Chapter 19 #2
I stared at the ceiling, there was a pretty decoration hanging there for me to look at as she got everything prepped, and before I knew it she was pointing at the screen in front of her. She’d adjusted it so I could see.
“There’s your baby.”
Bolo moved his chair over to the side of the bed and put his hand on my shoulder. “Damn. It actually looks like a baby. Mostly.”
Natalie laughed. “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing how fast they go from looking like a blob to a baby.”
I reached over and grabbed Bolo’s hand. “I-I don’t hear a heartbeat.”
They both went silent for a brief moment. Bolo realizing he didn’t either, and Natalie processing what I’d just said.
“Oh, sorry, this machine doesn’t have sound. But this line right here?” She pointed to the screen. “That’s your baby’s heartbeat.”
The breath whooshed out of me. The minute she’d pointed out my baby, but I hadn’t heard anything, my heart had started slamming against my ribs.
Bolo squeezed my hand, making me realize I was strangling his in my grip. I relaxed it, but he just rubbed his thumb over my skin in a comforting manner.
I watched in fascination as she took a few measurements, and told us everything she was doing. That was my baby. It was crazy to see her or him on the screen like that. I held back happy tears.
The rest of the appointment went by fairly quickly. She gave me a print out on what to expect in this time frame of pregnancy. And some ultrasound pictures. Before I knew it we were leaving her office.
Bolo stopped me outside the door and wrapped me in a hug. We stood there silently for a bit before he whispered, “Our baby, we got to see him. Or her. But…we’re having a baby.” Then he went silent again.
I just leaned into the hug and absorbed it.
I could tell, just from his tone, that he was already in love with our baby.
A happy tear slid down over my cheek. This may not be the normal way that people started families, and he may not be a typical man, but I was so happy I might just burst. Normal and typical didn’t matter to me at all.
This was what mattered. His strong heavy heartbeat thumped against me as we clung to each other.
We eventually pulled apart, neither of us really wanting to. “We’ll stop by the pharmacy before we head home,” Bolo told me before leading me to the parking lot.
I was so ready to pick up anything that would help me feel a bit better.
The drive to the store was quick and I walked down the aisle and grabbed the other nausea meds the doctor had suggested I try, before getting the last medication from the pharmacist. Bolo was off getting blood pressure monitors.
Before long we were back in his SUV and on the road. I was reading about the medications on my phone when he got onto I-10. Frowning, I looked over at him. “Where are we going?”
“Home.”
“Um…Then you’re going the wrong way,” I said, pointing the direction of my apartment.
“We’re going to my home.”
I blinked at him. “Oh. I’d sort of like to take a nap.” The fatigue was hitting me hard these days and all I wanted to do was sleep.
“You can do that as soon as we get there. Or you can kick back now, if you want.”
“Why are we going to your place?”
His jaw flexed. “You’re going to stay with me.”
“Bolo-”
“I’m not taking the chance that something happens and you’re at home alone,” he said, interrupting me.
“Bolo-”
“I have my own house, but we’ll be staying in my apartment at the clubhouse. There’s people around twenty-four hours a day in case you need anything. I’m not taking you back to your apartment to stay by yourself when you have a fever,” he continued on.
“I don’t even have any of my stuff.”
“I packed for you.”
Blinking, I stared at him. “Wait… So I’m moving in with you?”
He nodded, staring at the road. “Yes. At least for now.”
“That’s…a really big step. We’ve only been getting to know each other for a couple weeks.”
He looked over at me, those blue eyes bright and determined. “It is. So is having a baby together.”
I made a face at him. “I realize that, thanks.” He chuckled. “I don’t know…I didn’t even get to pack properly. What if you only grabbed uncomfortable underwear?”
He went silent, confusion washing over his face. “Why do you own uncomfortable underwear?”
“It’s not meant to be worn long.”
He looked over at me, a hungry expression crossing his face before he schooled it into a neutral mask.
I bit back the smile as long as I could before snorting out a laugh.
A proper snort, too, which would have been embarrassing if he wasn’t already so perplexed, and turned on.
“I’m kidding. Well, not really. But the point is you may not have gotten everything.
Seriously, do you know what I even need? ”
“I got the basics. If you’re missing anything important we can go back. How about this? Give it a week.”
“A week?”
“When we go back to the doc, if I’m driving you insane we can discuss other arrangements. But for now I can keep an eye on that fever and the blood pressure.”
“Like going home? Those kinds of arrangements?” I asked.
“Like staying with your parents.”
I stared at him in horror. “I’m thirty-five. And pregnant,” I said almost as an afterthought, “I’m not moving back in with my parents. I’d rather live with you.”
He looked over at me again, eyes narrowing. “That didn’t sound like a compliment.”
I gave him a smug smile. It was what he got for basically forcing me to move in with him.
But really? It was a smart move. I wasn’t oblivious to that fact.
I would’ve been too proud to ask. And moving in with him didn’t sound so bad.
I was getting tired of living alone. Sitting by myself at night, flicking through endless channels while I tried to find something to watch.
And he was right, if something happened, at least someone would be around to help me.
If Bolo and I were going to make it, this would be a logical step in the process. So what if it was massively early? Our situation wasn’t normal. And we’d find out a lot faster this way if we couldn’t stand to be around one another all the time. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“I’ll stay for a week.”
“Okay,” he repeated with a nod.
This meant I’d get a chance to speak with the other old ladies. And meet more of his brothers. Nerves danced in my belly. I just hoped everything would go well.