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“I’ve never been Landry’s favorite, so even though Loren and I had been dating on and off for a while, she had to make sure it was worth the trouble of telling him we were an item,” I interrupt her to explain. “Even if that meant dating other guys until she knew for sure.” She exhales and reaches out to clasp my hand in hers, squeezing it gently to convey her gratitude.
Rowan shrugs, looking more amused than offended. “Hey, you don’t owe me any kind of explanation. These things happen, right? Although, I have to say, this is a first for me.”
“Understandable,” she says, smiling now.
“All that aside, let’s check on your babies, hmm?”
How is this guy friends with Landry, anyway?
“Quick question—do we know the babies’ sex yet?” he asks as he reaches for the ultrasound tools. I feel my blood pressure spike when his hand hovers over the longest option, but he eventually picks out one of the flat-ended instruments and squirts some of that weird jelly over it as Loren pulls up her shirt.
“Yes. Blake’s sister-in-law is my midwife, and she told us we were having girls.”
“Gotcha. Just wanted to make sure in case I slip up and use a gender-specific pronoun,” he says with a chuckle. He moves the wand around, locating the babies’ heartbeats within a few seconds, and that anxious feeling I’ve been harboring for the past week is slightly alleviated.
Dr. Rowan actually turns out to be somewhat cool, explaining things as he continues the ultrasound and addressing both Loren and me equally. He basically reiterates Tenley’s advice from before, except he adds modified bed rest to his recommendations. He also mentions that Baby A is measuring smaller than her sister and that we’ll need to keep a close eye on her growth from here on out, which includes weekly visits with Tenley and Dr. Simms and monthly ones here.
“I’ll let you go back to work,” he barters with Loren. “But only light duty, and just long enough for you to get things squared away, and then you’ll have to work from home. I don’t think you can afford to take any chances with this, Loren. Your frame is so small, and you’re going to get uncomfortable pretty soon, anyway. You should also prepare for the likelihood of an early cesarean delivery. I don’t foresee anything changing for the better, especially since the babies are going to run out of room and block the placenta from moving out of the way.”
“Okay,” she replies quietly, and I can hear the disappointment in her voice.
“Hey, this is why you moved in, right? It’ll be fine, Lo. I promise,” I reassure her. She nods, but I can see her chin trembling. “You’ll just have to let me drive you to your appointments and make all of your middle-of-the-night Reese’s runs, okay?”
“Thank you,” she says after a while, staring intently. And I can’t help myself when I lean down for a short kiss.
All three of us are blushing when I pull away.
And then there’s another knock at the door, and the room instantly seems crowded when Dr. Landry Reed walks in.
“Hey, Lo-Lo,” he says happily. “What did your asshat boyfriend do to you this time?”
I run my tongue over my teeth and count to ten in my mind. Loren rolls her eyes but leans up for Landry to kiss her on the cheek.
“The lady is popular,” Rowan quips, smiling to himself. And I think I kind of like Dr. Red Flag.
“Sorry about this whole situation.” Landry turns to Rowan now. “I didn’t realize my baby sister was dumb enough to go there, but?—”
“Landry,” she starts. “Shut the hell up.”
He grunts but turns to shoot me a cocky smirk. “What, aren’t you going to defend yourself, Blake the Snake?”
I shrug. “Why would I care what either of you think? I’m the one sleeping with your sister, remember?”
Rowan clears his throat. “Eh, not exactly, dude. She’s still on pelvic rest indefinitely.”
Okay, then. I take all that stuff about liking him back.
“Gee, thanks for clarifying that, doc,” I retort while Landry snickers on the other side of the room. “While we’re at it, let me remind you that I’m the one who cockblocked you on your date.”
“Blake?”
“Yes?” I turn to Loren.
“Can you also kindly shut the hell up?”
I puff out my cheeks and nod. “Yeah, sorry.”
“Wait a minute, are you—does she already have you whipped?” Landry asks, crossing his arms and smiling knowingly. “And you’re not even getting laid at this point?”
