Chapter
Fourteen
Foster
* * *
When the nurse calls Callie back, I’m thankful to be away from the prying eyes. I purposely picked the two chairs in a corner with a plant in front of us so no one could get a clear picture. Who am I kidding though? They’ll manage it if they want one.
All the patients’ eyes were on us, as if they were trying to figure out our dynamic. It’s not that hard to figure out. I’m with a woman in an OBGYN office. Two plus two equals four. Or plus one in this case.
The nurse doesn’t do anything more than give me a polite smile and quick glance before asking Callie to follow her. Which is nice to see. Callie should have all the attention. She’s the one taking one for the team between the two of us.
We’re shown to an exam room, and the nurse leaves, telling us the doctor will be in soon.
I’m minding my own business, sitting in the chair the nurse told me to, when Callie flips around on the table toward me. “You doing okay?”
Her smirk says she thinks this whole experience is funny. Probably because she believes all the rumors that to be in an OBGYN office with a woman I spent one night with would be a nightmare scenario for a guy like me. And maybe it would be… but it’s her. Somehow, she seems to make all the difference in the world.
There’s some truth to the rumors that fly around about me. I haven’t been fucking celibate, but I’m not entirely who she thinks I am either.
“You think I’m gonna run or pass out?”
Her legs swing back and forth. She’s cute as hell, and isn’t that the number one problem with this entire situation? “It’s a nightmare, right?”
I tilt my head and cross my arms. “Haven’t we already been over this?”
“You wanting to be part of the baby’s life and you still thinking this is the last possible thing you would have wanted are two very different things. Neither of us planned on this happening.”
“True.” I’m not going to lie and say I dreamed of this scenario. “But here we are.”
“I can handle this, you know? You’re midseason.”
My first reaction is to go on the defense because it feels as though she’s pushing me away. That old wound opens up, telling me I’m not good enough. That Callie would rather have gotten pregnant by anyone but me. But part of me suspects that Callie’s hyper-independence has nothing at all to do with me.
So I inhale a deep breath before I say something I’ll regret and decide to voice my suspicions. “Callie, who hurt you?”
Her usual teasing smile slips. I lean forward, ready to tell her to forget my question and declare my intentions again, even if they fall on deaf ears. Anything to see that smile again. But a knock sounds on the door, and a woman with a white coat walks in.
Maybe the interruption is the best thing that could happen because this isn’t really the best time for us to have this conversation.
“Oh…” The doctor’s attention snags on me. “Hello. Usually my staff tells me when we have clients who have more discreet needs.” She steps over to Callie and holds out her hand. “Hi, Callie, I’m Doctor Amato.”
“Hi.” Callie shakes her hand. “So you recognize Foster.” She puts her hand out as though she’s declaring me as the prize.
I mentally scoff. I’m no one’s prize.
Dr. Amato laughs. “You kind of stick out.” She holds her hand out for me, and I shake it. “In a good way.”
Her smile is kind, and I want to trust her to do what’s right for Callie and our child, I do. But trust isn’t the easiest thing for me.
She walks over to the computer. “Okay, so let me gather some information, then I’ll have you change into a gown, and we’ll take a look on the ultrasound.” She looks really excited, but I guess that’s why she picked this profession, right? “Let’s start with the date of your last period.”
Callie tells her, and I mentally try to figure out the math, although we only slept together once, so I guess the date of conception is obvious.
“So you’re about six weeks then.” Dr. Amato types on the computer. “And you’re the father?” She pointedly looks at me.
I refrain from making some smart-ass comment. “I am.”
