Page 23 of Holiday Hitch
Robin had always been the missing link in their family, and having her around again made the house feel complete.
Knowing that they had a baby on the way made it feel even more special. William was already such an amazing grandfather to Derek, Leila, and Ava, and she couldn’t wait to see him that way with her own child.
“Good,” Zoey said, hoping that if her exhaustion showed, her father would just assume she’d been busy at work. It wouldn’t be far off from the truth, after all.
When they first started IVF, Zoey and Robin had agreed to keep the journey a secret from their family until they were certain an embryo had taken. And until they saw the positive test in Dr. Morales’ office, they hadn’t been sure it would work. Now that they had a positive test, they still hadn’t exactly decided onwhenthey would tell the Greenwoods, but Zoey was hoping it would be soon.
“Your girlfriend tells me you’re not getting enough sleep,” William chastised his daughter.
“I sleep just fine,” Zoey claimed, rolling her eyes. She looked at Robin and shook her head as they made eye contact from across the slope; Robin should’ve known better than to tell her father anything about her work schedule.
William scoffed, always able to read her bluffs..
But he gave his daughter a squeeze on her shoulder and said, “Just remember, you only get one life, and you don’t want to waste it working away when you’ve got something beautiful right in front of you.” He looked into her eyes, “Trust me on that.”
Zoey opened her mouth to fight him on it when her phone began to ring in her pocket.
“See?” He argued with a wink.
She looked at her screen, which displayed Dani Crawford’s name. She hated to prove his point, but she knew she had to take it. “You win this round, but we’ll talk more later.”
He wiggled his eyebrows, “Sure we will.”
Robin tilted her head as she watched Zoey bring the phone to her ear step away from the group. It must be a call from Dani about the wedding.
“Will she ever stop?” Dorothy asked Robin as they both watched her work.
Robin shook her head, “I’ve tried to slow her down, but you know how she is.”
Dorothy nodded, carefully watching her daughter between rounds of applause for her grandkids’ triumphant returns to the top of the slope.
After a moment Zoey hung up the phone and rubbed her face, then set her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. Robin felt her jaw clench.Something was wrong.
As she thought it, Zoey bent over face twisted with pain. Robin’s brow furrowed as concern washed over her. “I’ll be right back,” she said without looking at Dorothy, instead booking it across the slope to Zoey’s side.
“Fuck,” Zoey groaned under her breath.
Robin placed her hand on Zoey’s back, the heat of her body shocking Robin, “Baby, what’s wrong?”
Zoey tried to speak but could only manage, “Dani… the heaters… they’re wrong.” She was heaving for breath.
“Honey, do we need to take you to a doctor?” Robin asked, trying not to alert the family.
“I think it’s just a panic attack,” Zoey mumbled.
Robin shook her head, “No, we’re going to the emergency room.”
Zoey shook her head but couldn’t muster the energy to fight her partner. Before Robin could say more, Dorothy and William trotted over, unsure what was going on.
“Zo isn’t feeling good,” Robin explained, “We’re gonna go get her looked at.”
Nodding, Dorothy said, “We’re coming too.” But Robin could see Zoey shaking her head. This wasn’t how they were going to find out about the pregnancy or whatever complication was arising.
Robin scrambled for a reason they should stay, “We don’t want to upset the kids. You guys stay. I’ll keep you updated. Okay?”
William wanted to fight it, but the look in Robin’s eyes told him it was better this way.
“Seriously, it’s probably nothing,” Zoey managed, trying to smile through the pain.