I shrug, still not seeing the problem.
She struggles to stand up, and I help her. As soon as she’s on both her feet, she stomps one of them. “Elijah. Do you not get it? You let him think you’re the dad. People are going to talk. People are going to?—”
I shrug. “I don’t give a fuck what people think.”
She puts her hand on her hip. “It doesn’t work that way, Eli. You’re a prominent businessman. People are not going to think highly of… this.”
She gestures to her belly, and I put my hand there. I’ve wanted to do it since I first saw her, and as soon as I put a hand on her, a calm comes over her. She breathes deeply and then covers my hand with hers. Her eyes are bright and wide as she looks at me.
The little thump against my hand has me in shock, and I stand perfectly still as I feel it again. “Is that…?”
My voice trails off as it happens again and again.
The baby feels as if it’s doing little somersaults in there. When Sassy winces, I lean down and whisper to her belly, “Hey, pretty baby, take it easy in there. You don’t wanna hurt your momma.”
Instantly the tiny thumps stop. I’m looking at Sam, lost in her eyes when the nurse comes in. “Ready? Let’s go down and get a picture of your baby.”
I pick up Sam’s purse and take her hand. We walk to the elevator and listen to the nurse talking about the day, the weather, and everything in between.
She takes us straight to the imaging room, and I help Sam up on the bed. The nurse is getting her machine ready, and she tells Sam, “If you can pull your shirt up and pants down, I’m going to put some jelly on your belly.”
Sam does as she asks, and I openly gaze at the bared skin in front of me.
“Have you had an ultrasound done before?”
Sam nods. “Yeah, well, they weren’t able to print out the pictures, but yeah. And the baby kept moving, but the doctor said she was ninety percent sure it was a girl.”
Sam tenses as the nurse puts a wand over her belly. I squeeze her arm, but I don’t know if it’s more to comfort her or me. I need to be touching her.
A few minutes pass, and the nurse gasps. “Okay, so I’m assuming you want to know the sex then.”
Sam comes up on her elbows. “Is she not a girl?”
The nurse laughs. “Nope, definitely a boy.” She gestures to the screen, and I have to lean in to see it. She draws a circle around part of the baby. “Definitely a boy.”
Sam gasps, and I stare at the screen.
The nurse does some more measuring, prints out a few pictures, and then hands Sam a tissue to help her clean up.
“Can you print out a second set of pictures, please?”
The nurse hesitates and then does as I ask, printing out two sets of pictures and then handing them to me.
“Everything looks good. Once you’re ready, you can make your appointment at the front desk. See you next time. Congratulations. Boys love their mommas.”
The nurse walks out, and Sam just lies there, seemingly in shock.
I take the tissues from her hand. “You okay?”
I clean the goo off her belly and then pull her clothes up to cover her before helping her up.
She looks at me in awe. “I’m having a boy.”
I put my hands on her knees. “How do you feel about that?”
She nods. “Good. I mean, I’m happy with whatever, but what am I going to do with a boy? I obviously don’t know anything about boys. And boys need their dads. What am I going to do?”
I lean down so we’re eye level. She won’t look at me, so I lift my hands to her shoulders. “Sassy, look at me.”
