Chapter Nineteen
Lucas
Five months later...
For the second time since we’d left the house. Harrison had to go to the bathroom. My sweet omega was always peeing, morning, noon, and night, but at the same time was constantly thirsty.
We stopped to fill up his water bottle at the hallway fountain.
“Vivian told me that if I have heartburn all the time, that means the baby will have tons of hair. At this rate, I’m giving birth to Sasquatch. Seriously, water gives me heartburn. I don’t get it. I get rid of the nausea and am hit with the burning chest.
I slipped a ginger candy from my pocket and gave it to him. He said the other stuff was too chalky and made him sicker than the original heartburn.
“‘Do you have lasagna in that pocket, too? ’Cause I’m hungry again.”
I pulled him in for a kiss before we entered the office. “No, but that should help.”
Harrison reached out and trailed his hand across my groin. “Nope, just made me hungrier.”
Along with his regular stomach hunger, Harrison was hornier than ever since the third trimester had hit. If I wasn’t up in the middle of the night cooking him a better version of whatever he saw on Pinterest, I was taking care of his other needs.
I never knew life could be so good.
Hand in hand, we went into that place and took a seat.
Doctors’ offices made me nervous in general, but this office in particular made me almost mad with anxiety. Diagrams with body parts all over the place and magazines on being good parents made me queasy.
“You’ve got to calm down, Lucas. You’re making me nervous, and when you make me nervous, my blood pressure shoots up, and the doctor is going to come unglued if my blood pressure is too high.”
He placed his hand over mine, which was shaking out of control.
“Sorry, this place gives me the creeps. What’s taking so long?”
The receptionist apparently heard me and replied, “Dr. Allie just got back from her hospital rounds. She’ll be with you in a few seconds.”
I smiled and nodded, but my leg never quit bouncing.
Harrison looked over at me, belly stretching his T-shirt out. “So, what was different this morning? With the French toast? Or did you think I hadn’t noticed?”
I pulled my lips together, trying not to smile. “It’s not a big deal. You didn’t notice.”
He squeezed my hand. “But I did. So spill it.”
“Fine. I bought new Madagascar vanilla, and I put it in the batter. And I added some cinnamon I ordered in from Sri Lanka. Did you really notice or was I just being grumpy?”
He stroked his beard and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Nope. I tasted it just like I tasted you last night. I’m getting better at those things.”
“You’re great at everything.”
He rested his head on my shoulder. The last few months had been hectic but so worth it. We’d built on to his grandfather’s house—a nursery and a bigger kitchen. Harrison had built a special cradle and crib for our baby while I basically moved my entire life down to Mapleville.
I kept in touch every step of the way and made sure he knew I was coming home for him.
“She’ll take you now. Right through those doors.”
A nurse waited on the other side and escorted us to what was labeled the Ultrasound Room.
“This is it. Just a little wait for the technician. Dr. Allie will be right in.”
Harrison sat on the horrible little paper-topped bed. This place was almost worse than the waiting area. “Hey, did I ever tell you why I don’t like famous people?”
I cringed at the term. “Not really.”
“My mom died during childbirth, you know that.” He’d told me about it before the last doctor’s visit, but the doctor had assured us that the cause wasn’t genetic, and there was no reason why Harrison couldn’t have a normal, healthy delivery. “But my dad left me with my grandfather so he could go to California and be a big actor. He said he’d come back for me when he was big and famous. He did get famous, but he never came back. Died of a heart attack in his fancy hot tub some years back. Flat broke. He had a wife and other kids. Never even sent me a birthday card.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you.” I put my arm around his shoulders, and he nuzzled my chest. “But now you know I’m not like him. Have we gotten to that point?”
He nodded, still plastered to me.
“Okay, gentlemen, what do you say we find your baby today?” A perky redhead burst into the room and made a motion for Harrison to lift his shirt up. She put some kind of blue sheet under the top of his pants and then told him the gel would be cold.
She pointed out ears and toes and then asked us the big question. “Would you like to know the sex?”
I told Harrison he could make the decision.
“Yes, please. I’d like to at least know that. I have no idea what I’m doing otherwise.”
“Let’s see what we can find.” She moved the contraption around his belly until she apparently found something. “Oh, well, looks like a girl for you. Congratulations.”
Harrison looked up at me and, with tears in his eyes, said, “I already know her name.”
“You do?”
He nodded.