed nearly spanked me when I finally told him, and he assured me that we can pay out of pocket, just like he’s been paying for all my vitamins and daily cravings.
His eyebrows raise. “Well it doesn’t help that you needed one in a whole other town.”
My cheeks blush. “I’m sorry.”
Creed shushes me, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. “I was joking, Morgan. Whatever you need, I’m okay with. I would prefer to move you out of this small apartment, but we can wait.”
“Where would we move?”
His throat bobs. “There’s a house in the same neighborhood as Gage and Mikayla.”
My lips part. “A h-house? I don’t have that kind of money.”
“I do, and I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Put your name on the deed without a second thought.”
My pulse beats in my ears as I stare at him. “That’s…a lot.”
Creed snorts. “Not as much as a baby, but we can table it for now. Let’s get you fed and to our appointment. You think we’ll get an ultrasound?”
I nod. “Yes, they scheduled it at the same time when I called.”
He picks me up with an excited yelp as he carries me to the kitchen. “We get to see our baby!”
* * *
“If baby wants to cooperate with us today, we might be able to tell the gender. Is that something you want, or keep it a surprise?”
I look over at Creed.
He shrugs. “I wouldn’t mind knowing. It gives me an idea what to shop for. Or we can shop for both?”
My mind blanks for a moment. Shopping. I haven’t bought anything because it would feel a little too real if I saw the items in my apartment.
I also couldn’t take the chance of my father seeing anything baby-related one day, not that he’s visited me once.
I clear my throat, focusing on the tech.
“Maybe next time? I haven’t really thought about it yet. ”
She smiles. “No worries. Plus it will be more concrete after twenty weeks. Let’s wrap this up, and then the doctor will be in to talk to you.”
The rest of the appointment goes by in a blur, neither of us unable to look away from the printed sonograms in our hands. It feels like such an important milestone. It’s real now.
“We’re having a baby,” I say as we walk out of the building, holding hands. “That’s our baby.”
He smiles, cupping my face and kissing me. We stand there, kissing and wrapped around each other before he pulls away and kneels. Creed rubs his hands over my small protruding belly, pressing kisses along it.
“You know, I’m excited for a son.”
My cheeks hurt with how hard I’m smiling. “I’m sure, a little partner in crime. I think if it’s a daughter, you’ll be just as excited.”
He shrugs, standing, and spans his whole palm over my stomach before leaning down to kiss me again. This is the best part of going to a doctor in the next town over. We don’t have to sneak being with each other. His lips brush mine.
“I fucking knew it!”
I startle at the loud screech, and we both turn to face the woman storming toward us. I’d recognize that blonde anywhere. She haunted my dreams for days.
Creed steps in front of me. “Bri. What are you doing here?”
“I knew you were a liar! You said there wasn’t someone else!
” She wags her finger in his face. My hands curl into the back of his shirt, my pulse picking up.
My training has prepared me for multiple types of confrontation, but not exactly your baby daddy’s lifelong ex confronting him about moving on.
“No, what I said was it’s none of your business if there was. So what…you follow us here?” His cold tone is not one I’ve heard from him before, and it makes me shiver.
She shakes her head. “I just knew there had to be. You always come back to me. Let me guess. You knocked up one of those clubwhores just like your daddy, and now you want to play family?”
Creed stands a little taller and I press into his back, rubbing it slightly.
We haven’t talked about his family much, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out it’s not a good subject.
“You broke up with me, Bri. Why the fuck are you following me? You wanted to be done. Be fucking done instead of fucking desperate.”
She inhales sharply, and I squeeze my eyes shut.
I know it’s cruel, but I hold my tongue.
How much has she seen? Does she know who I am?
I really don’t need drama in my life when I have to figure out a way to tell my father and determine a future with Creed.
Every week we spend together, it’s harder to think about doing it separately.
“He tell you what you have to do to get accepted into the club? Huh?” She directs the question at me, but I look over at Creed. His stony silence makes me uncomfortable.
Bri scoffs. “Of course he didn’t. You’re probably not important enough to claim.”
“That’s enough,” Creed says. The coldness in his tone sends a chill down my spine.
“I never knew you to be cruel, and I haven’t done anything wrong.
We broke up weeks before I got with Morgan.
I didn’t even owe you the conversation in the restaurant, but I thought with our history we could end on good terms. If you want to be a bitch, go ahead, but it won’t be in front of her. We can’t stress out the baby.”
She steps back as if she’s been struck, glancing at my stomach and then back at Creed. “B-baby?” It's as if she can’t believe her earlier accusation is actually true.
Creed looks at me, brushing a kiss on my forehead. “Can you give us a minute?”