Page 57 of The Body Checker
“What?”
Jonah laughs. “You were a million miles away. What were you thinking about?”
“Daisy,” I say quickly, honestly.
Tina puts her hand on my arm. “I’ll leave you two newlyweds alone now. Shoot me a text and let me know how Daisy makes out with the doctor.” She gives me a hug and heads to her car.
Jonah smiles at me and Daisy stretches her arms out. I take her from him, and she blows wet bubbles on my face. We both laugh, but then the smile falls from Jonah’s face. He puts his hand on my hip, looks me over, takes in the white dress I bought off the rack at a local dress shop.
“You look beautiful,” he says.
“This old thing?” I tease, but truthfully I agonized over the right dress to wear, wanting to look nice for Jonah. Here I never thought I’d get married, let alone wear a wedding dress and step into a ready-made family.
“Thank you, Quinn. For everything.”
“Anything for Daisy,” I say.
Anything for you.
But I keep that to myself.
He nods, and his hand drops from my side. “I guess we should get home and get changed before her appointment.”
I follow him to his car and slide into the front seat as he buckles Daisy in. She’s happy and grabbing at her toys, and that warms my heart. Jonah settles himself into the driver’s seat and pulls into traffic. I still find it amusing how slow he drives with Daisy in the car. We get home and I go upstairs to change out of my ‘wedding dress’ as he prepares her bottle. I pull on a light sundress, and take the baby from Jonah to give him time to change. He comes down looking like sin in a pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt that showcases his beautiful muscles.
“I’ll get the bag ready,” he says, and I follow him as I burb the baby.
“Why are you putting so much into her diaper bag?”
“I like to be prepared?”
“For what, a zombie apocalypse?”
He laughs. “Who knows how long it will take at the doctor’s office?”
I roll my eyes at him. “I’m guessing we won’t be there overnight, Jonah.” Daisy gives me a big burp, and I take her upstairs to put her in something more comfortable than the frilly dress I had a great time picking out for her.
Once we’re all ready, we head outside, and I scan the street, always expecting Shari to pounce and try to get her daughter back. Once we’re settled into the car, Jonah drives like he’s at a snail convention as we head downtown. Good thing we left a lot of time.
We pull into the parking lot, and he gets his little girl from the back. He’s so much more at ease holding her now. I reach into the backseat and grab her diaper bag, which weighs a ton. The elevator takes us to the tenth floor, and I read the list of names on panels to figure out where we’re headed.
Once inside the office, I register Daisy and Jonah sits. I lower myself into the chair next to him and smile at the pregnant woman trying to get a glimpse of Daisy.
“How old is she?” she asks.
“Close to five months,” Jonah says, even though we’re not quite sure about that.
“She looks like you,” the woman says, and when I glance up, it’s me she’s looking at, not Jonah.
“I’ve been told,” I say.
The receptionist calls us in, and I grab the bag and follow Jonah. We step into the examination room, and the doctor smiles—but it falls off as she checks her chart. “Is this appointment for Daisy?”
“I’m her father,” Jonah says. “I’ve been taking care of her.”
“Oh.” The doctor’s gaze goes from Jonah, to me, back to Jonah.
“This is Quinn, she’s been helping me out,” he explains.