Chapter Sixteen – Lilibeth
Lilibeth
Caden reached for my hand and gave it a light squeeze. I was honestly surprised by how calm he was. At least, he seemed to be…except for his leg, which was bouncing.
“How do you feel?”
Trying to smile, I replied, “Better. Still a bit queasy, but the crackers helped.”
Earlier in the car, I’d started to feel sick, and Caden instantly produced a sleeve of crackers from the back seat of his truck.
“By the way, why did you have crackers in your truck?”
It was his turn to smile, and I tried to ignore the way it made my stomach flutter.
“I remembered when my mom was pregnant with Emeline, she used to eat crackers all the time. Don’t ask me why or how I remembered that, because I was pretty young.
But I grabbed them on my way out of the house this morning. ”
Oh, dear Lord. This man is going to make it so very hard not to fall madly in love with him.
“That was sweet of you to think of that.”
He shrugged and started bouncing his leg again.
The door opened, and a nurse stepped out. “Lilibeth Asher?”
Caden and I stood and made our way across the waiting room.
He placed his hand on my lower back and kept it there until we walked into the exam room.
Once inside, the nurse began asking questions.
When my last period was, my medical history, and lifestyle habits, then she took my vitals and asked me to go to the restroom.
After that, another nurse came in and took some blood.
“The doctor is going to do a transvaginal ultrasound. That will give her a look at how things are going and an estimate of how far along you are.”
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
Caden sat in the chair, quiet as a mouse.
“If you can remove your pants and undergarments and put this over you.”
I did as the nurse asked and sat back on the table.
“What are those?” Caden asked, pointing to the stirrups.
“That’s where I put my feet when she does her exam.”
His brows shot up as he stood. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I chuckled. “Nope.”
“That’s crazy. Do you have to do it for each appointment?”
“Just the ones where you need a vaginal exam. It’s yearly.”
He looked at me and smirked. “Let’s try it.”
“I don’t think so, Caden.”
“Oh, come on. We can call it research.”
I frowned. “Research for what?”
“Playing doctor?”
“As fun as that sounds, I think I’m going to pass. You can see what she does when she comes in.”
He took a step back. “She’s going to do that with me in here?”
I laughed. “Why not?”
“I mean, it looks like it can spread you open pretty wide…should I be in here for that?”
“Uh, you were present when I got pregnant, Caden. This should be nothing.”
He adjusted himself in his pants.
“Caden Wilde, please tell me you’re not turned on right now.”
The blush on his cheeks answered before he did. “I can’t help it! The image alone…”
Shaking my head, I laughed. “You’re impossible.”
He stepped forward, between my legs, and gave me his sexiest smile. If I’d been standing, my knees would have gone weak. He was so close to me, I could practically feel his body heat. He put a hand under the sheet and slowly slid it up my leg.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice slightly shaky.
He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
I huffed. “That makes two of us.”
He stopped at my thigh, and for half a second, I silently willed him to keep going.
“Caden,” I whispered, as our eyes met and held.
The light knock on the door had him quickly backing away. I was positive my entire face was red when the doctor walked in.
“Lilibeth Asher?” she asked, her eyes bouncing from me to Caden, then back to me as she reached her hand out to shake.
“Yes.”
“I’m Dr. Lawrence. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same to you,” I replied.
“And you’re Mr. Asher?” she asked Caden.
Reaching his hand out, he replied, “Caden Wilde.”
Smiling, she replied, “Sorry about that. You’re Dad?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Dr. Lawrence sat down and read over a few things. “Okay. It looks like the blood and urine tests came back positive for pregnancy, which we were expecting.”
I looked at Caden, but he was watching the doctor. I placed a hand over my nervous stomach.
“How have you been feeling, Lilibeth?”
“Tired and a little queasy. I’m not sure why they call it morning sickness when it hits at all hours of the day.”
Dr. Lawrence chuckled. “The nausea is usually worse in the mornings during your first few months, I think that’s why they call it that. Have you been eating enough?”
“Trying to, but it can be hard sometimes. I feel nauseous nearly all day sometimes.”
I could feel Caden’s eyes on me.
“Try eating small, frequent meals. And stick with foods that are more on the bland side. Toast, potatoes, rice, crackers. Make sure you’re getting in protein as well. I’ll write you a prescription today for prenatal vitamins.”
Nodding, I played with the sheet that was covering my lap.
“You’ll want to avoid greasy or really spicy foods.”
“She doesn’t like spicy foods.”
I was sure I had a surprised expression on my face when I looked over at Caden. I’d told him that on our first day together during the storm, and he’d actually remembered. When he winked, I couldn’t help the smile on my face.
After a few more minutes of talking, we did the exam.
“Have you ever had a transvaginal ultrasound?” Dr. Lawrence asked.
“I haven’t.”
She explained the process to us, then invited Caden to stand beside me so he could see the monitor when she turned off the lights.
“Just relax, I promise this won’t hurt you or the baby.”
I drew in a deep breath and let it out.
Suddenly, something appeared on the screen. At first, I couldn’t really see anything.
“This right here is the gestational sac. Do you see that right there?”
Caden took my hand in his as we both said, “Yes.”
“That is your baby,” she said, smiling.
“It looks like a frog!” Caden blurted.
The doctor chuckled. “That’s the baby’s little arms and legs right there.”
I stared at the little blob on the screen as tears welled up. “She’s beautiful.”
Caden grinned. “Or he.”
“I’ve got something even cooler for you,” Dr. Lawrence said. “Do you see that little flutter on the screen? That’s the heart.”
The sound of her heartbeat suddenly filled the room, and a sob slipped free before I could cover my mouth with my hand.
“Holy shit,” Caden whispered, as he squeezed my other hand.
“Oh, she or he is wiggling!”
Dr. Lawrence clicked around and did some measurements. “I’m just measuring so we can get a better idea of how far along you are.”
I looked at Caden—and my breath caught in my throat. A single tear was rolling down his cheek as he watched the screen. I looked away before I broke out into full-on sobs.
“The baby is three-quarters of an inch. About the size of a raspberry.”
“Wow!” Caden and I said at the same time.
The heartbeat filled the room again, the sound pulsing through my entire body.
“Heartbeat is nice and strong at 160 beats per minute.”
“That is crazy!” Caden laughed.
“If you’d like to know the sex, we can find out through bloodwork or wait until your 18-20 week sonogram.”
Glancing at me, Caden raised his brows.
“I think I’d like to wait for the sonogram.”
He nodded. “Totally up to you, Lili.”
“Okay, well, everything’s looking amazing so far, Lilibeth. You’re eight weeks pregnant, and that makes your due date August twenty-third.”
Caden took a few steps back and dropped down into the chair.
“You okay, Dad?” Dr. Lawrence asked with a wink. “It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”
He nodded. “Can the baby hear us?”
“Not yet. That will be around twenty-three weeks.” She looked at me. “At around sixteen weeks and after, you’ll be able to feel the baby. It’ll feel like butterflies in your stomach, and at first, you might not even notice it.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
She handed Caden the ultrasound photos. “Here are some photos for you. Do either of you have any questions for me?”
“I can’t think of any. Caden?”
He stared down at the photos for a long moment, then looked up. “Um, no, not right now.”
Turning to me, she smiled. “Congratulations, Lilibeth. I’ve got a little book that the nurse will give you with some great information. If you need anything before our next appointment, here’s my card. My cell number’s on there as well, in case there’s ever an emergency.”
I took the card she handed me. “Thank you so much.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you both, and I’ll see you at your next checkup.”
“Thank you, Dr. Lawrence,” Caden said, with his charming smile.
The door shut, and Caden sat back down, looking once more at the photos.
I quickly stood and got dressed, taking advantage of Caden seeming to be lost in thought.
He looked up at me, frowning. “Do you have insurance?”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“Insurance, Lilibeth. Do you have health insurance?”
“Yes. I got it when I started the business and my S-Corp.”
Standing, he asked, “Do you have co-insurance or a deductible?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Then I’ll cover whatever your out-of-pocket expenses are.”
I shook my head. “No. Caden, I’m already moving into your house; that’s more than enough.”
“I’m not going to argue with you about this, Lilibeth. That child inside of you is half my responsibility, so I’ll cover your out-of-pocket expenses. My father would hang me up by my toes if he ever found out I wasn’t helping with that.”
After getting dressed, I sighed as Caden handed me my jacket. “I still feel like I’m in shock. There is a literal baby inside of me. Growing. Relying on me.”
“Speaking of,” Caden said, as he opened the door, then grabbed my hand and led me back to the waiting area. “We need to get you something to eat.”
“Please don’t start trying to put food in my mouth.”
He huffed. “You heard her, Lili. You need to eat. We’re going to Anna’s for breakfast.”
I stopped walking, and he turned to look at me.
“What?”
“What are people going to say?”