Chapter Thirty-Six
Piper sat in the waiting room of her first OB-GYN appointment with Rhonda fidgeting beside her.
Rhonda had woken up the following morning with more questions than Piper could lie about.
Piper had broken down and told Rhonda everything, including the part about Isaac’s and Eric’s deaths.
After many hysterics and several oh my God’s, Rhonda had calmed enough to listen to Piper’s unbelievable story. And for that, Piper was relieved.
The door across the hall opened, and a couple stepped out, holding hands and giddy with the news they’d obviously just received.
Piper’s heart ached. She’d had that closeness with Ethan at one time.
“Ethan really should be here,” Rhonda whispered for the hundredth time. “I mean, he is the father.”
The man holding the expecting mother’s hand leaned down and brushed his lips across her cheek.
Tears gathered in Piper’s eyes the longer she watched them.
She missed Ethan something terrible. So what if he was different, it didn’t change her feelings for him. She loved him, wolf and all.
Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, her hands shook as she sent him a message. Doctor Segert’s office. 2:45 appt. Come if you can.
“I’m so proud of you,” Rhonda gushed. “You’re doing the right thing.”
And Piper believed her. Why had it taken her so long to realize how much she loved him?
“Miss Hollister?” the nurse called from the open doorway.
Piper stood, glancing nervously at Rhonda. “They’re calling me back early. And Ethan hasn’t answered my text.”
“It’s okay,” Rhonda soothed, taking hold of Piper’s hand. “I’ll go with you.”
Blinking back the damnable tears that seem to spring up at the drop of a hat lately, Piper pasted on a smile she didn’t feel and followed the nurse to a small room in the back.
The pretty little nurse handed her a gown. “Put this on and hop up on the table. The doctor will be with you momentarily.”
Piper accepted the gown, stripped out of her clothes, and donned the gown.
Climbing up onto the cushioned table, she watched as Rhonda secured her clothes to a hook on the back of the door.
After a couple of taps on the door, an elderly woman wearing a white coat stepped into the room. She shook Piper’s hand. “I’m Doctor Segert. How are you feeling today?”
“I’m a little emotional, but other than that, I can’t seem to get enough to eat.”
The doctor sent Piper a smile. “Both are normal in your condition. Just be mindful of what you eat. Be sure you take in lots of nutritional foods for the baby.”
Pulling on a pair of rubber gloves, the doctor squeezed some lubricant onto her fingers and motioned for Piper to slide down on the table. “Put your feet in the stirrups for me. That’s right. Now, relax and open your knees.”
Piper stared up at the ceiling as the doctor inserted a couple of fingers inside her while pressing down on her abdomen with the other.
The exam went by without any problems, with the doctor speaking in a smooth, calming tone.
But Piper could barely concentrate. She suddenly wanted Ethan, no, she needed him. Because of her, he would miss the sonogram of his first child. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.
The doctor had Piper remove her feet from the stirrups. She draped a sheet over Piper’s legs and girly parts before moving around to the side and picking up a small round wand.
“I’m sorry, Doctor,” the nurse announced opening the door and stepping aside. “He was very adamant about coming in.”
Ethan stepped into the room.
Piper’s heart jumped at the sight of him. He’d lost weight, and his eyes appeared tired. But he was still Ethan and still the most beautiful man she’d ever beheld.
“Are you all right with him being in here?” The doctor asked, her gaze glued to Piper.
Piper nodded through her tears. “Yes. He’s the father.”
Ethan’s hand closed around hers, telling her without words what she needed to hear.
Rhonda backed toward the door. “I’ll just wait out in the lobby.”
The doctor waited for the door to close behind Rhonda before she began. “This is going to be cold.”
She squirted some cool, clear gel onto Piper’s skin, turned the monitor toward them, and placed the sonogram wand onto Piper’s abdomen.
The sound of a fetal heartbeat immediately filled the room.
Ethan squeezed Piper’s hand in a near painful hold. “Is that…?”
“The heartbeat, yes,” the doctor confirmed, dragging the wand up a little higher. “See that?”
Piper stared in awe at the tiny heart pumping on the screen. She glanced up at Ethan to see tears sparkling in his eyes.
He moved in closer, still holding her hand in a death grip.
The doctor spoke again. “And here’s your baby’s face.”
The sight of the tiny profile on the screen filled Piper’s heart with so much love she couldn’t contain it any longer.
“He’s beautiful,” she whispered, tears sliding down her cheeks.
The doctor smiled, before turning her attention back to the job at hand. “It’s too soon to tell the sex of the baby, but I can tell you that I see ten fingers and toes, and a strong heartbeat. Your baby looks great.”
Moving to stand, the doctor printed off a couple pictures of the baby and handed them to Piper. “I’ll give you a minute to get dressed. Be sure to stop at the front desk on the way out to schedule your next appointment.”
Piper waited for the doctor to leave the room before sitting up and throwing her legs over the table to face Ethan. “You came. I wasn’t sure of you would.”
“Are you kidding?” he whispered, dropping to his knees before her.
He reverently kissed her stomach and then turned his face to the side to nuzzle her. “I love you, Piper. Nothing could have kept me away.”
Piper’s hands went to his hair. She found it difficult to speak through her tears. “I love you, Ethan Seaborn. I’m so sorry for how I’ve acted. I’ll never leave you again.”
Rising to his feet, Ethan cupped her face in his hands. “That’s good to hear because I won’t let you leave me again.”
“Let’s go home,” Piper whispered, anxious to be alone with him.
“My place or yours?”
“Yours.”