Chapter Twenty-Six Theo
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX THEO
O utside of my father, there was little that could instill fear into me. Believe me when I said that today’s visit to Vivian’sOBGYN scared the everlasting fuck out of me. But today was the day of the baby’s gender scan, so I had to man up for Vivian.
Unlike Gray and Bennie, I hadn’t been with Vivian to any doctor appointments. All I had to go on was what I had seen on television or in the movies. I knew there was going to be a lot of below-the-waist action happening on Vivian, which weirded me out.
Somehow we’d managed to squeeze in an appointment that all three of us could attend. It had been a hell of an undertaking between our morning workouts, classes, and evening practice. As we started down the road in my Rover, I turned to Vivian. “Remind me again why we’re going an hour away for your ultrasound?”
With a matter-of-fact look, Vivian replied, “With the three of you in tow, I didn’t want to risk running into anyone from Southeastern.”
Grimacing, I replied, “Good point.”
Leaning forward in the backseat, Bennett asked, “Is this the same place we went for the DNA test?”
Pink tinged Vivian’s cheeks. “Uh, actually, it’s somewhere different.”
“Did you not want to go back there because of the whole not knowing who the baby daddy was?” Grayson asked.
She gave him a sheepish grin over her shoulder. “That was part of the reason, but I also chose this place because they specialize in 4D ultrasounds.”
“What the hell is that?” I asked.
“It gives a clearer picture of the baby in the womb than a regular ultrasound.”
“I think I’ve seen one of those before,” Grayson replied. Wrinkling his nose, he added, “They’re kinda creepy.”
“Excuse me? This is my baby we’re talking about,” Vivian huffed.
“I’m sorry.” With a wink, he added, “And that’s our creepy baby.”
“Ass,” she teasingly replied.
For the most part, things were rolling along with our new arrangement. Vivian still refused to move in with us, nor would she let us move in with her. She reasoned that no cohabitation should happen until we’d finished the hockey season and then graduated. That way the school couldn’t have anything to say about what we were doing.
We hoped our hockey season wouldn’t end until April, and then graduation wasn’t until May. That meant we were slightly cutting it close before the baby’s birth in late June.
Just because we weren’t living together, it didn’t mean we weren’t always together. Of course, our away games threw a wrench into our time. The fact that Vivian had to work a lot of weekends at the library meant she couldn’t travel to see us. But she made up for it by making it to most of the home games. Thankfully, she looked less conspicuous since she brought her dad with her.
When we got to the doctor’s office, I felt my throat close up slightly. Putting on a brave face, I soldiered on to follow Vivian into the building. While Vivian walked up to the registration desk, the guys and I looked for somewhere to sit down. Considering the waiting room was packed, it was hard to find four seats together.
After we sat down, I felt the heated stares of the other women in the waiting room. When I looked up, some of the men were staring curiously at us as well. I guess it wasn’t every day three dudes came in together to an ultrasound place.
Once Vivian checked in, she came back and sat down next to me. After glancing down at my bouncing knee, Vivian cocked her brows at me. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” I replied, as I stared straight ahead.
“I’m sure this is overwhelming for you.”
“Nope. It’s fine.”
“You’re such a liar,” Vivian mused.
“Ms. Whitlock?” a voice called.
At the sound of her name, Vivian shot out of her chair. She was halfway across the waiting room by the time we got out of our chairs.
A tall, dark-haired woman met us at the waiting room door. “Good morning. I’m Nancy. I’ll be your tech today.”
“Nice meeting you,” the three of us guys said in unison.
Nancy peered curiously behind Vivian at the three of us. “Which one of you is the lucky father?”
I bit my tongue to keep from blurting, “Potentially all of us.”
Considering how Gray and Bennie tensed beside me, I cut my eyes over to Vivian. She’d been preparing for this because as cool as ice, she replied, “Since the father is in the military, his brothers are here to support me.”
Nancy’s expression became sympathetic. “Bless his heart. Thank him for his service.”
While the color drained from Vivian’s face, she merely nodded. Nancy then led us into a dimly lit room. “You’re welcome to keep your top on, but if you’re afraid of getting it sticky with the gel, here’s a gown to put on.”
“Since I have to go to work tonight, I think I’ll change,” Vivian replied.
“Okay, I’ll give you a few minutes to get ready, and then I’ll be back in.”
As soon as Nancy stepped out, I cocked my brows at Vivian. “The father is deployed?”
“And we’re his brothers?” Grayson added.
While mortification tinged her cheeks pink, she gave us a determined look. “It was the best story I could think of on short notice.”
I held up my hands. “Hey, I’m not knocking its believability. I’m just more shocked that you would drag the military into it.”
“I panicked, okay?”
“And you’re supposed to be an author,” I teased.
With a huff, Vivian grabbed the hospital gown off the table before dipping inside the bathroom. My gaze then swept around the room. When my eyes landed on a condom-sheathed probe-looking thing, Vivian’s purse slipped from my hands and crashed to the floor. Gray and Bennie whirled around to stare at me.
With a shaky finger, I pointed to the probe. “What the fuck is that?”
“Exactly what you think it is,” Grayson mused.
My eyes bulged. “They’re going to put that in Vivian.”
“They did the last time,” Bennett replied.
“Jesus,” I choked out.
Bennett snorted. “What are you getting so upset about? It’s not like it’s going up your vagina.”
It was at that moment that Vivian stepped out of the bathroom door. At the mention of her vagina, she narrowed her eyes.“What are you three talking about?”
“That you’re going to be probed by that giant contraption,” Grayson replied.
“Excuse me?” When we all pointed, Vivian laughed. “It’s called a transvaginal ultrasound, and don’t worry, they won’t be using it on me today.”
“They won’t?”
She shook her head. “4D is done with a transducer, not a probe.”
“Thank fuck,” I muttered.
After Vivian eased up on the table, she laid down. When she slid her gown up over her stomach, I couldn’t help staring at her belly. Even at twelve weeks, she was barely showing.
Cocking her head at me, Vivian asked, “Has it changed since last night when you saw it?”
I laughed. “Nope. It looks just the same as it did when I was eating you out.”
At Vivian’s shriek of horror, Bennett and Grayson laughed. With a roll of her eyes, Vivian said, “Don’t say things like that in front of the baby.”
As I rubbed her tiny belly, I replied, “Seriously, Viv? It has no idea what I’m talking about, least of all what sex is.”
“I know. It just seems wrong to talk about it.”
“As opposed to when we were all doing it last night?” Grayson countered.
Vivian’s eyes bulged. “Would you stop it? You’re supposed to be my baby daddy’s brothers.”
Bennett wagged his brows. “I’m pretty sure there’s a subgroup of porn like that on The Hub.”
Thankfully for Vivian’s sake, a knock came at the door. “Yes?”
Nancy poked her head in. “Ready?”
“Yes,” Vivian practically hissed.
As Nancy got down to work, the guys and I scattered over to a corner so we wouldn’t be in the way. After Nancy started rubbing the wand across Vivian’s belly, a blob-like image appeared on the screen. “Holy shit, it’s an alien,” I murmured.
Vivian laughed. “Give her time, Theo.”
“If you say so.” At the same time, I was starting to worry that our polyamory had resulted in Vivian carrying some monster child.
After Nancy tapped a button on the ultrasound machine, the image grew sharper, and the baby’s features were more evident.”
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
“I told you it wasn’t an alien,” Vivian said, with a smile.
I exhaled a relieved breath. “Oh, I believed you.”
“Yeah right,” Bennett joked.
We were interrupted by a thump, thump, thump echoing through the room. “There’s the heartbeat.”
“Fuck me, it’s strong,” I said.
While Grayson and Bennett chuckled, Nancy asked, “Is it your first time hearing it?”
“Yeah, I didn’t get to be with them the last time.”
“You can rest assured it’s a very strong heart, and when looking at it on the screen, it looks very healthy.”
“Thank, God,” Vivian murmured.
“Are you ready for the sex?”
As Vivian started to open her mouth, Grayson said, “Are we sure we don’t want to let it be a surprise?”
Bennett shook his head. “I can't wait a few more seconds, least of all months.”
While I agreed with him, I knew it was ultimately up to Vivian. “What do you want to do?”
“I can’t wait either,” she replied with a smile. “Plus I want to be able to fix the nursery.”
“Then let’s find out,” I told Nancy.
“What are the father’s wishes?” she asked.
We all froze. After a few seconds, Vivian replied, “He wants me to know as well. His unit has a betting pool going.”
As Nancy nodded and went back to her screen, I mouthed, “You’re terrible.”
Vivian replied, “I know.”
After shifting the wand on Vivian’s belly and punching buttons on the machine, Nancy peered at her screen. “The baby is in a very good position for us to see.”
As I peered at the image on the wall, I sucked in a breath. “Damn, he’s well endowed.”
“That’s the umbilical cord,” Bennett replied.
I gave Vivian a sheepish grin. “Oops.”
With a roll of his eyes, Bennett said, “And you call yourself a biology major.”
“While you had the wrong appendage, you weren’t too far off.” Nancy smiled. “It’s a boy.”
“Really?” Vivian asked, tears pooling in her eyes.
“Yes.” She then had her mouse highlight a teeny tiny little penis. “It’s very much a boy.”
Vivian glanced up at us. “We’re having a boy.”
The three of us broke out into cheers and clapping. While I wouldn’t have minded having a girl, I’d worried I wouldn’tknow what the hell to do with her. I didn’t know if I had Girl Dad DNA. But a boy. I could do that.
“He’s a future hockey star in the making,” I said with a grin.
“Or he could be a future writer,” Vivian argued.
Shaking his head, Grayson said, “Between the three of us, there’s not a chance, babe.”
With a huff, she replied, “We’ll just see about that.”
As I continued staring at the screen, I mused, “I think he has my nose.”
Bennett snorted. “No, he doesn’t.”
Walking over to the wall, I pointed to the baby’s face. “That is a Slavic nose if I’ve ever seen one.”
“It looks like Vivian’s nose to me,” he replied with a wink at Vivian.
While she opened her mouth to say thanks, Grayson interrupted her by saying, “Well, that’s my mouth.”
“Bullshit,” I replied.
It was then we realized Nancy was looking at us with cocked brows. “Either you guys come from one kinky family, or you’re lying about your arrangement,” she remarked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
She snorted. “Do you guys think you’re the first poly couple to ever come in here?”
“Maybe?” Vivian replied meekly.
Nancy waved her hand dismissively. “I probably scan a poly couple every three or four months.”
“Wow, I had no idea there were so many out there.”
“And that they're procreating,” Bennett said.
Nancy laughed. “Well, they are just like you guys. A lot of sex means a lot of chances of getting pregnant.”
“I would agree, but we got pregnant on our first threesome,” Vivian replied.
“Young, determined swimmers,” Nancy replied.
Vivian nodded. “Apparently.”
“Well, besides the fact it’s very evident you’re going to have a gorgeous child, I know you’re going to have an amazing support system.”
Vivian grinned up at us. “Oh yes, I know I’m a very lucky woman.”