“SOOO, HOW DID IT GO?” Keegan asked.

“Oh, you mean my lunch that was ruined by that asshole brother-in-law of yours?”

There was a pause on the end of the phone.

“Uh, I guess that’s the one. Wait, Dodger showed up?”

“Yep, he sure did. Strutted his ass right into the middle of me about to tell my parents the big news.”

“You’re kidding.” She deadpanned.

I threw on my coat and walked downstairs. “Does it sound like I’m kidding?”

“What on earth. How did he even know you were there?”

“He claimed he was walking past and saw me. You know what? The fucker probably followed me there.”

Keegan giggled. “He probably did.”

I shook my head and checked to make sure my wallet was in my purse. Grabbing my keys, I headed out the door. Today was the day of my doctor’s appointment. Last night was crazy long due to work, but I kept getting texts from Dodger all evening telling me that we were going to talk, and there was no way in hell I was buying a house by myself. Ha! He’s hysterical thinking he was going to tell me what I could and couldn’t do.

“He’s absolutely psychotic, Keegan. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bastard put a tracking device on my car. I’ve heard of baby brain, or mental breakdowns. But, my god, I think he’s gone off the deep end. I told him I’d be there when we told his parents, not when I told mine.”

“I’m sure he meant well.”

I was stomping my feet as I walked to my car. “Are you seriously standing up for him?”

She tried to soothe me. “Macie, I’m not picking sides at all, nor am I standing up for him. But I think you need to remember that he just found out. It was probably a huge shock to him, not including the fact that he’s a Brooks.”

I turned the key in the ignition. “What does that have to do with anything.”

She laughed. “Everything!”

“I’m not following.”

“Macie, think about it. You’re carrying some serious alpha male DNA. Not to sound cliché, but Dodger is a strong male. He thinks like a strong male, and he acts like one as well. The very idea that the woman he’s been in love with is now carrying his baby, he’s not going to take very well that you are pushing him away.”

Everything she was saying made perfect sense.

“Okay. But why do I have to bend on everything? I needed to tell my parents in my own way, in my own time. He knew exactly what he was doing when he interrupted. My god, you should have seen my dad’s face when he found out that Dodger was the father.”

I heard some rustling around on the other end and a bark. Camden and Keegan’s dog was a mouthy Husky that was about as demanding of her attention as Camden was.

“Yikes. Did he threaten to castrate him?”

I grinned. “Shockingly, no. Even though my dad has never come outright and said it, he’s always liked Dodger. Frankly, my parents probably discussed that who the father was could have been a lot worse. They aren’t oblivious to my reputation.”

“Oh hell,” she said sarcastically.

“Anyway, I’m almost to the doctor’s office. I’ll text you.”

“Sounds good, honey. And do me a favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Try to give a little. Dodger needs some wiggle room. He’s new to this all just like you are.”

I sighed, Keegan was right. “Okay.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

I switched my Bluetooth off and drove the rest of the way in silence. When I pulled into the parking lot, I recognized the familiar Charger in one of the spots. Of course Dodger was already here. Wonder how early he got here. The spot next to him was empty, and I pulled into it. I looked in my rearview mirror at myself, taking a deep breath. Time to learn a few things about this little peanut growing inside of me. And please, Lord, let Dodger behave.

Before I could even touch the handle on my door, it was already swinging open. A very domineering Dodger stood there waiting for me to get out.

“Hi,” he said meekly.

Geez, he almost sounded nervous to see me.

“Hi,” I said back as I stood up.

Shutting the door behind me, he lifted his arm to place his hand on my back, but thought better of it and let it drop to his side.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Uh, you seem nervous.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Liar. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He was too stiff. Still incredibly delectable, but that was a given. He was wearing a pair of worn jeans, and a black Henley that hugged his skin nicely. His blue eyes stuck out in stark contrast to the colors he had on. Don’t even get me started on his scent. Dodger’s very presence screamed sex appeal. God, I’d have to get control of these pregnancy hormones.

We made our way inside of the building. It was several stories. I told him we had to take the elevator to the second floor and directed him down a couple hallways. I wasn’t unfamiliar with where Doctor Carrie worked. I’d been here a few times to deliver lab results because he’d rushed them. The waiting room was a calm environment. There were two rows of chairs, along with one black leather couch up against the wall that faced the front desk. The wall beside it had a counter with a Keurig and K-cups galore to choose from with all the fixings. There was even a mini fridge under the counter that held small bottles of water. Dr. Carrie really wanted his patients to be as comfortable as they could be.

After being greeted by girl behind the desk, she handed me some paperwork to fill out and photocopied my ID and insurance card. It didn’t take long to get it done before I was being called back. The nurse handed me a cup to go pee in, and instructed me what to do with it when I was done. She weighed me after that. I’d lost several pounds from being sick. Dodger didn’t seem pleased by the number. Jack ass, it wasn’t like I had gained. Just wait, I’d be as big as a house. We were led to a room and the nurse did a few standard things.

“Blood pressure is perfect, and temperature is ninety-eight point seven.” She wrote the information down on a new sheet to start my record. After that she stood and took out two paper cloths from a drawer. “Put this one on, open in the front. And this one draped over your legs. Dr. Carrie will be doing a pap smear, lab work, and gathering all of your family history.”

After she left, I looked over at Dodger. He sat with his back straight. He looked so ridged.

“Relax. It’s not like they are going to be probing around in your vagina.”

He pierced me with a sharp stare. “Not funny.”

I cracked a smile. “Awe, come on. It’s a little funny.”

He shook his head. I fidgeted with my paper gown. I hated these things. At least they told me which side to have open this time. Last time I had to wear one of these the doctor wanted it open in the back. When they came in, there were my boobs in all their glory. Talk about embarrassing.

“Could you please close your eyes, or turn around or something?”

He furrowed his brows. “I’ve seen you naked, Macie.”

“Okay, and that was when we were dating or about to fuck each other. Please, entertain me and close your eyes.”

The blue of his eyes disappeared behind his closed lids. He wasn’t happy that I was shutting myself away from him, but undressing in a situation like this was nothing like stripping down and getting hot and bothered. Call me crazy, but paper gowns and needles just didn’t get me off.

“Okay, you’re safe.” I was sitting on the exam table, my legs dangling.

He looked at me, completely perplexed. He seemed like he was about to say something to me, but there was a knock on the door and Dr. Carrie came walking in. I sat taller and brought the front of the gown together.

“Good afternoon, Macie.” He beamed at me.

“Hello.”

He looked at Dodger and went to him holding his hand out. “Hi, I’m Dr. Carrie. I believe I’ll be the one treating Macie for the next six months. You are?”

“Dodger,” he replied, shaking his hand.

“Ah, the baby daddy.” He joked.

I could tell he was trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere in the room.

“That’s me.”

I laughed even if I didn’t find it funny. I felt nervous despite knowing everything that was going to go on today.

“So,” he said, flipping through a couple of papers. “What I’d like to do is get some general information from the both of you. Family history, information when your last period was, stuff like that. Then I’ll have the nurse come back in to take a few tubes of blood. After that I’ll wrap this all up with a quick exam and you both can be on your way.” He smiled.

“Sounds good.”

The doctor asked all of the usual questions like history of cancers, if we smoked or drank. He wanted to know if I had any sort of birth plan, which was something I hadn’t even given thought to. For heaven’s sake, I just decided not too long ago to keep the baby. The thought of pushing it out didn’t even register with me at the moment. The longer we sat here going over everything, I slowly began to relax. Dodger on the other hand looked like he had a two by four shoved up his ass, he was so rigid.

“So, do either of you have any questions for me?”

“Uh, I do.” Dodger raised his hand like he was in middle school.

I busted out laughing. “What are you, twelve? Put your hand down.”

He glared at me.

“It’s okay,” Dr. Carrie said. “Ask away.”

“Is the baby okay?”

The doctor looked at him kindly. “I’m not sure yet, but I should know more after I run some lab work.”

Dodger looked at the both of us expectantly. What else was going through that male brain of his? God, you’d think he’s never been around pregnant people before, or how babies are born.

“Dodger, it’s not like the good doc here has a magical crystal ball that can tell him everything he needs to know. It’ll be a couple of days before he even gets the results back.”

Dr. Carrie nodded in agreement. “That’s correct, but Macie is far enough along we should be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat on this handy dandy little Doppler.” He reached over and opened a drawer, pulling out a small handheld tool.

My freaked out baby daddy swallowed hard. “You can hear their heart on that thing?”

“Mhmm. We can take a listen when I do all of the other stuff. Right now I was just knocking out all of the mundane paperwork.”

Dodger nodded. Guess that was good enough for him.

Doctor Carrie looked at both of us. “Okay, if there’s nothing else, Erin, my nurse is going to come back in and draw some blood. I’m stepping out to check on one of my patients that delivered this morning, but I’ll be back in to do the exam.”

When he got up and left, Dodger blew out a breath.

“Jesus, that was intense.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Intense?”

“Do you think maybe I should I have told him about that one time I tried pot in middle school? I mean I know it wasn’t the wisest decision I’ve made, but I swear it was one puff. That wouldn’t affect anything would it?”

Would he be offended if I laughed in his face? Probably. “No, I’m sure our child will still come out with ten fingers and ten toes.”

He jerked back. “Is it possible for a baby to be born with a different number?”

I lifted my hand and rubbed my eye. It was getting a twitch. “Actually, yes. My grandfather had an extra pinky toe on both feet.”

His eyes got huge. “Seriously?”

I couldn’t hold in my laugh. “No. God, would you relax? Everything they are doing is routine, okay? I promise its fine.”

Goosebumps broke out over my skin and I shivered. One thing I hated about doctors’ offices was just how damn cold they kept it. I looked down and saw my nipples hardened through the paper. Oh fuck. I crossed my arms.

“Too late, I already saw.”

Rolling my eyes, I said, “Of course you did.”

“For the record, you being pregnant isn’t a deterrent. If nothing else, it makes you even more desirable to me.”

“Not happening, Dodger.”

“We’ll see, Macie.”

Fucker. He was going to test my resolve. How long did I have before he started poking at my barriers? The nurse came in and drew my blood, and set up the room for Dr. Carrie to do an internal exam. When she left I readjusted my very breezy top, and tucked the paper blanket under my thighs. I had no reason to be modest now. Dodger and the doctor were about to get an eye full.

“What in the hell is this?” Dodger cringed and reached for the speculum.

He picked it up and gripped the handle. Fidgeting with the metal object, he seemed completely baffled.

“That,” I paused to be more dramatic. “Will be going inside of my vagina.”

His eyes got huge. He nearly dropped it back on the table.

“Just sit down before you break something. He’s already going to have to sanitize that.” I grumbled.

Dodger plopped down in the chair and starred at me.

“What?”

“It’s a lot to take in, is all.”

“Mhmm, it is.”

“Can I ask you something?”

He sounded so tentative. “Shoot.”

“Are you nervous?”

I watched him as he looked at his hands, before looking back up at me, expecting an answer. When those baby blues made contact with me I answer honestly.

“Petrified.”

Dodger nodded. I almost felt that in this very moment, we understood each other. We may be scared for very different reason, but there was definitely a mutual fear between us.

When Dr. Carrie finally came back in the room, I was more than ready to get this appointment over with. Let’s face it, having a metal instrument shoved up your who-ha wasn’t pleasant. Toss in the fact that your lady parts are on display for inspection, it was all an invasion of privacy. Who needed dignity at your friendly vagina doctor?

Laying back, I put my feet in stirrups. Doctor Carrie was on the other side of the paper sheet, putting on gloves.

“Okay you’re going to feel my hands. I apologize, they may be a little cold.”

I tried not to jump when I felt the coolness. Meantime I was doing my best to ignore Dodger, who was paying rapt attention to what was taking place. Nothing that was going on was out of the norm of a usual yearly exam for a woman, but it’s not like he knew that or had ever attended one. I should probably cut him some slack. As I laid there I wondered how all of this was going to work. I said I was going to look at houses, and I meant it. But did that mean Dodger would live with me so he could see his child? Would he stay the night here and there? I knew he wasn’t going to be happy if he was away from the baby or me. Every facet of his dominant personality was coming out knowing he was going to be a father. I honestly should have expected it.

Doctor Carrie did his exam and made small talk. After doing what he needed to down there, he grabbed the Doppler and placed it on my stomach. There was a loud whoosh whoosh sound in the room.

“That would be your heart beat it’s picking up.” He moved the wand around. Close to my pubic bone a softer whooshing sound came out of the speaker. “There we go.” He sat and listened for a few minutes.

I moved my attention over to Dodger. He was staring at my stomach in complete wonderment. It almost seemed . . . endearing. I couldn’t believe that was my baby’s heartbeat. I hear these sounds all day working in labor and delivery, but it’s completely different when it’s yours. There’s a certain sense of pride and emotional connection that’s suddenly there. Almost as if, that very first sound of it going through my ears, sync’d with my heart and we were one. Since finding out about this little nugget, I smiled for real for the first time. Tears pooled in my eyes and I was in awe. Dodger looked at me and winked. He knew no words were needed.

Dr. Carrie let us listen for a good minute before he ended the Doppler. He left briefly so I could get dressed. It stayed quiet in the room while I put my clothes back on. I think both of us were either unsure of what to say, or we were basking in that beautiful sound that was still echoing in our heads. A few minutes later, the doctor came back in to give us all the information that he’d gathered and some pamphlets.

“Okay, so based on your last cycle, I’m going to put your due date as April first next year.”

I made a noise and quickly covered my mouth.

“Are you okay?” Dodger asked.

The giggles bubbled up and I couldn’t help but let it all out. My eyes bounced back and forth between the two of them. “Oh come on, seriously? You don’t see the irony in that?” They both gave me a blank stare. “The due date is April first.” Nothing. “Guys, April Fool’s Day. Of all the days I’m freaking due on the most comical day of the year. Like ha ha, joke’s on you, Macie.”

The doctor smiled, but Dodger glared at me. “You’re right, I didn’t catch that one. Life’s not playing a joke, but it’s certainly something you could run with if you wanted.”

At least the man delivering my baby had a sense of humor.

“Here’s some info with some numbers, like breast feeding classes, or Lamaze, if that’s something that interests you. I’ll be seeing you once a month for now. When you get to the thirty-second week I’ll be bumping the visits up to every two weeks. And at thirty-six weeks I’ll ask to see you every week. There will be two scheduled ultrasounds, both checking the baby’s growth and development. Also checking to make sure there’s only one bundle in there.”

Dodger coughed really loud, and pounded on his chest. “Don’t joke about that, Doc. Some things aren’t funny.”

“Oh, I wasn’t joking about that. Multiples are always a possibility.”

Dodger’s face went ghostly white. If I found out I was carrying more than one in there, I’d likely have the same face.

“When will we find out if it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked.

“Not until around twenty weeks.”

Dodger nodded. The doctor shook Dodger’s hand and smiled at me. He congratulated us both and said he was excited to be with us on our journey. I’m sure he was also thrilled that I decided to keep the baby. I think he knew all along that abortion was never really going to be an option for me. After he left, I grabbed my bag and coat, and Dodger held the door open for me as we made our way outside.

“Want to grab a bite to eat?”

I was about to unlock my car and stopped to look at him. “Thank you, but I think I’m going to head home and take a nap.”

“Mace.” He deadpanned.

“Hmmm?”

“I’m not letting this go. We need to talk. And after all of that in there,”— he gestured at the building —“Seems there’s a lot more for us to go over than before.”

I couldn’t help the small smile that came to my lips. “Believe me, Dodger, I know you’re not.”

He let the pretense of being a hard ass go and he looked at me in wonderment. “Can’t believe there’s a little person in there.”

I shook my head. “Weird, right?”

“A little.”

It got quiet. And not in an awkward way, but more of we were watching each other, not sure what the next move should be. I know I needed to go get some much needed sleep, but leaving him now, when we’d just heard our baby’s heartbeat for the first time, didn’t seem to be the thing to do. Saying I needed a nap was a cop out.

“How about this. Why don’t you come with me on Monday when I go look at houses, and we can sit down for lunch or dinner and discuss what we need to. Sound good?”

I could tell he was wanting to push and say he wanted to do it sooner, but I was being cordial and non-confrontational about it.

“Okay.”

I made eye contact and gave a genuine smile. “Okay.”

Dodger took a step forward and raised his arms infinitesimally, then thought better of it and dropped them. I think he was going to hug me and truthfully, I think part of me wanted him too. I was feeling happy about where this was all going. Affection from him was something I was craving and I hadn’t realized it until now. Just when I figured that out and was going to make my own motion to go to him, he stepped backwards toward his car.

A boyish smirk crossed his face. “This is happening, Macie.”

I was confused. “What’s happening?”

“This. Us.”

“Dodger . . . you’re delusional.”

He barked a laugh. “Nah, I see it. You want me.”

“I’m sure Dr. Carrie has the number for the psych ward.”

He was around to the driver’s side of his vehicle and opening the door. “You’re cute when you’re lying to yourself.”

I sighed. “Yeah, and telling yourself stories isn’t going to make me take my clothes off and climb on top of you.”

He stopped. “Who said anything about that?”

“You did?” I said as a question.

“No, ma’am. That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

I dramatically yawned and opened my own car door. “Then what are you saying, Dodger?”

He placed both of his forearms on the roof of his car and stared me down. I had no choice but to look at him. He sucked me in like a damn wave being pulled back into deeper waters.

“I’m saying forever, Mace. You, me, the baby. You’re mine. You’ve always been mine. Nothing about that has changed. You want sex, I’ll give you sex. You want hugs and kisses, and undivided attention, it’s yours. You want a house to decorate and make into something so you feel like it’s yours, consider it done. But us . . . and there is an us, it’s happening. The only person that is not seeing the grand picture here is you. I’ll give you your time, Macie Rosewood. But realize this,” he paused. “I’m sticking around. Push as hard as you want. I’ll tie your ass up and put you in a closet of our new home if I have too ’til you see what I am seeing.”

“Uh, pretty sure that’s illegal,” I interrupted.

“Probably, but I don’t care.” He tapped twice on the roof. “Find us a three bedroom to look at. Oh, and a two car garage. I’m going to need a place to put a treadmill.”

He climbed into his car, slamming his door and starting his engine. As he pulled out, he winked at me while I gaped at him with my mouth wide open.

“What in the what . . . ?”

I blinked and shook my head. A cool breeze blew past my face and some of my hair brushed across my face. A three bedroom, treadmill, and garage. He wanted me to find something for him because he thinks he’s moving in. Even worse he thinks his name will be on the house.

Holy hell, I woke the beast.