“Are you sure you don’t just want to be surprised?” I opened Marcus’s door and helped him out. He had only just developed a small pooch, but on Marcus's thin frame, it was clear it wasn't just the extra tacos he'd been craving.

“Are you kidding me? I want to know everything possible about our baby as soon as possible. It’s killing me that the doctor knows what gender the baby is and I don’t. And just so you know, Mama thinks you’re as crazy as I do. What’s the point of running the extra tests if we're not going to know? You're killing me, talls."

I laughed as I opened the door to the doctor's office. "I thought it was to screen for genetic abnormalities."

Marcus rolled his eyes. "Okay, there is that. But there's also our baby's gender..."

I took a seat while Marcus signed in, and then held my omega's hand once he sat down next to me. I really did like the idea of waiting to find out, but... "As much as I would like to be surprised, if you would like, I'm okay with asking the doctor the baby's gender today."

Marcus squealed and gave me a resounding kiss. "Finally!"

"Would you have gone the whole pregnancy just arguing with me?"

Marcus pretended to ponder. "No. I would have had to pull out drastic measures."

I lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "Like what?"

Marcus leaned back to watch my reaction. "I thought about waiting until you were on the edge of orgasming and then withholding until you agreed."

I blushed and looked around. There was no one in the waiting room except for us, but the receptionist's window was open.

"But since you've agreed..." Marcus leaned forward to whisper in my ear. "Once we get home, I'm going to ride your cock like a cowboy."

I couldn't help but flushing—this time in arousal. I tried to discretely adjust myself in my pants and Marcus looked smug.

"Marcus Fredericks?"

The nice thing about working nights was I was able to go to every visit with Marcus, and he had quite a few of them. Because of his previous issues, his doctor had scheduled him for bi-weekly visits instead of monthly visits to start. We were both completely okay with that, as each visit meant we got a little peak at our baby. The doctor had an ultrasound in each checkup room, which my mother had informed us was not the norm. I was still uncomfortable with using Marcus's money, but when it came to him and the baby, I didn't hesitate to give my stamp of approval on anything he wanted. 

Mama and I had spent plenty of time analyzing my issue with the money—though sometimes I wanted to just turn the finger back around at her, because she had the same damn issues, but he was my mate, not hers—and yeah, a majority of it was totally my expectation of myself to provide for my family. I still hadn't wrapped my head about what that looked like when you removed the financial burden completely. I wasn't one of those alphas who tried to find some naive omega with piles of cash and live off them. No sugar daddy for me. But some people had already looked at me that way. Marcus didn't flaunt his money, but it was hard to not notice it. Now that he wasn't hiding behind his masks, it was kind of obvious in the way he interacted with people.

A nurse came in and took Marcus's weight and blood pressure, and then we waited about ten minutes before the doctor came in. "Good morning, Mr. Fredericks. Mr. Daye. First things first, shall we? Let's take a look at the baby."

Marcus leaned back and lifted his shirt and the doctor unbuttoned his pants and pushed them low to spread the goop on Marcus's skin. He pressed the wand against Marcus's stomach, and after a moment of moving it around, there was our baby. Damn, it was crazy to see the changes each visit. 

"So, at sixteen weeks, you are firmly in your second trimester. Feel any energy returning?"

"I still feel like I need a nap every day, but better."

The doctor nodded, adjusting the wand a few more times to view the baby from a slightly different angle before removing the wand and turning the machine off. I hated that moment, when our child disappeared from our sight.

"Well, we have one more visit before your twenty-week measurement scan. We use the 4-D machine for that, and I have a technician come in to do those. Make sure you schedule that on your way out. In the meantime, everything looks great and the baby is normal. Do you have any questions before you head out?"

Marcus and I shared a look as he finished wiping the goop off his stomach and buttoned up his pants. "I've finally convinced Killian to find out what the gender is."

The doctor smiled. "It's hard, not knowing, isn't it? Did you want me to write it down and put it in an envelope so you can have a party or something?"

Marcus shook his head frenetically. "Nope. I'm ready to know right now."

The doctor filled the papers on his clipboard. "I'm fairly certain I remember, but let me just verify. Don't want to get it wrong one way or the other. Okay, you read?"

I took Marcus's hand.

"You're having a boy! Congratulations."

Even though I had been the one fighting to wait, hearing we were going to have a boy was like finding out I was going to be a dad all over again. Unexpected tears pricked at the corner of my eyes and Marcus's arms were around me as he jumped up and down like a kid.

We finished making Marcus's next appointments, and as we walked out of the office, Marcus asked, "Do you want to do anything to celebrate? Do you want to call Mama or Coop?"

I pulled him into my arms outside of our car. "I think someone made promises of a sexual nature."

Marcus batted his eyes innocently. "Ooh, did someone? That seems naughty."

"Very," I agreed. "And since Mama is helping Coop move into your old place, now that the renovations are finished there... we kind of have an empty house with no expectations of visitors..."

Marcus swayed dramatically in my arms, his hand held up in a stop motion. "Say no more. Take me away, my knight in shining armor! Or am I the knight, and you're the horse? I did promise I would ride you."

"Get in the damn car," I growled. "Before I put your mouth to better use."

Marcus grinned cheekily and we both rushed to our seats, eager to get home.