"Fine. If you win, it can go to your Juilliard fund. And when I win, I get the best tickets to your shows."
"Deal."
"How the fuck do you know so much about this shit?"
"Two words. I read."
"Oh, God... stop." I shout it out.
The door opens, and I tumble back.
Lyndall and Enzo look down at me.
"You've broken her. Good one, Lyndall."
"It's okay," he whispers as my leg jumps up and down at a maddening beat.
We are in the waiting room, and I'm unable to sit still.
The room is alive with women in varying stages of pregnancy, and Enzo studies each one like he's taking notes.
My hand is in his, and I don't think he's going to let go.
I don't want him to let go.
But finally, my name is called, and my heart does this weird thing at the name Lola Marino instead of Lola Carino or Lola Mancini.
I huff a breath of air.
Enzo is once more making decisions that he doesn't need to make. A silent bulldozer over my life.
"Sorry. Lyndall confirmed the booking. I..." He meets my eyes. "I honestly didn't know which you'd like. I booked it originally under my name and had you on my insurance."
I nod. But there's really no time to think about it as we have to follow the nurse in.
The room is pleasant, though I really can't think about anything as the doctor does the examination.
Enzo refuses to acknowledge the offer of stepping out for a coffee or a breath of air from the nurse, but he sits in the corner, reading a brochure, not looking.
And it makes it hard to think of anything but the man with me in the impeccable suit, handsome, virile, someone I might love and also might need to run from.
Which I don't want to do.
This isn't about me, it's about my baby.
I step down and take a seat as those same things run in circles in my head. I'm planning for everything. Staying, going, Enzo losing interest. And?—
"Lola?" He draws me from my thoughts. "Doctor Warren spoke."
She smiles at us. At me. "As I was saying, it's a little overwhelming with unexpected surprises and your first pregnancy, but you're around nine weeks along, and if you like, you can listen to the heartbeat and see your baby on the ultrasound."
Enzo sits up, and I melt at that.
I want to say it'll just be a thing, but he's so eager, it is infectious.
So, I nod. "We'd love that."
When the gel is applied, and she probes a bit, a fluttering sound fills the room.
