“I’m here. I’ll see you at home when I’m done.”
“Okay.”
I hung up, parked, and grabbed my purse.
Once inside the hospital, I made my way through the lobby, up the elevator, and down the hall toward the women’s clinic.
When I stepped into the waiting room and looked over, Reek was sitting in one of the chairs like he was supposed to be there. I stopped in my tracks so suddenly my shoes squeaked against the floor. His hat rode low over his eyes as he sat back with his legs spread, looking too good to be public enemy number one.
I was so annoyed.
I ignored him and walked straight to the receptionist’s desk.
“Name?” the woman asked.
“Ava Reynolds.”
After a few clicks of her keyboard, she told me, “Okay, you can have a seat. They’ll call you shortly.”
I nodded, turned, and tried to act like I wasn’t dying to know what the hell he was doing there. But I could only do that for so long. So I sat down beside him, but not too close. “What are you doing here?”
He looked at me slowly, like I was the one asking stupid questions. “Do you really think I wouldn’t know everything going on with my kid? And have eyes on it?”
My head turned toward him fully then. “What?”
He didn’t answer right away. He just tipped his chin slightly toward the far side of the room. I looked, and there, by the door, was the same security guard who had followed me aroundThailand. My eyes narrowed as I stared at the guard. Reek had had something to do with that man guarding me. For one stupid second, warmth swam through me. That meant he cared enough to watch over me from the other side of the world. It meant he had been thinking about me when I thought he was trying to avoid me. It meant some part of him had never really let me go.
And that only made me more upset. Because if he cared enough to do that, then all the coldness, anger, nasty words, and emotional running was him being too immature to deal with his own damage instead of just facing his issues like a man.
Neither one of us said a word after that. We just sat there stiff, while women around us rubbed their bellies and talked to the fathers of their babies like they actually liked each other. Every few seconds, I could feel Reek beside me without looking at him. His knee spread out a little too wide. His cologne settled around us.
I hated that a small, naive part of me still liked him being there anyway. But I kept my eyes on the floor, then on the receptionist, then on the framed posters about breastfeeding and prenatal vitamins. Anywhere but him.
Then the nurse finally came from the back and called my name. “AVA REYNOLDS?”
I shot to my feet and could see Reek standing slowly.
The nurse smiled the second she saw me. It was Miss Carla. She had worked with my OB for years and had seen me in that office many times for regular women’s visits.
“Ava, hey, girl,” she said warmly. Then she looked at Reek and her smile got bigger. “And look at this.Okay, then.”
I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me. Instead, I gave her a tight smile and followed her as she walked us back to theexam rooms, chatting while she checked my file on her tablet. “You should’ve told us you were expecting sooner, Mama. We would’ve been fussing over you properly.”
I laughed awkwardly. “I was traveling and was getting OB appointments in Thailand.”
She glanced back at me and then at Reek. “You excited about your first baby?”
This felt so awkward and uncomfortable. I wished that I could click my heels and be back in Thailand. The moment became even more awkward as the seconds passed without Reek saying a word.
“Yes,” I finally forced out. “I’m a little nervous, but I’m excited.”
Miss Carla smiled. “Aww, you all will be fine. First babies always make parents nervous.”
I cringed as the tension made me sick to my stomach.
She led us into the exam room and started doing her normal routine; weight, blood pressure, and asking me a few questions. Then she looked between me and Reek one more time, and I knew she felt the tension.
“Well,” she said, setting the blood pressure cuff aside, “I’m going to step out and let you get changed. Baby’s father can stay if you want him to.”
