“Uh oh,” she said, tilting her head.
“What?” I asked with worry, looking from her to the nurse to the screen.
She patted my cheek, bringing my attention back to her. “I can already see how this is going to play out. You’re going to be the most overprotective, overbearing father to exist.”
I laughed with relief. She wasn’t wrong. Every fiber of my being was in love with my daughter. And her mother. I would stop at nothing to protect both of them. There was nothing more important than who was in this room with me right now.
We didn’t go back to the office after the doctor’s appointment. We were too excited, too in love with the idea of us having a daughter. The office could hold it down for the last half of the day. We went to a baby boutique and picked out our daughter’s very first outfit with matching shoes. It was a pink ruffly dress that came with a hairbow. It was the girliest, frilliest thing we could find, and I loved it.
“I can’t believe it,” whispered Gabriella as we paid at the register, her eyes on all the pink as the cashier wrapped it up in glittery tissue paper.
“Me either,” I whispered back.
“Are you happy?” She looked at me hopefully.
“Baby, I’ve never been happier in my entire life.” I pulled her in for a long, tender kiss that probably made the cashier very uncomfortable as she waited for us to take the bag from her hands.
We took the dress and matching shoes to dinner with us that night to show her parents to announce that we were having a girl. Her father practically sobbed, and her mother laughed lovingly with glee as she patted her husband on the back. I couldn’t help but laugh and pull Gabriella in close as we soaked in the moment. We were going to be parents to a little girl. I couldn’t wait.
Chapter 53
Gabriella
“Are you ready for this?” I asked, carrying a large cardboard file box into the open door of Chandler’s office.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he said worriedly, standing up from his desk and rushing toward me. “You should not be lifting heavy objects. Are you crazy?”
“I’m twenty-four weeks pregnant, not paralyzed,” I said with a roll of my eyes, though his concern was endearing.
“Well, let me at least help you,” he said, grabbing the box from me and walking it into his office. He set it on the floor by his desk and turned to look at me with his hands on his hips, clearly displeased. It hadn’t even been that heavy.
“You are being a little overprotective, don’t ya think?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips in a standoff.
“You’re carrying precious cargo in there.” He pointed to my growing stomach that had now become something I couldn’t hide with flowy tops or skirts. I didn’t want to anymore, anyway. I was proud to be pregnant. Plus, I had found some really cute maternity workwear online.
“She’s kicking,” I said with a smile as I felt her foot or her elbow roll across my insides. I could never tell what was what.
“Really?” asked Chandler, totally forgetting his annoyance and rushing over. I placed his hand on my stomach and watched his face, as we waited for her to kick again.
“There!” I said suddenly. “Did you feel that?”
He nodded, awe in his eyes. It wasn’t the first time he had felt her kick, but every time was like Christmas Day for him. It was the strangest, most magical sensation for me, but I assumed it would only get uncomfortable as time went on and she began to outgrow her living quarters.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get over that,” said Chandler, his green eyes dancing as he moved his hand across my stomach, eager to feel her again. We stood like that for a few more minutes, waiting for another kick or jab, but it never came. She had gone back to sleep, her favorite thing to do.
“Looks like it’s time to work,” I said, nodding toward the file box I had carried over.
When Chandler had told me he wanted to get to know the employees on a personal level, I was surprised. He had never cared to before, always being brash in his interactions with everyone here. It was off-putting and no one seemed to care for him. I didn’t blame them. But everyone had put on fake smiles anyway because… what could they do? He was their boss.
“Right,” said Chandler with a nod, plopping down next to the cardboard box and prying the lid free. He started taking out each file and spreading them across the floor. It felt just like the night of our employee review all those months ago.
“I’m having déjà vu,” I said, taking a seat next to him and kicking off my heels.
“Should we order Chinese food and talk about our past traumas again?” he asked with a smirk.
I laughed out loud as I helped him unpack more files.
“Only if we end up naked after,” I said with a raise of my brows.
