Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
B oon
Shae came racing out of her house, glasses sliding down her nose, auburn curls bouncing, and sweater only on one arm.
She was an adorable mess. The tote bag she was never without slid down her arm as she finally lifted her head at the bottom of the porch stairs and realized my truck was waiting for her.
Kinsley slid out of the front and waved.
“Good morning, Ms. Fletcher. You can take the front.”
Shae blinked twice, then looked over at her own perfectly good car. I wanted to drive into work with her, but I probably wouldn’t fit in that small electric vehicle. So, my truck it was.
“What’s going on?”
I checked my watch, getting out of the truck to grab the loaded-down tote bag off her arm and guide her to the truck. “We’re going to school. Come on or we’ll be late.”
She slid into my truck and I made sure she had all arms and legs in the vehicle before I shut the door. Kinsley grinned as she got in the back of the cab, like Shae was just too cute, which I agreed with.
I zoomed down her driveway and got on the road before Shae found her voice. “Okay, but why are you picking me up?”
“You’re carrying my baby, lovebug. I want you to relax while I get us safely to and from work.”
Shae’s head snapped to the back, her eyes wide as they locked with Kinsley’s.
“He told me.” Shae sat forward, arms on the back of Shae’s chair. “I’m really excited to be a big sister. Do you think he or she will be born before I go to college so I can babysit?”
My heart swelled, hearing how much Kinsley accepted this new sibling. Shae reached up and squeezed Kinsley’s hand. “I’m sure you will.” She looked over at me. “Um, just so I know, how many other people know about this?”
I stopped at a four-way stop sign and then accelerated. “Just my family, whom I all swore to secrecy. Who knows on your end?”
“Lydia, obviously. And my HAGS group.”
I shot her a confused look. “Hags?”
Shae cracked her first smile of the day.
Kinsley handed Shae a sleeve of crackers which made her smile even more.
“It was kind of a joke. All the kids write have a good summer in their yearbooks, but we gave it a different meaning.” Shae lifted an eyebrow.
“Which I will not say in front of little ears.”
“Hey! I’m almost an adult!”
“Still not old enough for what that group of women would say,” I shot back. “Is this the group I met that first night when the goats were trying to kill me?”
Shae nodded. “That’s them. They were with me when I took the pregnancy tests. They’re my ride or die.”
“I want ride-or-die friends,” Kinsley said wistfully.
“You will, kiddo. You’re a good human and you’ll find other good humans, just you wait.”
I looked over to see Shae giving Kinsley a reassuring smile that seemed to satisfy the surly teen.
How did Shae know exactly what to say to her?
And why was it so hard for me? I pulled into the school parking lot and found my normal parking space in the teacher’s section.
Kinsley slid out with her backpack before I shut the engine off.
“Bye!”
“See you at weight lifting!” I shouted back, barely getting the words out before the door slammed shut.
Shae looked over at me. “She took it well, huh?”
I nodded. “She did. We actually had a nice moment, talking about the responsibilities of being a parent, where I went wrong, and how I planned to do better for both her and the baby.”
Shae reached over and took my hand, giving comfort with the simple gesture. “Speaking of which, you still on for the ultrasound after practice?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
She went to pull her hand back, but I held her tighter, leaning over to give her a kiss. I wanted to do that the second I saw her come out of her house, only holding back so Kinsley wouldn’t be embarrassed.
Shae’s cheeks went hot, but she didn’t pull away. “Kissing me in public now?”
“I’d do a lot more in public if there weren’t impressionable kids around,” I growled back.
She laughed, grabbing her things and exiting the truck before I got around to help her out.
“Let me help you,” I chastised, wanting to do more to make her life effortless.
She gave me a look that said I was crazy. “I’m not even showing yet. When I can’t see my feet, I’ll let you help me out of the car.”
I grinned like an idiot, thinking of her belly swollen with our baby.
Shae elbowed me in the gut before sweeping past me, looking all prim and proper in black skinny jeans, button-down shirt, and a peach sweater now on both arms and even buttoned up the front.
I held the office door for her and we both headed for the break room to grab a cup of coffee.
Lydia was already there, giving me the hairy eyeball for hovering around her best friend.
Before the bell rang, I kissed Shae on the cheek and hustled to my first-period classroom.
I gave her and Lydia space at lunch, not seeking them out, and having to eat next to Coach Johnson and his disgusting tuna salad.
I knew having female friendships was important to Shae, and as much as I wanted to smother her with attention and not let her out of my sight, I ultimately wanted to do what was best for Shae, and she needed her time with Lydia. Plus Lydia kind of scared me.
Weight lifting went slower than molasses in an ice freeze.
When the kids finally filed out for practice, I ran around the room, cleaning up and hustling Shae to my truck in record time.
Our assistant coaches would be handling our respective practices and Tatum had offered to drive Kinsley home after practice.
If getting to this doctor appointment wasn’t so important, I would have turned him down flat. Kinsley, of course, was thrilled.
“Are you nervous?” I asked Shae, turning left when she pointed.
“No. I really like my doctor.” She pointed right. “Are you?”
“Yes! I’ve never been to one of these.” My hands were sweaty on the steering wheel. I could feel the elevation of my heartbeat.
“Seriously? Never one appointment for Kinsley?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Cassie and I weren’t together and she didn’t invite me. And I wasn’t exactly super attentive.” I feel that familiar weight of guilt. “I should have been more involved.”
Shae was quiet for a few moments. “Well, thanks for being involved now.”
I snuck a look at her face. “You’re not mad?”
She looked over at me, expression unreadable. “Nope.”
I narrowed my eyes and tried to pay attention to the road. “I don’t know what to do when you’re not mad at me. It’s unfamiliar territory.”
“Shut up!” She backhanded my bicep, and just like that, we were back on track.
The waiting room had several other pregnant women and two other dads.
It didn’t take long for Shae to be called back.
They got her on a scale, during which she told me to walk away.
I didn’t understand what the issue was, but I wasn’t about to piss her off before we’d gotten to see the baby, so I walked around the corner and chatted with some nurses.
When she was escorted into a room, I broke free and followed her inside.
She had to change into one of those hospital gowns, which I helped her with.
The paper on the table crinkled as she hopped up and got situated.
“Oh my God, I’m freaking out,” I whispered in a hiss when the nurse walked out and left us alone in the room.
Shae lay back on the exam table and laughed. “At least this time I don’t have to put my feet in stirrups, have cold metal inserted up my hooha, and my cervix scraped.”
I winced, then winced again, picturing what she described. “Jesus. I’m so glad I’m a man.”
She was laughing again when the doctor walked into the room. A male doctor. What the fuck?
“Hi, Shae. How are you feeling?” he asked, his attention solely on her.
He sat in one of those wheeled stools, right up next to her on the table like he was friendly with her.
I guess if he’s been inserting things and scraping her cervix, he was familiar with her.
Why did that make me a little pissed off?
“Great! Morning sickness is almost gone. I still get tired every afternoon, but otherwise, I’m feeling good.”
“Excellent. Are you ready to see the baby today?”
Shae beamed. “I am!”
The doctor finally looked up at me. “Is this Dad?”
I stood and came over to shake his hand. “Boon Wolfe. Nice to meet you.”
“Same.” If he recognized my name or face, he didn’t say so. He just looked back at Shae. “Are you wanting to know the sex of the baby?”
“Definitely. I want to know what color to paint the walls of the nursery.”
“Okay. Little cold at first,” he warned, slipping into gloves, pulling up the hospital gown and squirting gel all over Shae’s stomach.
He pressed a wand of some sort over her skin, back and forth, images flashing across the screen in front of him. He seemed to narrow in on an area, the wand pressing more firmly into Shae’s skin. I crept forward, wanting to see those images on the screen better.
“Alright, Mom and Dad. Looks like we have a happy baby over here, just fluttering away.” The doctor clicked a button and the image froze on the screen. “See this right here? That’s baby’s head.”
I was nearly climbing onto the table with Shae to see. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it so tightly I worried I was hurting her. “Holy shit,” I breathed, seeing our baby’s head and torso and little arms and legs already.
The doctor moved the wand just the tiniest bit. “And I think we have our answer.” He pointed at the screen. All I could see were blobs. “It’s a boy!”
My heart legitimately stopped. The simple words rang in my ears, changing everything about my life going forward. I dropped my head to Shae’s and focused on breathing. I was having a little boy. We were having a boy.
I opened my eyes to see Shae’s were filled with tears. I kissed her cheeks and wiped away the tears. “Thank you,” I whispered, so low I wasn’t sure she heard me.
“And this…” The doctor clicked a few more buttons and suddenly the room was filled with a whooshing noise, cut by the steady flutter of something fast and strong. “This is your baby’s heartbeat.”
And now I was the one crying, tears burning my eyes and sliding down my cheeks. I didn’t care who saw them. I was witnessing a miracle. It was overwhelming and yet so right, I couldn’t imagine not having this baby boy with Shae.
The doctor kept clicking and then he was wiping away the gel and the heartbeat was gone. He kept talking to Shae, but I didn’t hear a damn word he said. He had his hand on the doorknob to leave when I remembered my important question.
“Oh, Doc?”
He turned back.
“Did you cover, um, you know, sex?” Was I an asshole for asking this? Suddenly I felt like maybe I shouldn’t be trying to have sex with Shae until after the baby was here.
The doctor’s grin grew. “You’re fine, as long as it’s comfortable for Shae.”
I nodded my thanks and he was gone. Shae looked at me and then she squeezed my hand. I looked down to see her fingers had gone red at the tips. I loosened my grip.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
She reached up and cupped my face, swiping at my cheeks. Fuck, I was still crying. “Are you…”
“Crying? Yes,” I answered. “Because I’m so fucking happy, Shae.”
Her face went from apprehensive to smiling like a fool. “Good.”
“Oh!” I remembered the other question that Kinsley wanted me to ask. “Did he say your due date?”
Shae let her hands drop and scooted to a seat on the table. “July third. Might be our own little independence baby.”
I felt like I might float right out of this room. I was high on life and babies and the kind of future I could have with my son. I reached under Shae’s armpits and pulled her off the bed and spun her around the room. She laughed, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“What are you doing?” she said through her laughter.
I stopped spinning, not wanting her to get sick. Leaning her back against the wall, I kissed her. Deep and reverent and messy. This woman was giving me a baby. A chance to do this right. A chance to have the family I always wanted but didn’t think I could have.
I pulled away, both of us breathing hard and our foreheads pressed together. “Thank you, Shae.”
She let me take her home and get her situated in her massage chair. I told her I’d be back with a plate of dinner shortly. Mom was making lasagna and always made two pans of it, enough to feed an army. Warrick and his crew would probably be by shortly to eat some too.
But me and Kinsley? We had plans. When she got home, cheeks pink from Tatum’s attention, I asked her if she’d drive two towns over with me.
There was a jewelry store there, and I had a diamond ring to buy.
Shae might have said no the first time I asked her to marry me, but I had a plan to keep asking.
And I needed a ring to sweeten the deal.
Kinsley talked my ear off the whole way, throwing out boy names and all the reasons why the ones I liked just wouldn’t do. I didn’t quit grinning the whole fuckin’ time. I wasn’t sure I’d ever been this happy. Not even winning the World Series felt this damn good.