Page 27 of Lost King

"How do you know Quinn and I are together? The last time we talked I admitted I liked him, but we weren't an item."

Christy waves her hand at me, "Oh, girl, please. Quinn has made sure the whole town of Polson knows you belong to him. I mean this is Quinn we are talking about."

Thinking about it for a second, I roll my eyes and agree. "True." Looking at the clock on the wall, I realize I only have forty-five minutes left of my break. "Well, I'm going to get going. I'm starving. I'll be sure to relay your message to Quinn. After Christy and I say our goodbyes and I step out of the room, my phone rings. "Hello," I answer.

"May I speak to Emerson Evans?" the voice on the other end asks.

"This is she."

"Ms. Evans, this is Beth with Dr. Spears office. We are calling to remind you of your appointment today. We were expecting you thirty minutes ago. Dr. Spears had a couple of cancellations and said she could see you now if you can make it."

Shit! I forgot about my appointment with my OBGYN today.

"Yes, I can make it. I'm on my way up now. Thanks for calling me." I head down the hall and make my way to the elevator and up to the third floor. Thank God Dr. Spears is a friend. I worked alongside her when I first transferred to Polson.

"Good afternoon, Emerson," Dr. Spears greets me as she walks into the exam room. I'm only here for my birth control shot, so hopefully, I can get this taken care of and still have time to grab a snack from the vending machine. "How's it going, Dr. Spears? I'm sorry about missing my scheduled appointment time."

"It's okay. That's the life of a doctor. We're too busy taking care of others that we often forget to take care of ourselves. I see here you missed your last injection," she says looking down at the tablet in her hands. "So, before I can administer another we'll need to do a pregnancy test. Just as a precaution."

Confused, I hold up my hand cutting her off, "What do you mean I missed my last injection? I came to that appointment." Didn't I?

Dr. Spears furrows her brows, and looks back down at her notes then back at me. "No. I'm positive you missed that appointment. You called the next day and rescheduled to today," she reminds me.

Sitting on the exam table stunned, I think back to a few months ago. Fuck, she's right. I wasn't having sex at the time and didn't see it as a big deal missing my next shot. Suddenly I feel nauseous, and I clap my hand over my mouth. How many times have Quinn and I had sex in the past six weeks? Too many to count that's for sure.

"Emerson, are you okay?" Dr. Spears asks placing her hand on my shoulder. "I'm going to guess by your reaction to what I just said a pregnancy test is definitely in order?"

Closing my eyes and unable to speak I nod my head in confirmation. Ten minutes after taking the test the doctor returns to the room, and the look on her face confirms what I already knew. "I'm pregnant," I state before she has a chance to open her mouth.

"Yes, Emerson you are in fact pregnant. I'd like to do an internal ultrasound to see how far along you are. Are you okay with doing that now?"

"Yes."

At my agreement, Dr. Spears walks over to the ultrasound machine and places it next to the exam table. She steps out of the room allowing me to prep myself. With shaky hands, I remove my scrub bottoms and panties then climb back on the exam table and use a paper cloth to cover myself. A minute later, she returns and flips off the lights before sitting down on a stool next to the machine. "You ready?"

"Yes," I say not able to hide the shakiness of my voice. Once the ultrasound wand is in place, Dr. Spears clicks away at the keyboard, and suddenly the room fills with the whoosh, whoosh sound of a heartbeat—my baby's heartbeat. The moment feels so surreal. I've never given much thought to being a mother. My priorities have always been on my career. But in this very instant with mine and Quinn's baby's heartbeat filling the room, my priorities shift.

"Here he or she is," Dr. Spears says pointing at the screen to an image the size of a pea. "You look to be about six weeks." That confirmation tells me this baby was most likely conceived the first time Quinn and I had sex. Of course, he would accomplish impregnating me on his first go. Knowing Quinn, he's probably going to brag about it too.

My body runs on autopilot for the rest of my shift. After finishing up with Dr. Spears and her giving me a prescription for prenatal vitamins and scheduling me for follow-up appointment in four weeks, I grabbed myself a juice and chips from the vending machine since I missed my lunch. Now I'm sitting in my Jeep in the hospital parking lot staring down at the ultrasound picture in my hand. I can't help but question am I ready for this? Can I be someone's mom? At least I don't have to worry about Quinn's reaction. He has made his feelings about us having children clear. Even before we were together, he made comments about us having kids, or as he once said a litter.

One thing I know for sure about that man, is that he jokes a lot about the subject, but he means every word he says. I know he'll be crazy happy about this news. Shoving all my fears about motherhood into the back of my mind I place the ultrasound pictures in my bag, start my Jeep and head home.

When I pull up to my apartment, I see Grey on his bike parked a few spots over. Quinn texted me earlier saying he had club business and that Grey would see me home. Walking into my apartment, I head straight for my bedroom. I strip off my clothes that smell like the hospital, and toss them in the hamper. All I want right now is a hot bath. I need time to relax and absorb the life-changing news I received. I even called my supervisor Dr. Brewer and told her I needed to take the next couple of days off work due to a family emergency. I've never taken so much as a sick day off of work, so she was understanding and said my taking two days wouldn't be a problem. But in all fairness, I'd say this situation constitutes as a family emergency.

Sinking down into the tub, I close my eyes and let out a deep sigh and think of all the changes about to take over my life and body. At the last thought, I run my hands over my still flat tummy. I can't believe there is a life growing inside of me right now. I may be uncertain of a lot of things in this moment, but there is one thing I'm sure of, and that is I love Quinn, and he loves me. As long as I have the comfort of him and his love I'll make it through anything thrown my way.

"What the hell are you doing?" is shouted and I startle awake with water splashing all around me. I'm about to scream when through my water filled eyes, coughing, and sputtering I see Quinn in front of me lifting me out of the tub where I must have fallen asleep. Wrapping a towel around my body, he carries me over to my bed and sits me down. Taking a knee in front of me, he begins drying me off. "Don't ever do that shit again, Emerson. Who knows what could have happened had I not come in here and found you. You could have drowned," he grits through clenched teeth.

"I'm fine, Quinn. It's not the first time I've fallen asleep in the tub," I say trying to tease only for him to level me with a hard look. The look on his face says he is mad, but his eyes show I truly scared him. "You're right. It's dangerous. I'll be more careful from now on," I say cupping his cheek. Nodding his head, Quinn goes about drying me off. He then walks over to the dresser and pulls out one of his t-shirts. They are my favorite thing to sleep in. "I thought we were going to the clubhouse for dinner tonight."

"No. We're going to stay in tonight. Pizza will be here soon," he informs as he slips his shirt on over my head.

"Is everything alright?"

Hearing the worry in my voice, Quinn kisses me gently on the lips. "Everything is fine. Just figured we needed to talk, Sunshine." Taking my hand in his, he leads me out to the living room and guides me to sit on the sofa. Before Quinn has a chance to sit, the doorbell chimes. "That's probably the pizza." After paying the delivery guy, Quinn sets the food on the table in front of the sofa. The smell causes my mouth to water and my stomach to grumble. "Since you missed your lunch today, I want you to eat first then we'll talk," he orders.

"How did you know I missed lunch?"