Chapter 10 #2
Karlie sat straight up. “Is there something wrong with her?” Drew wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm her. Her pulse sounded like a freight train coming through the room over the monitor.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you take a look for yourself, for peace of mind,” the doctor assured her.
“I understand that you’re the baby’s father?
” He looked at Drew when he asked the question.
Drew just nodded. He was worried about both Karlie and the baby, and the knot in his throat was making it hard to talk.
“Okay, well, how about we take a look at this little one, and then we can talk about getting you out of here,” the doctor promised.
He put some gel on Karlie’s exposed belly and started rubbing a little wand over her abdomen.
Suddenly, a little lima bean shaped alien appeared on the monitor.
Karlie gasped and started crying again. He could see the baby’s heart beating on the screen, and suddenly, everything in his life had meaning again.
He had Karlie and their baby in his arms, and that’s where he was going to keep them.
∞
Karlie couldn’t quite make out the little image on the monitor through her tears, but when she heard the doctor say that everything looked perfect, she felt like collapsing again—this time in relief.
She had been so worried over the past two days that she would lose the baby because she had been so sick.
Drew kissed the top of her head. “See, baby, she’s fine.
” She leaned back into his hold and exhaled deeply, completely relaxed for the first time in months.
She felt like she was home again. He told her he wasn’t with Lisa, and she needed to believe him because she couldn’t do this by herself anymore.
Her father had been right; she needed Drew, and he needed to be a part of his baby’s life.
Drew even seemed happy about the baby. The doctor was finishing up the sonogram, reassuring her that everything looked good with the baby.
“Can you tell the sex yet?” she asked hopefully.
“No, it’s too soon. Usually, after nineteen weeks, and if the baby cooperates, we can tell the sex. Do you know when you conceived?” She looked back at Drew, silently asking him. He just shrugged and grinned at her.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but it had to be over that weekend since that was the only time we were together,” he said.
She nodded, “About three months ago,” she said.
“I was on the pill at the time, and I stopped taking it right away after I found out I was pregnant.” She looked back at Drew as if telling him the story, too.
“I thought I had a stomach bug and went to the doctor, but found out that I was pregnant instead. I was shocked because I thought that I was covered. He told me that it was the antibiotics that I took, for my busted lip, which made my pill ineffective.”
“Yes, antibiotics can cause the birth control pill to not work properly. You should have been advised to use backup protection,” the doctor added.
“Yeah, well—that would have been nice to know at the time,” she mumbled. “Now, it’s too late, and here we are.”
Drew pulled her into his chest, hugging her closer. “I’m good with where we are, baby. I’m thrilled about it. I just wish I had known sooner so that I could have taken care of you.”
She must have turned red—she could feel her cheeks and ears getting hotter.
Drew whispered to her, “It’s okay, we’ll talk about this later,” and she felt relieved that there would even be a later.
She needed to tell him that she didn’t plan on getting pregnant.
She didn’t want him to think that she was trying to trap him.
The doctor cleared his throat, getting both of their attention.
“If you have any other questions, I am sure the nurse will be able to help you. In the meantime, I want you to finish that bag of fluids and see if you can remain stable for the next few hours. I’d feel better keeping you overnight, just to make sure that you keep fluids down. ”
“But I wanted to go home and shower. I’d like to sleep in my bed,” she tried to argue.
“She’ll stay the night,” Drew amended. “We both will, thank you, doctor.”
“Wonderful, I will have the nurses move you to a private room.” He turned to leave, the curtains rustling behind him.
“Drew, I want to go home. I can’t afford any of this; I don’t have insurance. I was going to a clinic for everything, and I am pretty sure a hospital costs a lot more than a clinic,” she said.
“You don’t have to worry about the cost, Karlie. I have already given the hospital my information for billing. As soon as we are married, you and the baby can be added to my insurance plan and—"
“Married,” she whispered, “when did we agree that I would be marrying you?”
He leaned in a little closer, “The minute you told me you loved me, three months ago, and I told you that you were mine. I meant it then, and I mean it now, Karlie. You are mine, and this baby is mine. I want us to be a family. I want to marry you as soon as we get back to Alabama.” He kissed her lips when she tried to pull back from him. He was good at distracting her.
“I’m not going back to Alabama, and I’m not sure I liked the way you just told me that we are getting married.
A girl likes to be asked these things, not told, Drew,” she chided.
She could see him getting mad, but there was no way she was going to let him walk into her life and start making demands.
She didn’t have just herself to think about now; she had to make decisions for her baby too.
“You wanna tell me why you won’t go back to Alabama with me?
” He froze behind her, and she could feel his body go stiff.
“Wait, have you met someone else? I know it’s been three months, but I couldn’t move on from loving you, Karlie.
Have you—moved on?” She had to smile at his tone, so growly and angry.
She laughed out loud, touching her barely-there bump.
“See, baby girl, I told you that your daddy was growly,” she teased.
“I am not growly, and I don’t know how you can take this whole thing so lightly.
We are going to have a baby. Now is not the time for you to be hitting the dating circuit,” he cringed when he said that, making her giggle even harder.
“Well, at least you seem to be feeling better, you know—being able to laugh so much at my expense.” She couldn’t let him stew any longer.
She turned in his arms so that they were face to face.
“I haven’t been dating. There is no one else but you and our baby. There will never be anyone besides you. I am still in love with you, and I don’t think that I could change that, even if I wanted to,” she admitted. He breathed a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You told the baby about me?” his voice was husky with emotion.
“Of course I did, you’re her daddy. I never intended to keep you out of her life. I just needed time to get used to you being with Lisa.”
He just about jumped out of bed. “I told you that I’m not with Lisa,” he growled.
“I know, and I believe you,” she leaned into him, kissing his mouth, softening his anger.
“I felt God-awful for the past two months and wasn’t sure what to do.
Honestly, I was so afraid that the morning sickness would cause me to lose our baby,” she shook her head, trying to clear the awful thought.
He framed her face with his big hands, “Even more reason that I should have been with you, baby. We do things together from now on. If you’re scared, I want to know.
If you are sick, I want to take care of you.
You and I are a team from here on out—got it?
” He was looking at her so seriously, waiting for her response.
She nodded, “A team—got it.” She reached past him to the table by her bed, retrieving her cell phone.
“Since we’re a team, you should know why I can’t go back to Alabama—it’s because of Jake,” she handed him her phone after pulling up Jake’s threatening messages.
“He’s part of the reason that I had to move, and well,” she looked away from him, “the other part was so you couldn’t find me.
” Drew didn’t respond, already reading through Jake’s messages.
She could feel his anger radiating from his body.
He even removed his arm from around her waist, like he was trying to protect her from his anger.
“Those texts are the reason that I contacted my dad. I sent him all Jake’s messages because I was worried about Jenna. ”
“What about you, Karlie? Why weren’t you worried about you?
Because, from what I see here, Jake threatened to come after you.
Jenna is fine, and Jake has stayed in line because your father has made his life pretty comfortable.
But all this time, has Jake been threatening you?
I’m gonna fucking kill that asshole.” He got up carefully from behind Karlie and started pacing the small room.
He ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand on end, and growled again.
He seemed to be doing a lot of that since he found her.
She guessed he had good cause. He didn’t just find her; he found her pregnant with his baby and a whole slew of problems caused once again by her ex.
“I’m so sorry, Drew. This is why you should just walk away—go home.
The baby and I will be fine. My dad is working with the police officer who tried to get me to press charges when Jake attacked me.
Officer Peterson, he’s the one who showed up at the church that day, he knows Jake’s and my whole history.
He wants me to come back to Alabama to testify.
I have sixty days to press charges. But if I do that, Jenna’s life is ruined.
I just can’t do that to her.” She was wringing the bed sheets in her hands.