Chapter 19
Abby
Eighteen Weeks
“You know you don’t have to keep coming to these with me,” I say, with a quick side glance at Jack behind the wheel of his Jeep. “I know you came that first time, but I can go by myself, really. It’s fine.”
“Like hell,” he says loudly, eyebrows shooting up. “Do you have any idea what Granny would do to me if I let you go to this on your own?”
I laugh loudly, because yes, I do have some idea.
“Alright, alright,” I concede, turning my head to face the cool morning wind coming in through the cracked window, “I’ll spare you Granny’s wrath.”
“Besides,” he says in a lower voice. “I want to be there. For you and for Little One.”
When I look back at him, I see the faintest blush tinting his cheeks.
“Jack Robbit, you old softie,” I say, reaching over to pat his hand where it sits casually on the gearshift. When I start to pull back, he grabs my hand and holds it there.
“I mean it, Abby,” he says, locking eyes with me as we wait at a red light. “I want to be here for both of you, for whatever you need, for as long as you’ll have me around. I am here for you.”
All I can do is blink rapidly, my mouth opening and shutting soundlessly like a goldfish. It’s my turn to blush, the heat rising in my face under his intense glare.
We stare at each other in silence until a honk jolts us from whatever trance we were in, alerting us to the now-green light. He clears his throat and presses on the gas with a little too much gusto, tires squealing like it’s the Indy 500 and not an intersection in small-town Texas.
We don’t say another word for the rest of the drive, or as we wait in the lobby, or as we settle into the exam room.
This…thing that’s been brewing between us is confusing and comforting and overwhelming all at once.
Jack has always been one of the best guys I’ve known, but these past months, it’s become clear that he is, in fact, the best guy I know.
There’s a reason Aaron loved him so much.
The thought is like a bucket of ice water thrown over my head. I instantly feel sick to my stomach with guilt–how can I sit here, pregnant with my dead husband’s child, and feel any sort of anything for anyone else? Let alone his best friend?
It’s the pregnancy hormones. And the grief. And he’s been here. Nothing more. You’ll get over it.
“Alright, Abby,” the doctor says brightly, snapping on a pair of latex gloves and squirting the ultrasound gel onto my ever-growing bump. “Do you want to know?”
“Know what?” I ask, frowning as she begins to move the wand across my lower belly.
“The gender,” she says with a laugh. “Do you want to know? Or be surprised?”
I whip my head around to Jack, whose eyes are wide with awe.
“What do you think, Jacky boy?” I ask.
“It’s your call,” he says. “But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to know.”
“You and me both,” I say, grin spreading. Turning back to the doc, I nod vigorously. “I want to know.”
After what feels like an eternity, but was probably only a minute or two, she says, “Alright, mama, here we go.”
I suck in a quick breath, hand reaching for Jack, who takes it immediately and squeezes it comfortingly.
“Looks like…” she says, still gliding the wand across my skin, eyes fixed on the screen before she abruptly stops.
“Your little one is a baby girl.”
“A girl,” I say softly under my breath, warmth radiating through my chest as I stare at Little One on the screen. “Hi there, sweet baby girl.”
I look over at Jack, his face unreadable. Wordlessly, he stands from the chair and moves closer, until his nose is about an inch away from the screen.
“Well, would you look at that,” he muses, mostly to himself. “A little girl.” I see a grin spread slowly across his face until he’s beaming brighter than I’ve ever seen.
“Look at you, Little One,” he says, eyes still locked on the screen. “You’re gonna be beautiful just like your mama, aren’t you? I can already tell.”
Without taking his eyes off of her, he moves back to his chair and scoots it closer to the exam table, his hand finding mine again.
“I’m having a girl,” I giggle, unable to contain the joy welling up inside of me. “A little mini-me.”
“Lord help us all,” Jack teases, planting a kiss on the back of my hand that sends a shiver through my whole body. He looks from the screen to me, then back to the screen.
“My two pretty girls,” he mutters, so low I can barely hear it. I don’t know that I was meant to. I don’t know if he even meant to say it out loud.
But holding his hand like this, with both of us staring enraptured at my beautiful baby girl, for the briefest moment that's exactly what I feel like.
His.