As we get closer to the scanning department, I can’t help but wonder if inviting Everett was a mistake.
Maybe I should have done this alone. Maybe inviting him has only complicated things.
“Hi,” I say the second I step up to the desk. “Beatrice Walsh. I have an appointment for an ultrasound.” The words sound alien as they pass my lips. But as much as I might have wanted to put this off, reality is about to hit really fucking hard.
18
EVERETT
What the fuck am I doing?
I had planned to attend the DNA testing and then walk straight back out, get in my car, and fuck off until I had concrete evidence that I needed to be here.
But one look at Beatrice as she paced back and forth across the waiting room, and everything came crashing down.
Just like it did that night.
One look at her on the other side of the plexiglass, wearing my jersey, and I was gone.
I wanted her.
And today, when I walked into that waiting room, nothing had changed. Only, backing her up against a wall wasn’t my first thought. Instead, I wanted to pull her into my arms and tell her that everything was going to be okay.
There are only two women in my life I’ve ever felt that need with before: my mom and my sister.
It was fucking unnerving to feel it for a woman I barely know. A woman who may or may not be carrying my baby.
When she turned and saw me, I swear, the only thing I could read in her expression was fear.
That, along with Hailee’s confidence in Bea, knocked me for six, and I’ve found myself following her around this hospital ever since.
The moment my ass hits the chair, I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees, and drop my head into my hands.
My heart is racing and my head is spinning.
Beside me, Bea and her friend are silent, and when I glance over, I notice that Bea’s knee is bouncing. She may no longer be pacing, but she’s anxious as hell.
“Can you stop?” The words are out of my mouth before I’ve thought them through.
“I-I’m sorry?” The words are quiet and timid, the complete opposite of the fire that filled her voice as she turned me down that night.
“Your knee. Can you stop it bouncing?”
For a moment, the movement pauses. But then she clearly thinks twice, because she sits a little taller and resumes.
My teeth grind, and when I glance over, I find a defiant smirk on her lips.
Get up. Walk out. Don’t get involved.
Ripping my eyes from her, I let my eyelids lower and take a deep breath.
If, and I mean a really big if, this baby does turn out to be mine, I’ll forever regret walking away from this moment. And if it isn’t mine? Well, then I can walk away knowing that I did the right thing.
With my fists curled, I keep my eyes locked on the scuffed wall ahead of me.
The low rumble of staff and patient chatter fills the air, and people walk back and forth. Every time someone comes out to call another patient in, my heart lurches into my throat. But despite it being long past our allotted appointment time, no one has so much as acknowledged us.
My confusion and anger collide, and I jump to my feet.
