Chapter 24
Jakob
"You really don't have to do this," she says as I hold the door to the clinic open for her.
"Shut up, Lily," I growl with a firm slap to her stubborn, curvy ass, coaxing her inside.
"Ouch!" she yelps in surprise, rubbing the sore spot as she steps into the building. I grin to myself.
This is me being a friend.
Friends are allowed to slap each other's asses, right?
I sure do hope so because I want to do it again. I love how that ass feels under my palm. And hell, if big, hulky NFL giants can get away with a friendly swat on the butt every now and then, why can't I?
The truth is, I'm falling in real deep with this girl and I'm trying my best to look the other way. My attraction to her is out of control. I fall asleep with her on my mind every single night. I jerk off to the thought of her every single morning. The other day when I drove into town, I bought condoms. Yes, condoms. As if I'm gonna fuck the pregnant lady who takes care of my grandmother.
I'm ridiculous. She's turning me into a mad man.
But at least I know I'm alive again. The parts of me that have been dead for so many years — they're alive again. My breath hitches when she smiles, my head spins when she touches me and my cock jerks excitedly each time she walks into the room. I'm alive.
Her outburst draws the attention of the olive-skinned older woman sitting at the desk. A smile spreads across the receptionist's face. "Good morning, folks!”
"Good morning," Lily says, still giggling. "I have an appointment for an ultrasound. I'm fifteen and a half weeks along." She rubs her belly.
"What's your name, love?" the woman asks, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her thin nose.
"Lily Monroe.”
The woman taps away at her computer before lifting her eyes. "Perfect, I have you down. Our ultrasound technician will see you in just a few minutes. Have a seat.”
We drop into two plastic chairs in the nearly-empty waiting room. Lily picks up a fashion magazine and starts babbling on about this designer and that trend. I just listen with a grin on my face. I love listening to her. The girl could talk for days, non-stop.
Before long, a dark-skinned woman with a curly afro and a wide smile comes out to greet us. "Hello there. I'm Kim, your ultrasound technician today," she says, extending a hand to Lily.
I watch as they shake. "I'm Lily. Nice to meet you.”
Kim's attention moves to me. "You must be her partner?"
Lily and I turn to each other. Her cheeks pink up and I can tell that she's embarrassed by her current relationship status. She opens her mouth to correct the technician but I speak up quickly. "Yeah, I'm Jakob. I'm her partner," I say as I rise to my feet and take Kim's outstretched hand.
I'm her partner. Gosh, it feels good to say that. Even though it's a load of crap.
Kim's eyes dart from me to Lily and back. "God, you're a good-looking couple," she mutters. "Your baby's gonna be a stunner."
"Thank you," Lily says, giving me a coy glance.
"Come with me," Kim tells us, "let's go get a look at your future supermodel baby."
Lily giggles as we follow the woman down a brightly-lit hallway to a tiny room full of medical gadgets. She gives Lily a paper gown to drape over her dress and she leaves the room for a few minutes. When she returns, she instructs Lily to sit in a vinyl-covered reclining chair then she squeezes jelly onto her stomach. Kim presses the flat head of the ultrasound wand to Lily's belly and a blurry image appears on the monitor.
"Oh my god," Lily mutters, staring at the screen, "That's my baby..." She reaches for my hand.
"That's your baby!" Kim's excitement is so real you'd think it was her first time seeing an ultrasound, too.
I squint at the image not too sure what I'm looking at in the sea of black, white and gray. Kim points out the limbs and some of the internal organs and I just nod along, with Lily's fingers tight around mine.
The technician punches a few buttons on her keypad. "It's too early to determine the baby's sex at this point, but I'll tell you, this munchkin has a hell of a heartbeat."
Lily glances over at me and smiles so big that my heart feels like it might burst.
Kim continues. "And, as an added bonus, I can confirm that your little one has a head!”
Lily throws her head back and laughs deep in her throat.
"Good to know," I say, unable to keep from smiling.
"The baby also has ten fingers and ten toes attached to very long limbs." Kim chuckles. Lily leans forward, getting closer to the screen. "The internal organs I can see appear normal but we’ll get a better look at your next scan. Everything is looking good, folks. Everything is looking good.”
I reach over to where Lily's hand is lying beside her on the chair and wrap my fingers around hers. She gives me a squeeze and a smile for the ages.
Kim sets down the wand and moves over to the machine. “So, before you get to see the doctor, a nurse is gonna come in and draw some blood. Are you okay with that?”
Brave as ever, Lily nods.
“Perfect,” Kim says, her finger hovering over the power button. “Oh! I almost forgot to ask — would you like a print-out of the sonogram?”
Lily shoots a semi-threatening look her way. "Don't tease me, lady. Of course I want a print-out!"