Chapter 26
I’m an expert at worrying. Hospital gown or no hospital gown.
Terri
Nolan strides into my office. He doesn’t stop in front of my desk. He walks around it and keeps going until he reaches me.
He grasps my hands and pulls me gently out of my chair before pressing a kiss to my mouth. I swallow back a moan. This man and the things he can do with his mouth.
He smiles against my lips before stepping back. “Ready to go?”
I glance at my desk. At the million things I still need to do.
He growls. “Don’t you dare say you can go alone.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good. Because it would be number four.”
My panties immediately dampen at the idea of getting four spankings from Nolan. He’s talented with his mouth, but those hands? Those hands are magical.
I feign a glare. “Don’t you dare get me all hot and bothered before a doctor’s appointment.”
His eyes flare. “I can take care of you real quick. The door locks. I checked.”
My mouth drops open. He checked the door locks? For a moment, I consider it. He could flip my dress up and… I force those thoughts away. I am not the kind of woman to have a quickie in the office. No matter how tempting the quarterback is.
“You’re crazy. And I don’t want to be late.”
He offers me his arm. “Let’s go.”
“Are you excited about the little mermaid’s first ultrasound?” he asks once we’re on the road, driving to the hospital.
Hope and fear fight for supremacy in my body. “I’m trying.”
He squeezes my thigh. “Maybe today will reassure you. I read we might hear the heartbeat.”
I place a hand over my stomach. “I hope so.”
“Whatever happens, I’m here. I believe our little mermaid is safe, but if anything happens to her, I’m here. You can lean on me.”
He’s here now. But he won’t be for long. “What happens when the football season starts? When you leave?”
“I’ll still be here. I might not always be here physically, but there are more ways to support someone than in person. I will always be by your side.”
I wish I could believe him. I wish he wasn’t a football player. I wish he was a smuggler. I wish… I wish…
I know better than to wish. When I was ten, I wished my mother would smile. I wished she would get out of bed. She never got out of bed again.
We drive the rest of the way to the hospital in silence. When we arrive, Nolan escorts me out of the SUV and into Dr. Reynold’s office. We’re immediately shown into an exam room.
Dr. Reynold swoops inside minutes later. Nolan stands to shake her hand. “Hi, doc.”
She grins. “Daddy’s here for the dating ultrasound. Excellent.”
“Jasmine,” I warn.
She blinks at me. “What? I can’t be excited the daddy’s here?”
I wag a finger at her. “Don’t act all innocent. I know for a fact you’re one of the biggest gossips on Smuggler’s Hideaway. News Nolan was here will spread through the island faster than smugglers running from the Prohis.”
Nolan scowls. “Hold on. You’re our doctor. You can’t spread rumors about Terri. Especially not with her medical history.”
Jasmine raises her hands. “Don’t worry, quarterback daddy. I won’t tell anyone what happens in this room. But I’m not responsible for the old smugglers who have lunch in the hospital cafeteria.”
His shoulders relax. “Okay.”
She sighs. “I wish I could find a strapping quarterback to sweep me off my feet and impregnate me.”
Nolan drops his arm around my shoulders. “Sorry. This quarterback is taken.”
He presses a kiss against my hair and I practically melt into him. I haven’t needed anyone to take care of me since I was ten. I didn’t realize what I was missing out on.
Jasmine swipes her tablet. “Today is to establish the due date of your baby.”
I clear my throat. “We already know the due date.”
“The ultrasound is more accurate.”
I motion to the exam table. “I guess you want me to undress and hop on.”
“No need. Since you’re still early, we’ll do a transvaginal ultrasound today.”
Nolan’s brow wrinkles. “Transvaginal?”
She waves a wand. “It means through the vagina.”
He gulps. “You’re putting that in her?”
I pat his hand. “If you think this is bad, you definitely shouldn’t attend a pap smear.”
His face is now green. “Pap smear?”
The doctor giggles. “Leave Dad alone.” She pats the table. “Hop on and undress from the waist down.”
My cheeks heat. I assumed I’d get undressed behind a screen and put on a hospital gown. Those gowns are hideous, but they’re better than being naked from the waist down in bright lights.
“Daddy, dim the lights,” Jasmine orders.
He kisses my cheek before standing. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. You’re gorgeous, sprite.”
I wait until the lights are dimmed and stand. I remove my underwear before climbing onto the table. Jasmine holds up a sheet and I draw up my dress until my bottom half is exposed. She lays the sheet on me before pulling out the stirrups.
She taps them. “You know the deal.”
Knowing the deal and wanting to expose myself with the man I’m obsessed with in the room are two distinct things. I scowl. I’m not obsessed with Nolan.
He’s my baby daddy. And he’s very good with his mouth and hands. And he takes care of me. And… I’m obsessed.
Nolan growls. “What’s this?”
Jasmine waves the wand at him again. “Transvaginal, remember?”
He sways before catching himself on the back of a chair. “I remember.”
“I can’t wait until the birth. This is so much fun.”
I glare at her. “You enjoy your job too much.”
She shrugs. “What’s not to love? I bring babies into the world.”
I grunt. “You have a point.”
She places a condom on the wand before adding some lubricant. “This is going to be cold.”
“Awesome,” I mutter. “Because this isn’t embarrassing enough as it is.”
Nolan is at my side in a second. He squeezes my hand. “This isn’t embarrassing.”
“Says the man who nearly fainted at the sight of stirrups.”
“I needed a second. I’m ready now. And excited. We’re going to see the baby. And maybe hear the heartbeat.”
My pulse races. The heartbeat. I want to hear the little mermaid’s heartbeat more than anything.
“Here we go,” Jasmine says before pushing the wand inside me.
I grit my teeth at how cold and uncomfortable it is. Nolan rubs my shoulder. “Feel free to squeeze my hand.”
I glance up at him. He isn’t looking at the screen. He’s looking down at me with adoration and wonder in his eyes. Will that adoration and wonder remain if something happens to the baby? Or will he disappear, never to be heard from again?
“I’ve got you, sprite.”
Those words cause warmth to spread through my body. I want him to have me. I want to be his.
“Are you ready?” Jasmine asks. She nods to the screen. “There’s your baby.”
Nolan’s eyes widen. “My baby.”
“She isn’t very big. She reminds me of a gummy bear.”
“I think she resembles a mermaid learning how to swim,” he says.
“Based on the baby’s size, you’re due around March twelfth.”
I glance up at Nolan. “When is the Super Bowl?”
“Don’t worry about the Super Bowl. You concentrate on growing our little mermaid. I’ll concentrate on the football.”
He pulls out his phone.
“You’re not seriously answering a call now!”
“Nope.” He shows me his calendar app. “Adding the little mermaid’s expected appearance into the world to my calendar.”
I notice his calendar is already full. March is nearly eight months away, and he’s already got obligations for then? Will he even be able to attend the birth?
“Shall we try and hear the heartbeat?” Jasmine asks.
Nolan jerks and his phone nearly topples to the ground. “Yes.” He gazes down at me. “If it’s okay with mom.”
Mom? Me? Of course, rationally I know having a baby means I become a mom. But hearing someone call me mom feels different. It feels real. And terrifying.
I inhale a deep breath and nod. “Okay.”
Jasmine smiles. “Here we go.” A flickering sound fills the room.
“Is that…” Nolan swallows.
“Yes, daddy. That’s your baby.”
“My baby. Suddenly, I can’t wait for the season to be finished.” He leans close to the monitor. “I can’t wait to meet you, little mermaid.”
I hope he gets to meet her. I hope I can carry this baby to term. But I haven’t been the luckiest person when it comes to having my wishes come true.
Nolan leans down and gently removes my lip from between my teeth. I didn’t even realize I was chewing on it. “Let me worry about everything. You concentrate on being healthy. I got you.”
Does he really? He’s a quarterback on an NFL team hyped to be the next Super Bowl winner.
He can’t have me and football. But which one will he choose?