16. Rune
Chapter Sixteen
Rune
T he last two weeks have been insane. Duncan and I have been working like crazy to merge our lives, but in so doing, have barely seen each other.
Mom and Dad needed help getting ready for their sabbatical—Dad stepped away from his BJJ classes, but was re-entering the Strongman world again, doing some comps that lined up with some of Mom's planned stops throughout Europe, researching for her next book. This meant helping them sort through things at the house, since they were now seriously considering making Ketchikan their home base once I’ve moved there; I've also had to pack my condo, ship things to Ketchikan, and get the condo sold. I needed money, though, so I’ve also had to keep working.
I've been back to Ketchikan twice since that conversation in my parents' living room, and we've looked at a few places together, but until we find the right place, the plan is for me to stay with Duncan at his parents' house.
Which is gonna be weird, but his parents are awesome.
Bast was a little scary and intimidating at first, what with the six-four frame and giant muscles, growly voice, and the tattoos, but once I got to know him, I realized he's a lot like my own dad—gruff, rough, and intimidating, but sweet and loveable once you get past that.
Today was my first official prenatal doctor's visit…in Ketchikan.
Duncan sat beside me, knee bouncing a mile a minute, while he picked at hangnails on his left thumb.
I grabbed that hand and pressed both of our hands down on his knee, which was thumping so loudly the whole waiting room was vibrating.
"Duncan," I whispered. "Relax. It's a standard prenatal visit. There's nothing to be nervous about."
He sucked in a deep breath, held it, and let it out slowly. "Sorry. I have a totally irrational dislike of doctor's offices."
I gave him a confused frown. "Why? Did something happen?"
He snorted. "No, thus my use of the word 'irrational.
' I just…" he let out a sighing, self-deprecating laugh.
"It's stupid. I just feel like if I go to a doctor's office, I'm gonna get bad news.
It's ridiculous and I know it is, but every time I’m in a waiting room, my stupid brain spins all sorts of absurd worst-case scenarios.
And now it's not about me—it's about you and the life inside you, and the irrational fear is even worse. "
I squeezed his hand. "Everything is going to be fine, Dunc."
He nodded. "I'm sure it is. Try telling that to my frantic monkey brain."
I laughed, leaned close and whispered in his ear. "I think I know what your frantic monkey brain needs."
He growled quietly, a sighing rumble. "Rune, we haven't had a moment alone in months. I haven't even gotten to see you naked since we decided to do this together. And now you're trying to distract me with horny thoughts in the middle of the waiting room?"
I nuzzled his jaw with my nose. "Yup. Is it working?"
His gaze burned with arousal. "Yes. It is." His hand gripped my thigh, high up, teasingly close to my sex. "I'm about to haul you into an exam room and play doctor with you."
"And I'm about to let you," I said. "How can we find even thirty minutes of privacy?"
He glanced away, his vice-grip on my thigh unrelenting. "I dunno, but I'll figure something out."
"You'd better or we're gonna end up doing something bad somewhere very inappropriate."
"Like the back of a Volkswagen?" he said.
I frowned at him. "Huh?"
" Mallrats ?" he asked, but then waved a hand at my blank expression. "Nevermind. Just a movie quote."
I opened my mouth to respond, but a nurse emerged to stand in the doorway and called my name: "Rune?"
I got to my feet, and Duncan followed me, wiping his hands on his thighs. He really doesn’t like doctors, does he? Weird. Not much else seems to bother him.
We're brought to a dark room, where after a ten-minute wait, one nurse takes my vitals, and then we wait another ten minutes, and a different nurse has me lay on my back.
She slid my shirt up and my leggings down, tucking a large square of blue paper into the waistband and squirting jelly all over my belly, and then pressed the ultrasound wand to my skin.
I spent as much time watching Duncan as I did the screen—for the first minute or so, there wasn't anything discernible or recognizable to see or hear, and then she found the location and angle she wanted.
A rhythmic whooshing noise filled the room: a heartbeat.
"There's Baby's heartbeat, Mom and Dad," the nurse said. "Strong and healthy."
Duncan's hand went to his face, covering his mouth. "Holy shit, it's real," he breathed. His eyes went to mine, wide and emotional. "You can't tell if it's a boy or girl, yet?"
The nurse smiled at him, shaking her head.
"No, not yet. It's about the size of a plum, right now.
He or she has visible limbs, most major organs, eyes, nose, and mouth, but sexual organs can't be reliably determined until about eighteen to twenty-two weeks.
That's when your next visit will happen, and we'll do the gender scan then. "
"The heartbeat is so fast. Is that normal?" Duncan asked, taking the words out of my mouth.
"Oh, yes," the nurse answered. "A hundred and forty to a hundred and seventy bpm is normal for this gestational age. It slows down after about week twenty-six."
Duncan's eyes met mine again. "Holy shit."
I couldn't find words. My eyes were wet and my throat was tight. "Dunc," I whispered. "We have a healthy baby."
"It seemed…kind of abstract till now," he said. "This…seeing it, hearing the heartbeat…it makes it way more real."
"It really does," I agreed, grabbing his hand and squeezing it hard. Tears dribbled down my cheeks again. "Gah, I'm so sick of crying all the time."
The nurse spoke while cleaning off my belly and putting away the wand.
"That's totally normal, Mama. There are a lot of hormones flooding your system right now, and also, it's just an emotional thing.
You're creating a human being inside you.
It's a big deal and it's absolutely normal to feel a wide range of very strong emotions, most of which tend to express themselves through crying. "
I nodded. "The months leading up to this were pretty emotional, too, so I'm just…I'm tired of being weepy all the time."
She just huffed a soft laugh. "Unfortunately, I don't know if that's going to change much for a while.
My advice? Don't fight your emotions. Let yourself feel them.
It's okay." She looked at Duncan. "Your job is to support her, Dad.
Don't be afraid of her big feelings, okay?
And also, speaking from experience, try not to take it personally if weird stuff you do or say sets her off.
Most of the time, it's not you, it's just hormones and emotions.
Don't minimize what she's feeling, just… don't take it personally."
Duncan nodded, examining me with wide, thoughtful, emotionally-fraught eyes. "Is it…it safe for us to…be together? I mean for the baby. And for her."
"Absolutely," she answered immediately, understanding what Duncan meant.
"Totally safe. You're not gonna hurt the baby, or her.
Just for informational purposes, Mom's libido will fluctuate throughout the pregnancy.
It's normal during this first trimester for her libido to be a bit lower due to exhaustion and nausea.
But you're right about twelve weeks now, so you might start noticing an increase in libido.
The third trimester is pretty hit or miss as far as sexual urges go, though, and varies a lot by individual.
Some women want it but find it difficult or uncomfortable, others have no drive whatsoever, and others have a higher drive than ever…
like I said, it really varies from woman to woman.
" She looked from Duncan to me and laughed.
"Something tells me I should wrap up this appointment, huh? "
"That might be smart," Duncan said, with no trace of humor whatsoever.
I laughed as the nurse's eyes widened and she shot to her feet, shoving the ultrasound machine aside. "You're all set," she said, "just make your follow-up appointment with the desk. Good luck, Mom and Dad!"
She left and I did a more thorough cleaning of the ultrasound goo from my skin, righted my clothes, and headed for the door.
A hand shot past me and shut the door. He grabbed my hips and turned me in place, pressing me back against it. "Where do you think you're going?" he growled.
I laughed breathily, playfully attempting to push him away. “We can't actually have sex here, Duncan."
“I know," he murmured. "But I can do this."
His mouth slanted across mine, his tongue slashing past my lips. I gasped at the sudden intensity of the kiss, and then melted into him, welcoming his lips against mine, his tongue against mine, his breath tangling with mine.
"I need to be inside you, Rune." His words were barely a breath, felt as much as heard. "I don't want to be apart from you anymore."
I whimpered as he ground his erection against me. "Take me somewhere, Daddy."
He growled a laugh. "Um….not sure how I feel about that one."
"Maybe you’ll feel differently about me calling you daddy when you're buried inside my tight…hot…wet…pussy." I breathed the words in his ear, rubbing against him, feeling his erection grow.
His hands gripped my ass, and he scooped me up, slammed me hard against the door, and kissed the everloving shit out of me.
And then he damn near dropped me, whirling away with one hand scraping through his hair.
"Fuck, Rune. Jesus." He turned again to look at me from across the room.
"My control is in shreds right now. If you don't turn and walk out of this room right the fuck now, I'm liable to fuck you right here against the door. "
I grinned at him, gnawing on my lower lip, my body throbbing with need. “That wouldn't be so bad," I breathed.
"Rune," he snarled.