Chapter Twenty-Four
Thank you for calling the doctor. I . . . uh . . . don’t know what happened yesterday. I think maybe I haven’t been eating enough or something. The baby seems to zap a lot of my energy,”
Amy said with a small smile while rubbing her belly.
She was nervous and didn’t know how to deal with it or what to say. She’d never woken up with a guy before. She knew they hadn’t had sex again, but sleeping all night with him seemed so much more intimate an act, and they’d done it two nights in a row. She was already falling in love with Lucas and needed to back up and figure out what she was doing. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be devastated when everything came to an end, and she had no doubt it would eventually end, whatever it was they had going on.
One minute the guy was being an arrogant jerk, and then the next, he was fretting over her and making sure she was well. She couldn’t figure him out. It was all so confusing, and she was more scared than she’d ever been before. That said a lot, considering the way she’d grown up.
Lucas had spent an entire day and a half with her at her apartment. She napped off and on and started feeling much better. By the second afternoon, she was well enough for a trip to the doctor’s office.
They didn’t speak on the way there, both of them lost in their own thoughts. Amy was anxious to make sure nothing was wrong with her pregnancy. Once she knew everything was okay and she could actually see the baby moving inside her, she’d feel better.
She and Lucas walked straight back to the doctor’s office, where he then gave her privacy as she changed. As they waited for Dr. Scott to come in, Amy lay upon the table with Lucas sitting next to her. She would’ve much rather Lucas waited in the front office, but she could tell there was no way he was going to miss the ultrasound.
The door finally opened.
“Well, you look much better this afternoon, Amy. Let’s see how your little one is doing, shall we?”
the doctor said, as he headed directly over to the ultrasound monitor. He rubbed some sort of goo on her belly, causing her to jump from the coldness.
There was nothing for a few moments and then, there on the monitor, she saw a perfect little face.
“This is our new three-dimensional ultrasound monitor. We get a much clearer image of the fetuses. It’s still a little early to determine the sex, but it looks like all is healthy and well,”
Dr. Scott reassured them.
He took down some measurements before speaking again.
“It looks like your due date is December seventeenth. You’re just over three months along. Your child is fully formed and about the size of a peanut in its shell, but the heartbeat is strong and developing nicely. Would you like to hear it?”
Amy and Lucas both nodded. Suddenly the only sound in the room was a gentle thumping. No one said a word as the monitor picked up the baby’s heartbeat. Tears of utter joy welled up in Amy’s eyes and freely spilled over, running down her warm cheeks. She couldn’t help but look at Lucas to silently share the amazing moment with someone. His eyes were wide with wonder, and when their eyes met, there was a new light in them, a light of hope for this new little being who would soon be in their arms.
It became so much more real to Amy as she looked at the screen and saw her infant nestled safe inside her body as the room filled with the strong rhythm of the baby’s heartbeat.
She could do this — she had to. No matter what it took, she’d make a good mother, even though she didn’t think she was ready. She’d better figure it out quickly, because she’d never let her child grow up thinking she wasn’t safe or loved.
Family, I finally have a family, Amy thought, emotions overflowing. She hadn’t wanted to get pregnant so soon in her life, but as she listened to the beautiful sound of her daughter’s, or son’s, heartbeat, she was grateful it had happened.
Lucas looked from the monitor to Amy’s face and saw tears streaming down her cheeks. The moment was so moving, he became a bit choked up and had to turn away. His child was strong and safe. Amy was beautiful, and he was glad she was the one carrying his baby. He could see the love and excitement shining through her.
They may have started things the wrong way, but he knew it would work out. They had no choice but to make it work. He hadn’t been looking to get married; heck, he hadn’t even wanted a girlfriend, but life had a way of happening.
Dr. Scott printed them some pictures from the ultrasound and left the room so Amy could get dressed.
“I can meet you in the lobby,”
Amy said as she lay on the table.
“I’ll wait,”
he challenged.
It was a test of wills as she glared at him, and he sat back comfortably, not even giving her the courtesy of turning around.
They were getting married soon, so why shouldn’t he look at his fiancée? Besides the fact that he really shouldn’t torture himself any more than he already had, it was a standoff and he wasn’t willing to back down.
“Fine,”
Amy snapped as she sat up and got off the table on the opposite side from where he was sitting.
He couldn’t take his eyes from her as she grabbed her clothes and turned her back to him. Without taking the robe off, she slipped her slacks on, giving him only a slight peek at the green panties she was wearing.
She quickly discarded the gown and slipped her shirt over her head, ending his view of her sexy back. He’d never really thought of the back as sexy before, but the more he was around Amy, the more body parts he found erotic. His mind ran away with him as he pictured himself running his tongue down the delicate indentation of her spine, all the way to the rounded top of her backside . . .
No, not the time or the place, he scolded himself as he his pants, which were becoming uncomfortably tight.
“I’m ready,”
Amy said as she grabbed her purse and opened the door, not waiting for him, before she flew from the room and made a beeline out of the office.
Neither of them spoke once he caught up to her, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
Lucas helped Amy into the car and then started driving out of the city to his parents’ house on the island. When they started crossing the bridge, Amy turned toward him with a perplexed look on her face.
“Why are we going to your parents’?”
she asked nervously.
“We have some wedding plans to discuss with them.”
“Lucas, I’m not getting married. I already told you that. I won’t be forced into a marriage for any reason. Just because a baby’s involved doesn’t mean we need to take a walk down the aisle. We can work something out so you can spend ample time with our child,”
she said with a bit of panic in her voice.
“Amy, I’m old-fashioned, and I believe a kid needs both parents. You won’t raise my child alone and I won’t argue about it anymore. I’m trying not to be a jerk here, so don’t make me push it, but there will be a wedding, that is, unless you just don’t want to be a mother,”
he said, his voice remaining calm though his heart was pounding.
“You’re being ridiculous, Lucas. We barely even know each other. One night of lust doesn’t make us qualified to raise a child together. I know hardly anything about you, and you know nothing about me,”
she said, her arms crossed.
“You’re pregnant. I don’t need to know anything else right now,”
he said, his voice final. He pulled the car up to his parents’ mansion and shut off the motor, then turned to face her.
The only thing he had going for him was she really didn’t know how ruthless he’d be. In reality, he knew he wouldn’t actually take his baby from its mother, but she didn’t know that. It was his only ace in the hole.
“I . . .”
she started to protest.
“You can either marry me, or . . .”
he left the sentence hanging, acting as if he were bored.