Zac and I sit in the waiting room of the doctor’s office for our first appointment. I’m Miss Nervous, and my legs are bouncing up and down. Zac is as cool as a cucumber, holding my hand and rubbing my knuckles with his thumb.
The door opens. “Miss Fisher,” The nurse calls my name.
Zac and I stand from our chairs and walk hand in hand, following her back to a small room. There, she takes my weight and collects my vitals, then we head down the hallway to an exam room. She hands me two gowns made out of paper. “Make sure the top one opens to the front, and the other one can be laid across your lap. Once you’ve changed, have a seat on the table. The doctor will be in soon.” I undress, doing as instructed with the gowns, and then hop up onto the table. Zac is roaming around the room with wide eyes, looking very anxious, and when he finally sits down, we hear a knock.
The door opens, and the doctor enters. “Hello, Miss Fisher. I’m Dr. Peters.”
Zac stiffens in his chair. “Nope, not goin’ to happen.”
“Zac, what the hell?” I hiss.
“No other man needs to be down in your nether regions.” Zac waves his hands in the air, pointing to the lower half of my body.
“Oh for Pete’s sake, Zac. He’s a doctor. I’m pretty sure he’s seen plenty of vaginas.” Zac opens his mouth to respond, but I shake my head “no” to stop him.
“If it makes you feel any better, I was the same way with my wife,” Dr. Peters interjects.
“Good. Then you understand,” Zac states.
I roll my eyes at the men in the room.
“Yeah, I do. Now, are we ready to check and see your baby? I need to do a pelvic exam, and then we’ll do an ultrasound.”
“Yes,” We both answer.
Dr. Peters puts on his latex gloves and pulls out the stirrups. I slide down the table to position myself so he can start the exam. Once he’s done, he removes his gloves and tosses them in the trash. “Everything looks good with the pelvic exam. Let me get the ultrasound set up, and then we’ll take a peek at your baby?” He exits the exam room and I release the breath I’d been holding.
The doctor comes back a few minutes later, rolling in a machine. After setting everything up, he pulls out a wand. “What the hell is that?” Zac questions.
“It’s what we will use to perform today’s ultrasound. I’ll put a sheath over the probe and add a small amount of ultrasound gel. I’ll insert it into her vagina, and from there, we’ll be able to see the gestational sac and baby.”
Holy cow, it just got real.
Once this wand is ready, Dr. Peters inserts it. The screen on the ultrasound machine comes alive and begins to show us a picture. We hear him click a few keys. “Do you see that little spot right there?”
“Yes,” We tell him.
“That’s your baby,” the doctor says.
I’m overcome with emotion. “It’s so tiny.”
“They usually do at this point. The measurements are perfect.”
“It looks like a little bean,” Zac blurts out, causing laughter to erupt in the room. He stares at me. “We made a little person.”
“We did.”
“Cayden,” he chokes.
“I know.”
I can see his tears when he whispers, “I love our little bean already.”
I sob and squeeze the hand I’m holding. “Me too.”
Zac becomes quiet…too quiet. I turn my head to study him and he’s staring at the screen. “Zac,” I whisper. No response. “Zac,” I say a little louder as I shake his hand.
“Cayden, we can’t have a girl,” He states.
I giggle. “Zac, what do you mean? Boy or girl, it’ll be an adventure.”
“I’m serious, Cayd. If we have a girl, I’m gonna lock her away from the boys. She’ll be entering this world, all gorgeous like her momma.” Zac’s face is as serious as the day is long.
“Zac, you’re being silly.” I laugh even harder.
Total silence falls over the room. Tears start to fill my eyes because we haven’t heard anything yet. Suddenly, there’s a swooshing sound surrounding us. “There’s your baby. A healthy heartbeat. Nice and strong. Your baby is measuring just fine. Everything looks good, and it appears that you’re seven weeks along.” Dr. Peters hits a few more buttons on the keyboard, and pictures spit out of the monitor. He removes the wand and cleans up. Done, he reaches over and hands the sonogram pictures to me and Zac.
Another wave of emotions hit me, and the drops start falling. I glance over to Zac. He has tears running down his face too. He scoots his chair back from the table and stands. “Cayden.” His tone is soft. “Baby.” He peers down at me, and leans in, connecting our foreheads. “Thank you for giving me one of the most beautiful gifts I could ever receive.”
Damn, the tears flow harder. Zac‘s lips meet mine, and I cup his cheeks, pulling him as close as I can.
“Well, I’ll give you two a few minutes. Miss Fisher, you can clean up and get dressed. Make sure to make your next appointment.” Dr. Peters states, walking out the door.
Zac returns to his full height. “We’re gonna be parents.” His voice is full of excitement.
“Yes, we are!” My heart couldn’t melt anymore, it overflowed with joy and love for the man staring at me. Zac’s eyes say it all: he loves me and this baby.
I stand up, removing the paper gown and clean up from the ultrasound. After I get dressed, Zac grasps my hands and yanks me into his chest to embrace me.
He backs away slightly, his hazel eyes meeting mine. “Let’s go, baby momma. We’ve got a baby to show off.”
My mouth slowly curls into a smile. After setting up our next appointment, we head home.
Arriving back at the condo, we find Cydney and Callie standing outside pacing. Dex and Mav are leaning against the wall. As soon as my sisters spot us, they come flying toward the Jeep.
Zac laughs. “I think they’re excited.”
“I think so too,” I agree. I barely have my door open, when Cydney starts jumping up and down with Callie right beside her.
Both of my sisters say, “Let’s see! Come on, let us see our nephew or niece.”
Dex and Maverick stroll up to the front of the vehicle shaking their heads. Zac met the guys at the front of the car, giving them each a half-hug, half-handshake.
My sisters have got to calm down. I reach into my purse, pull out the sonogram pictures, and hand them each one.
“Awww. Look at the precious little one,” Callie coos.
“Peanut…I can’t wait for you to get here.” Cydney really does love little ones.
“It’s a bean, get it right,” Zac yells. We all laugh at him. I watch Zac talking with the guys with the biggest grin on his face. The three of them soon join us.
Dex glances over Callie’s shoulder, while Mav peeks over Cydney’s. “I call a girl,” Dex says.
“No!” Zac exclaims.
We all whip our heads around and gape at him.
“Dude, what’s wrong with having a girl?” Dex asks, glaring at Zac.
“Nothing, except having to lock her away. Have you forgotten that little Raine is getting older?” Zac plasters on a shit-eating grin because he knows Dex is in for it.
“Shit! Okay, I change my vote to a boy,” Dex snaps.
Laughter erupts in our circle.
“Damn straight! His hands will be full. We need a boy to help protect our girl when we can’t,” Maverick chimes in. He has become a big softy.
“Either way, there’s still one more person we need to go see.” Everyone looks at me curiously. “Momma. We should go see Momma,” I explain, rolling my eyes.
Their mouths open in an “O” shape. My sisters wrap their arms around me, and we head up to the condo, leaving the guys to follow us.
“Ah man. Let’s go support Zac as he gets his balls put in a sling.” I hear Maverick tell Dex behind me.
“Shit, she loves me. It’s gonna be okay,” Zac replies, attempting to sound sure of himself, but he does sound a bit terrified.
We get ready to go see Momma, and finally, make it to Professor Bryant’s house. After eating the amazing meal Momma made, we help with the cleanup before sitting around the kitchen table to continue to catch up on the events of the summer.
“Cayden,” Momma addresses me.
“Momma?” My voice wobbles.
“Are you doing okay?” Momma’s voice is full of concern, and her brow is furrowed.
Zac keeps nudging my arm, egging me on to tell her.
“What’re you talkin’ ‘bout, Momma? I’m doin’ fine.” The longer I wait to tell her, the more I try to distract her, the more my voice trembles as I talk about anything except the news I’m supposed to be sharing.
“Spit it out, Cayden. I can tell something is on your mind,” Momma orders.
“Zac and I are pregnant!” I slap my hand over my mouth.
Cydney bangs her head on the table, and Callie is shaking hers. Dex and Maverick lean back in their chairs, their jaws hanging open. Even professor Bryant sits back, an expression of disbelief on his face.
“That’s one way to do it,” Zac deadpans.
“Zac Benson! Did you knock up my baby?” Momma questions Zac.
Zac clears his throat. “Yes, ma’am, I did,” he states with all the confidence in the world at this moment.
Silence falls over the room. Zac and I turn to stare into each other’s eyes, praying for the best. We look at Momma again. Her eyes are wide, and her lips are parted. I think we put her into a state of shock.
Zac waves his hand in front of her face trying to get her attention. “Momma?” Zac asks, his tone nervous.
Everyone is waiting for her response. Come on Momma say something.
“Yes?” We hear her clear her throat. “Do you have a plan for my grandbaby? School? Baseball?”
Zac and I answer at the same time. “Yes, Momma, we do.”
“How ‘bout your first appointment? Is that done?” Her voice is beginning to shake.
“Yes, we have. We have sonogram pictures,” I tell her. “Momma, are you okay?”
“Oh, baby girl. I knew you and Zac would eventually find each other. I’m ecstatic that you’re happy. I’m over the moon to have another grandbaby.” Her voice shivers. “You made this old woman cry. Damn it.” My gaze moves around the table, and we’re all smiling at her acceptance. “You know if you need me, I’m here. You’ll be back to having a busy school schedule. And…” Why did she stop? “Why am I just now hearing about this? And more importantly, why haven’t you shown me a picture of my grandbaby to be?”
I grin from ear to ear. “Here you go, Momma.” I hand her the sonogram pictures. “As far as telling you, we wanted to make sure everything was alright first,” I explain.
“Okay. I guess I can understand that. Now boys!”
Uh oh, the guys are about to get some words from Momma.
“Yes, Momma.” The room echoes with the guys’ loud, booming voices.
“Take care of my baby girls,” Momma instructs. “I love every single one of you. I’m gonna be a grandma.” She claps her hands together, and her mouth curls up into a smile that reaches from ear to ear with excitement.
Laughter erupts. “Love you too, Momma,” everyone exclaims.
We finish talking for the night. Momma is already making all kinds of plans for the baby and gets all her loving in with Raine.
Sharing the news with Momma went better than expected, but I should have known it would. She’s always been understanding and has accepted all of these men in our lives. If she didn’t believe in them, they would have been out of here long ago.
This summer has been a wild ride. The emotions that hammered in my heart over the summer between Zac and Brody were overwhelming. With Brody confessing his love for me, to Zac not wanting to open up to me, I was in overdrive. On top of that, these men threw me into a state of confusion from time to time. I knew where my heart was leading me, but my head was getting in the way.
As far as Brody and my friendship, it will remain intact. We both know that our friendship is important. He simply had to realize the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. It was hard to lay it on the line, but my heart never belonged to him. It has always belonged to the man that I chased over the last year: Zac Benson.
This summer, Zac taught me that sometimes the face a person shows to the world is not real. If you look harder, you’ll begin to see the real man deep inside. I never gave up on him, and I’m glad I didn’t.
As I look around the kitchen table, I realize that there’s plenty of love in this little family we’ve made. I see Callie holding Raine in her lap as she sits next to Dex. Maverick has his arm slung around Cydney’s shoulder. Their smiles speak volumes. Momma is sitting with Professor Bryant, a huge grin on her face. I’m so happy they found each other.
Tilting my head to the side, I gaze at the man that rocked my world more than he will probably ever know. Zac Benson is a great man, will be a wonderful father, and he’ll be able to live out his dream as a professional baseball player. I know he will. But best of all, he loves me for me. He can handle all my sass, my attitude, and currently, my mood swings. I love this man with all of my heart and soul.
With one last glance around the kitchen table, I see nothing but joy, love, and bright futures.