I smoothed my hands up and down her arms, trying to warm her. “So, I think you should move in, and we should convert my extra room into a nursery,” I blurted out, then squeezed my eyes shut. “Sorry, that’s whatIwant. What are you thinking?”
Her brown eyes met mine and she chewed her lip nervously. “I want that too, but I’m still a little afraid that this”—she waved a hand between us—“will blow up, and then the baby will have to deal with our drama.”
“How about we give ourselves this time before the baby arrives to explore? Give me a trial period, how does that sound? I really don't even think we’ll even need it. I never want to be apart from you again,” I said with a small smirk. “I want to give you everything, my bed, my last name, any house or ring you want.” But as I said those words, she stiffened in my arms. I searched her eyes for the meaning. “What? Too soon?” It would’ve felt too soon with anyone else, but this was Ali. I’d known her most of my life.
“Yeah, a little,” she said, forcing an uncomfortable laugh. She kept her eyes downcast, away from me. “I want to move in with you and be with you, but I hope marriage isn’t a dealbreaker. I don’t see that in my future.” She unfolded herself from me. I let her put the distance between us even though it was the last thing I wanted.
I sat there feeling stumped. I’d be okay with her claim about marriageifI actually believed her. But I knew her tell. Sitting on the exam table, she was currently twisting her fingers into knots, telling me she just lied.
I rubbed my jaw, trying to figure out the best way to approach this. “That’s okay,” I finally said, and her worried eyes flew up tomine. “I just want to be with you. I just have one question.”
Her throat bobbed with a swallow as she shrugged.
“You don’tseemarriage in your future or you don’twantit?”
She looked caught. Her poor fingers were turning white. I scooched the chair forward and took her hands in mine.
“JP.” Her face went serious. “I need to tell you something, but you can’t—”
A knock sounded on the door, making her startle.
I wanted to yell at everyone to just leave us alone, but I forced myself to swallow down any rebuttal.
A doctor with curly dark hair poked her head in. Her eyes darted between us. “Sorry if I’m interrupting something,” she trailed off. “Everything okay?” She looked directly at Ali, making it clear the question was not for me.
“Yeah, sorry. Just an emotional time,” Ali said, forcing a weak smile as she brushed her hair behind her ears.
“Okay, well, I can come back?” the doctor offered.
“No, no.” Ali rolled her shoulders back. “I’ve been looking forward to this appointment for days.” She gave me a small apologetic smile, and I immediately felt like a dick for making any part of this day about us instead of her and the baby.
After we ran through introductions, Dr. Keenan instructed Ali to lay back. She spread some sort of jelly on Ali’s belly and started smoothing a little wand around. A couple seconds later, the sound of a heartbeat filled the room. It sounded way faster than I expected, but the doctor was smiling, so I figured it wasn’t an issue.
“Wow.” Ali reached to hold my hand. When she looked at me, her eyes filled with tears, hitting me right in the chest.
“Well, all sounds well,” Dr. Keenan smiled. “We’ll book you for a couple more tests, but we’ve got two strong heartbeats.”
Ali’s eyes flew from mine to the doctor. “Two…?”
“You mean Ali's and the baby’s are both strong?” I gave Ali’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Yes,” the doctor said, making Ali’s grip on my hand relax.
Ali gave me a sweet smile before her eyes dropped down to her stomach.
“Ali’s is solid,” the doctor continued. She gave us a reassuring smile. “And both babies sound good as well.”
Shock ripped through my body. “B-both?”
Ali gagged.
Moving quickly, I handed her the small trash can in the corner of the room right on time for her to lose her breakfast.
“Yes, both,” the doctor confirmed, giving us a confused look. “This isn’t your first appointment, just your first in this office, correct?”
“No, not exactly,” I said while rubbing Ali’s back.
.
