35. Travis
35
TRAVIS
T ravis scrolled through Bella’s online baby registry while she sat beside him in the waiting room reading a parenting magazine. This appointment was a big one. She’d have an ultrasound that should reveal the baby’s gender.
Grady had asked Bella earlier this week if she thought the baby would be a boy or a girl. She’d just smiled and said she didn’t know and didn’t care. She’d love it the same either way.
And that moment made Travis love her a little more. After living with a mom who didn’t get the daughter she wanted, he knew all too well that gender could matter. Yet, Bella really seemed ecstatic no matter which one they talked about.
Her excitement about the baby grew by the day. She didn’t do anything before considering the baby first. Eating, drinking, working, exercising, resting. She quoted the books she read frequently and got excited whenever she learned something interesting about pregnancy and babies.
She claimed she spent the entirety of his paramedic shift reading books she’d checked out from the library, and he believed her. He’d even found a book beside the couch on potty training last week, even though they were years away from that lesson.
Her baby registry was long but only because Camille had added most of the things to it, claiming people got generous when babies were involved.
Thanks to Camille, Travis had plenty of things to order. Every week, he picked a few things off the list and had them shipped to Anna’s house for her to wrap.
After today, they’d find out whether he should order the green-and-pink bedding or the brown-and-blue one.
Travis glanced over at Bella. Her grip on the magazine was tight enough to crumple the pages.
She’d been stressed ever since she remembered who tried to kill her, and Travis had woken her up from nightmares twice already this week.
This Switch guy had Bella on edge. She was certain the only reason he’d left her was because he thought she was dead. As long as Gunner and Switch continued to believe that, Bella was moderately safe.
Outside police forces were now involved in keeping watch over the Iron Fist, which meant Bella had allies whose pockets weren’t being padded by the club.
Travis reached over and squeezed Bella’s thigh. “Hey.”
She lowered the magazine and looked at him with wide eyes.
“Why are you so tense?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Want to make a guess on whether it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked with a wiggle of his brows.
Bella made a show of thinking. “I have a guess, but I don’t want to say it.”
“Fine. I’ll keep my guess to myself too.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, and the stiffness in her shoulders melted away.
“Isabella Young,” a woman called from a doorway on the other side of the waiting room.
Travis stood and took Bella’s hand in his. “It’s time.”
She let out a deep breath. “I’m nervous.”
“Don’t be. It’s going to be great news either way.”
The tall brunette woman greeted them with a warm smile. “Are you ready for this?”
“I guess so,” Bella said as they followed the woman to a dimly lit room.
Travis helped Bella steady herself as she settled onto the exam table. With a firm grip on her hand, he whispered, “I love you.”
She smiled up at him, but the smile he loved so much was strained. “I love you too.”
The nurse typed at a machine on wheels. “Okay, you’re just going to lift your shirt over your belly, and I’ll put some of the jelly on it.”
About that time, a large screen hanging on the wall showed Bella’s name and information along the top. “Wow. What’s that?” Travis asked.
“That’s where you’ll see the baby,” the nurse said as she scooted over to Bella with a wand. “Are you ready?”
Bella nodded and squeezed Travis’s hand.
Black and gray lines and shapes moved over the screen when the woman placed the wand against Bella’s skin. After some moving around, he could make out arms and legs.
“Let’s see if we have a little misses or a little mister.” The woman moved more until she stopped and used her other hand to put a circle on the screen. “There she is. It’s a girl!”
Bella lifted her head and studied the screen. “A girl. Are you sure?”
“Positive.” The woman drew lines and clicked on the machine as she moved the image on the screen around. “She’s measuring perfectly. I see lots of fingers and toes.”
Travis stared at the image on the screen. It looked like a baby. It moved like a baby. It had a heartbeat that thumped loud and quickly throughout the room.
The realization clicked into place. Sure, he’d seen the earlier sonogram photos, but this was a living being moving in real time before his eyes. Bella was having a baby–a girl–and his heart swelled and hammered against the walls of his chest.
“You okay, Dad?” the woman asked.
Bella turned to him, and her eyes glistened in the dim light. The woman he loved was having a baby girl, and he was the lucky guy who got to witness it all.
Dad.
The lump in his throat kept him from correcting the woman, and Bella didn’t say anything. Someone else had helped make this baby, but she needed a dad–a real one. She needed a man who would stand by her and her mom through anything.
And that’s what Travis would do. She didn’t have to be his flesh and blood. She already had a grip on his heart like a vise.
The woman kept moving the wand around and pressing buttons while Travis kept a tight grip on Bella’s hand.
When the ultrasound was complete, the woman excused herself with congratulations.
Bella sat up and straightened her sweater. “I can’t believe it’s a girl.”
“Did you think it would be a boy?” Travis asked.
“No. I thought it was a girl, but… I guess it just seems more real now. Not that it wasn’t before. It’s just…” She covered her mouth with a hand and stared at the screen where images of her baby had just been.
Travis stood and wrapped one arm around Bella and pressed the other hand against the side of her belly. The baby between them was growing bigger by the day, and it wouldn’t be long until they’d get to meet her face-to-face.
“She’s going to be the luckiest girl in the world,” Travis whispered. “And she’s going to have the best mom.”
Bella lifted her head from his chest. “I don’t know anything about being a mom. What am I going to do?”
Travis chuckled. “You actually know a lot. I know you do. I think anyone would be scared to have their first child.”
“First child,” she whispered.
“Well, if you want more kids.” Travis wiped a stray tear that slid down her cheek. “I don’t think we’ve ever talked about that. It was kind of a given that we’d have at least one.”
The breath he’d been inhaling seized in his chest. They were just stepping into their relationship at a hectic time in her life. How much of this had she chosen?
“It’s all happening so fast.” Bella wiped her face.
Travis bent his knees to look her in the eyes. “Hey, there’s no rush. We’re in this together. It’s not just me. You have a whole town standing behind you. They say it takes a village to raise a kid, right?”
She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his chest. “I’ve never had anyone before.”
Travis brushed a hand over her hair. “You’ll always have me. Always.”