Page 47 of Daddy's Reckoning

“Don’t shake your head at me, babygirl. We’ve been over this. Your life has been full of people you couldn’t count on, but that’s not me.”

So much for him not seeing it. “Theo…” I sighed.

He leaned close enough to whisper in my ear. “That’s Daddy to you. This isn’t up for discussion. This is me telling you how it’s gonna be. You already consented to me being your Daddy, little one. Now you’re going to learn what that’s gonna mean.”

He pulled away, just in time to see my breathless gulp, and winked at me.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to come up with anything to say because the curtain was pulled back as the doctor entered our area. “So you’re about eighteen weeks pregnant, and you’re having fainting spells?”

He was carrying a clipboard, flipping pages back and forth, his expressive face telling me everything while he said nothing at all.

My stomach dropped and I cast my gaze on Theo, looking for reassurance. He quickly gave it in the form of a hopeful smile and a hand squeeze, but I could see it in his face. He was worried, too.

“Your last bloodwork came back pretty normal. Who’s your OBGYN?”

“Doctor Frazier. But I’ve only seen her once so far.”

Theo’s head jerked, and I could tell he was about to lose his mind, so I was thankful when the doctor just nodded and said, “Perfectly normal in most cases for someone barely into the second trimester. When’s your next appointment?”

“A week from tomorrow,” I answered without thinking. I knew without looking because she said I might get to schedule my ultrasound, and we might be able to find out the baby’s gender.

I glanced at Theo and could see him mentally filing away the information.

“Well, your blood pressure is a little higher than I’d like, but everything else seems normal. What do you say we do a quick sonogram, just to catch a glimpse of baby, and make sure everything’s okay on that front. Have you felt baby kick yet?”

Again, I could feel Theo’s gaze on me, and I shook my head. The truth was, I thought I’d felt something just the other day, but I wasn’t sure. I figured it might have just been indigestion.

“That’s okay,” the doctor assured us. “Perfectly normal. It can take a little longer to recognize the movement when it’s your first baby. So, are you good with a quick ultrasound?”

As soon as I nodded, the doctor disappeared behind the curtain again, and returned moments later with a portable sonogram machine. “All right, let’s see this little one, shall we? First, I’m just going to lay you back a bit, give baby some room to stretch.” He moved to the head of the bed, pushed a button on the side panel, and the head of the bed lowered until I was almost completely flat. Then he moved to my belly. “I’m gonna pull up your shirt now, if that’s okay.”

I nodded, excitement bubbling. I’d had one ultrasound before in the earliest days of my pregnancy, when the baby was barely visible on the screen.

“This is going to be a little cold,” he warned, seconds before he covered the center of my stomach in a cold, sticky goop.

But I didn’t care about that as he turned the screen on and pressed the doppler against my skin.

“Well, look at that. Baby is moving just fine.” The doctor grinned and pulled up a stool between me and the screen. “Do you feel that?”

I shook my head and stared at the screen, transfixed. I held my breath as if that would help, and concentrated hard. My stomach felt like it was turning. Could that be the baby? “Maybe?” I squeaked.

The doctor smiled. “Give it a week or so. There won’t be any question. Now, let’s just do a quick measurement check.” He clicked away, zooming in and out. I stared at the alien-looking image on the screen, moving away inside me.

“That’s our baby.” Theo’s voice was low and full of awe. He leaned down to kiss my forehead, and I saw it in his eyes. If I thought he was impossible before, he was going to be even worse now.

“It’s probably too early to tell the gender, but…” The doctor stopped short.

I almost had a heart attack. “What? What’s wrong?” I cried, my panic evident.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong.” He looked up between the two of us. “Do you want to know what you’re having?”

Theo’s eyes met mine in question, and I nodded eagerly.

“Well, it’s too early to say with certainty, but if I was a betting man…” The doctor moved the doppler around, studied the screen for a few moments more and looked up with a smile. “I’d put my money on a little boy.”

“Whoop!” Theo dropped my hand and jumped up, pumping his fist. The unadulterated joy on his face was something I’d never seen from him.

It was enough to make my smidgen of disappointment over not having a daughter fade away in an instant. “A son,” I whispered.