Chapter 17 #2
His sister bowed from the waist. “Anytime. I hope you’re listening to me. Work things out with her.”
He wasn’t sure that was possible. Lana was pregnant, and the baby was his, he reminded himself for what felt like the millionth time.
What the hell was he supposed to do now?
A few hours after her ob-gyn appointment, Lana relaxed at home with a book on pregnancy. Her intention was to devour every word, but she was so elated, so excited, she could barely concentrate.
What a shame she couldn’t share the joy with Sly. She hadn’t heard a word from him since she’d revealed her pregnancy and figured he was still coming to grips with the idea.
Over the past few days, she’d realized that no matter where life took either of them, she wanted him to be part of their child’s life. Of course, that choice was his, and she wouldn’t pressure him.
Suddenly her cell phone rang. Sly Pettit, the screen said. Although her heart bumped happily, she also worried what he might say. She answered cautiously. “Hi, Sly.”
“Hey,” he said, in the deep voice that usually made her hum inside.
Tonight though, she was too nervous. She caught her breath and waited.
“You saw the doctor today,” he said.
“Dr. Valentine. That’s right.”
“And?”
“She called the pregnancy a miracle. Everything appears normal.” The smile Lana had worn since that moment deepened.
Sly’s relieved exhale told her he’d been wondering and maybe worrying, a hopeful sign he might have some feelings for their baby.
“How’s the morning sickness?” he asked.
“The same. I’ve been eating crackers between meals, but Dr. Valentine suggested I also keep a supply by the bed to eat before I get up in the morning.
I’ll try that tomorrow. According to her, the second trimester of pregnancy—when I’m about four months along—the morning sickness should disappear.
So, in another five or six weeks, I’ll be fine. ”
“That’s a long time to feel nauseated.”
A small price to pay for the gift of life inside her. “I’ll survive. By the way, my due date is January second next year.”
His reply was more a gruff sound than a word.
Her heart sank. He wasn’t on board about this baby after all.
Not yet anyway. She bit her lip. “I know you’re not pleased about this, Sly, but I’m thrilled.
And I want to reassure you that I don’t expect anything from you.
But if you want to be a part of the baby’s life. ..” She let the words trail off.
“I’m not sure what I want yet, but I do know I’m not going to abandon my own kid.”
He sounded surly and overburdened. Lana closed her eyes against a wave of sadness. “Have you thought about how you want to be involved?”
“Like I said, I haven’t figured that out yet.”
“There’s no rush. The baby isn’t due for another seven-and-a-half months, which gives you plenty of time to figure out what you want to do.”
“Those months will go by fast. We need to talk more about this, a lot more.”
She agreed. “Tell me when and where.”
“It’ll be a while—it’s real busy around here right now.”
“Got it.” In the meantime, she’d continue to fix up the nursery, read the baby books, and shop for infant supplies.
“Have you told anyone?” he asked.
“Only my bestie, Kate. You met her at the Bitter & Sweet. She was here when I took the pregnancy test. She promised not to say anything, and I’m positive I can trust her.”
“No one in your family knows?”
“Not yet. When the time comes, I’ll do it the same way I did when I decided to adopt—tell my sister and her husband first, then my parents.
” She dreaded that, even more than when she’d explained her decision to adopt.
“They’ll be surprised and happy that I’m able to conceive when we all were convinced I couldn’t.
They won’t be pleased about the way it happened, though.
They’re kind of old-fashioned and think marriage should come before starting a family. ”
“So, I should expect your dad to come after me with a shotgun?” he said, dead serious.
Under different circumstances, the question would’ve been funny. “He’s not that bad, but it’ll take a while for him and my mom to get used to the idea.”
“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “Do you think two people should get married before they have a baby?”
“In a perfect world, yes.”
“What about us?”
She wasn’t about to lie. “I’m not ready for marriage.”
His loud exhale made his relief clear. “Me either. Wait’ll your folks find out I’m the baby’s father.”
“There’s that too.” Imagining their reaction, Lana shuddered. A root canal would be more pleasant.
“Dani doesn’t know yet either,” Sly said.
“I’m going with her and Kate to the mall in a week or so. Should I give her the news?”
“She mentioned your get-together. But no, I’ll tell her. For now, let’s keep it to ourselves.”
Hiding the news from Dani wouldn’t be easy, but if he wanted it that way... “Okay, let’s agree not to share our secrets for a few more weeks.”
“Works for me. All I ask is for you to give me a heads-up when you’re ready to share the information. I don’t want my sister finding out from someone else. What about Sophie? Have you talked to her?”
“Not yet. I guess I should call her tonight.”
“What are you going to say?”
Lana wasn’t sure. “I’ll come up with something. By the way, Sunday night I went to my parents’ for dinner, expecting to see them and my sister and her family. But no, my mother invited someone else without any warning. Care to guess who came to dinner?”
“Tell me.”
“Your favorite person—Cousin Tim.”
Sly swore. “Must’ve been one hell of a rotten evening.”
Lana recalled her cousin’s negative attitude and the bad things he’d said about Sly.
During dinner, she’d sat as far from her cousin as possible and had attempted to ignore him.
But having him there put a real damper on the evening.
She hadn’t been able to enjoy Connor or Emma, and Grandpa Jake’s ribs could have been dog meat for all she’d noticed. “It wasn’t fun,” she said.
“I’ll bet he called me a bunch of names.”
“Among other things. He claims he didn’t poison your livestock.”
“Which is more than he ever told me.”
“That’s why I suggested he sit down with you and talk about it instead of running you off his land with his shotgun.”
“You said that to him?” Sly sounded incredulous.
She’d wanted to bolt and run instead but wasn’t going to admit it. “Someone had to.”
“I’ll bet he loved that. Now you have a taste of what I’ve put up with all these months.”
“I wish you two would work it out,” she said.
“You sound like Dani.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. When she finds out about the baby, do you think she’ll be happy?”
“Probably. We had dinner last night and she kept mentioning you. She believes we belong together.” By his tone, he was smirking.
If only—but she and Sly were too far apart on what they wanted. “She mentioned you’d had dinner together when she called last night.”
“What else did she say?” he asked.
“Nothing much, except you weren’t your usual self.”
“Yeah, well, I’m still in shock. It didn’t help that she kept nagging me about you.”
Despite the grudging words, she detected a teasing smile in his voice. “What did you tell her?” she asked.
“To butt out.”
Picturing that, she grinned. “Hey, are you interested in coming to my next doctor’s appointment?”
“Why would you need another appointment? Unless something’s wrong. You said everything was fine.”
For all his talk about not wanting a child, he sounded like a worried father-to-be.
She took heart from that. “As a pregnant woman, I’ll be seeing Dr. Valentine every month for a checkup,” she explained.
“Then during the last month of pregnancy, I’ll go every week.
She wants to gauge how I’m doing, and how close to the due date I am. ”
“I didn’t know that. I only know about pregnant cows.”
Lana laughed. A blink later, for the first time in what seemed forever, Sly actually chuckled.
“When is the next appointment?” he asked.
“A month from now, on a Tuesday. If you want to come, you’re welcome.”
“I’ll get back to you on that.”
At least he hadn’t said no. She took that as a good sign.