Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“Anticlimactic?” Dr. Anchors suggests.
“Not traditional,” I suggest instead as I turn to the doctor. “It’s just… I sort of imagined it would be via an ultrasound and Rachel and I would be looking at the screen, not able to even understand what we’re looking at, and then you will point at a spot on the screen and say something like, ‘Look… it’s a penis.’ And then I’ll yell ‘yee-haw,’ and Rachel will be like, ‘I told you so,’ and—”
Rachel starts laughing and claps me on the shoulder. “Fine. Let’s not find out the gender until the next visit with an ultrasound.”
Dr. Anchors chuckles as he dries his hands. “I’ll note in the file not to call you with results, and believe it or not, you’re not the first parents who have requested to find out via ultrasound.”
“It’s a plan,” Rachel says with a smile.
Dr. Anchors reaches his hand out, shakes Rachel’s, and then mine. He and the nurse clear out of the room, and Rachel hops off the table.
I reach over to a chair in the corner and pick up her clothes. As I hand them to her, I ask, “How did that really feel?”
As Rachel shrugs on her jeans, she says, “It felt weird. The needle burned at first, then I felt a little crampy when they started taking the fluid out.”
She stands up straight to button and zip her jeans. “It hurt a hell of a lot more getting shot.”
“I thought I was going to pass out there for a moment,” I admit sheepishly. “I don’t know how you were so calm.”
I expect Rachel to laugh at me. Poke at me a little. Tease me good and proper.
Instead, she steps into me and wraps her arms around my waist. “Thank you for being by my side. That’s why it didn’t bother me that much.”
Jesus. Sometimes, the things this woman says make me want to believe in all kinds of potential for our future.
Makes me think we could have something amazing if Rachel were to ever let loose and open herself up.
When she pulls back from me, she moves over to the chair to put her socks and tennis shoes on. I check my watch, mentally calculating the things I need to do tonight. I’m leaving tomorrow for Egypt. It’s an intelligence-gathering mission we’re subcontracting on with a special forces group and the CIA. We don’t know what the objective is yet, but we’ll be filled in during transport out of Washington.
I hate to leave Rachel, not only because I’m going to miss her, but also because I worry about her. Everything has been fine since the spotting a few weeks ago, and our sex life is as active as ever. Rachel has even appeared more settled since my parents’ visit last week, and I like the routine we’re in.
I’m still staying at Rachel’s each night. She’s not asked me to leave, and I’ve not offered. I merely go to my house every few days to do laundry and check my mail.
As Rachel ties her last lace, I ask, “Mind if we do takeout or something easy tonight? I’ve got a ton of stuff to do to get ready for the trip.”
“I want to keep the baby,” Rachel blurts as she stands up. If she had a feather in her hand, she could have knocked me over with it.
Her cheeks pinken with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to just say it like that. But I couldn’t quite figure out how to bring it up.”
My shocked senses are having a hard time catching up to what she’s saying. “When did you decide this?”
She gives a tiny shrug, crossing her arms protectively over her belly. “If I’m honest, that day I was spotting. I just think it took this long for me to admit it out loud.”
“This is huge,” I murmur as I step into her. I pull her arms away from her torso, and then lay my hand over the spot where our little orange is hibernating. “Are you sure?”
She nods effusively, but her voice is still wary. “Will you stay here if I do this? Don’t go to Nebraska. I’d really like to stay on at Jameson, and this means you could as well. But I don’t know how set you are about going back home now. I mean… your parents are awesome times ten, so why wouldn’t you want to go there?”
I shake my head. “I’d rather stay at Jameson. Here in Vegas. With you.”
Special emphasis in my head on the “with you,” but I don’t push that just yet. It’s enough that Rachel wants to raise the baby with me.
It’s a decision I knew she’d get right in the long run.
“When you get back from this trip to Egypt, we’ll have the ultrasound where we find out the baby’s gender. I thought we could maybe decide how to decorate the nursery then. Maybe go out shopping for some things.”