Page 96 of Accidentally in Love

I looked over at Nolan and noticed he was doing the whole stiff upper lip thing, but his eyes were shiny. My heart wanted to burst out of my chest at the way he felt for our baby. Peanut made this big, stoic man come out of his shell.

A whooshing sound came over the machine.

“That’s the baby’s heartbeat,” the tech said. “Do you want to know the sex?”

“Yes!” Nolan and I said in unison.

She laughed and moved the wand on my stomach for a bit. “It’s a girl.”

“Oh,” I sighed. “A girl.”

“We’re having a baby girl,” Nolan whispered, almost under his breath.

I squeezed his hand. “Nolan.”

He smiled at me, and this time I knew he was crying. Oh wow, I didn’t think I would ever see that from him.

The ultrasound tech smiled at me. She wiped the gel off my stomach and put the machine away. “Congrats, you two.”

When she left, Nolan stood up and bent down to kiss my stomach. “Hi, Peanut. I can’t believe we get to meet you soon. I love you so much.”

“We can name her after your mom.”

He pressed another kiss to my belly. “After both our moms. I’m so glad we’re doing this, that we’re gonna be a family.”

I stroked his hair. “I love you, and I’m glad it took an accidental pregnancy for us to figure it out, but get up because I need to get back to work.”

He smiled up at me but did as I asked. He helped me off the examination table, and we walked out of the doctor’s office, hands clasped and giddy grins across our faces. Nolan drove me back to the high school. I had scheduled the appointment over my prep and lunch period, so I didn’t have to take time.

“Stop worrying,” I said to him when he parked outside the school.

He ran a hand through his beard. “Sorry.”

“Hey, we’re in this together, okay?”

He nodded. “I was just thinking about what color to paint the nursery.”

“Not pink. I told you, I want something gender-neutral.”

He pulled a handful of paint swatches out of the pocket of his flannel shirt. “Pick one!”

I laughed. “You aren’t serious, right?”

He shrugged. “I want to get started on it, so we’re not fretting before Peanut gets here.”

I rubbed my belly. “Norah,” I whispered.

“She’s always gonna be Peanut to me.”

My heart sang at that. He would be an awesome dad, and I loved him because of it. I peered at the paint swatches. “Go with a pale yellow or green.”

He smiled and kissed me hard. “I love you.”

“I love you too, but I need to get back to school.”

“I’ll see you later tonight?”

I shook my head. “I’m having dinner with Gemma. I’m kinda worried about her. She’s being needy right now.”