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“That would have been hard since I didn’t know I was pregnant then,” I joke weakly.
Dr. Jenkins carefully lifts my hospital gown over my stomach, making sure the sheet is covering me from the waist down. “Is this pregnancy a surprise, then?”
World’s biggest understatement.
“It’s all been a bit of a surprise.” I peek up at Yakov.
He’s staring at the ultrasound screen, but he nods. “A happy surprise.”
I’m still looking up at his chiseled jaw, grateful to have him standing next to me, when Dr. Jenkins squeezes warm jelly on my stomach.
“Sorry. This stuff makes a mess.” He rubs it around with the handheld wand until my entire stomach is covered. Then he looks at the screen, poking and pressing the wand into my stomach. “Let’s see here.”
I’m not breathing. I can’t. Every second Dr. Jenkins spends staring at the screen feels like an eternity.
I was out of my mind with fear and stress all day yesterday. Akim’s men tossed me into the back of a van. They drugged me. I was thirsty and hungry and freezing cold. The many, many reasons why something could be wrong with our baby stack up in my mind until I've convinced myself there is no way everything is fine.
How could I have been so fucking naive?
Suddenly, Dr. Jenkins spins the screen towards me. “Say hello to your baby, Luna.”
The screen is black with a little white blob in the center. Except it isn’t a blob. There’s a head and a little body. Tiny arms and bent legs.
It’s a baby.
My baby.
Yakov grabs my hand and squeezes.
Our baby.
“Hello, little one,” I whisper, blinking back tears.
“Twelve weeks.” I blow out a long breath. “One more week and I’ll be in the second trimester. That’s one-third of the way through pregnancy. Can you believe that?”
Yakov is sitting in the recliner beside my bed with the sonogram in his hands. He shakes his head. “No. You don’t have even a hint of a bump. Your stomach is flat as ever.”
“If you’re trying to flatter me, you’re doing a very good job.”
“I don’t do flattery,” he says. “I deal in honesty. You’re fucking gorgeous. You’re beautiful now and you’ll be beautiful in a few months, too.”
My face warms. “Thanks. Dr. Jenkins said I’ll probably start showing in the next couple weeks.”
“We’ll see if he knows what he’s talking about,” he says.
“You’re the one who flew him across the country to be here. He’s the best there is. That means you’ll finally trust that I’m fine, right?”
“Probably not.”
“You’re impossible,” I laugh. “I’d be in this hospital forever if you had your way.”
He arches a threatening brow. “You better hope that’s not what I want. Because I always get my way.”
He’s joking, but he’s not lying. Yakov has a way of getting exactly what he wants out of every situation and person he meets. Even with this whole deal with Akim, Yakov came out on top.
Mostly.
“How is Nik?” I ask.
