Maverick didn’t speak as he nodded and backed up, but he didn’t need to. The warmth in his gaze, the welcome feel of his touch as he pulled me across the seat to sit in the middle one said it all.
And as I curled up beside him, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, I focused on that new emotion in my chest…
Hope.
By some miracle, Iwas able to get a same day appointment with an OBGYN, so after a couple hours of hanging out in San Antonio, Maverick and I pulled into the parking lot. He left the car idling, making no attempt to get out as I grabbed my purse.
“Will you come with me?” I asked, placing a hand on his arm still gripped on the steering wheel.
A look of disbelief flickered in his gaze as he met mine. “You want me to?” His deep voice was thick with emotion.
Of course, I wanted him to go. He was my…well, we hadn’t really figured that out yet. But I cared about him, and I wanted him there with me.
I nodded. “I do.”
He turned the car off, pocketing his keys, and grabbed his hat off the dash before placing it on his head. Taking a deep breath, he nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Idon’t think I’dever felt so nervous in my life. Who knew that sitting in a room full of pregnant women and mothers could be so intimidating. Maverick sat beside me, his hand resting on my leg that wouldn’t seem to stop shaking, his light gaze scanning the room as we waited for them to call my name.
“This your first?”
I glanced to my left, acknowledging the pregnant woman who’d just spoken. She looked to be around my age, with a little toddler sitting beside her, playing with some toy. He couldn’t be any older than two, and by the looks of it, she was ready to pop at any minute.
Two under two… Just the idea was terrifying. I couldn’t imagine one, let alone another that close in age.
“I’m sorry, what?”
She smiled and nodded at the two of us. “Is this your first baby?”
I frowned. Was it that obvious? Also, who just asked that? She laughed before I could manage an answer. “Sorry, y’all just look like I felt the first time around.”
“Oh.” I blew out a breath, glancing at Maverick. He wore a guarded expression, so I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking or feeling. But he was touching me again, so there was that comfort. I met the woman’s stare once more. “Yeah. I’m pretty terrified, to be honest.”
She offered a sympathetic smile. “It’s gonna be okay. I ain’t gonna lie and say it’s a cakewalk, but—” She glanced down at her little boy, her smile pulling wider. I wondered if she realized one of her hands drifted to her stomach as she spoke. “It’s worth it.”
I returned her smile, looking to Maverick for…I don’t know what. Reassurance. Comfort. His grip tightened on my leg gently before releasing the pressure.
“Cheyenne Harris?”
Relief and terror vied for dominance in my stomach at hearing my name. I shot up out of my seat, so quickly that a wave of dizziness settled over me for a moment, making me sway on my feet. Maverick’s hands were there to steady me. I turned to regard him. He sat on the edge of his seat, watching, waiting, but not moving. Not until he got the go ahead.
I looked between him and the nurse. “Can he come too?”
“Of course,” the nurse said brightly.
After getting settled into a room, giving a urine sample, and given a paper blanket with instructions to undress from the waist down and cover myself, I sat on the exam table, Maverick beside me in a small chair. He was so tall that it looked like it fit a kid and not an adult. If I wasn’t worried that I’d throw up from nerves the moment I opened my mouth, I might have made fun of him. As it was, I just watched the clock in silence, every tick of it deafening in the quiet room.
A knock came on the door a moment later, followed by a woman in a white doctor’s coat. She looked more like a middle-aged rodeo queen and less like a doctor, in my opinion. With her Farah Faucet waves, picture-perfect smile, and western garb on beneath the coat.
“Well, hello, y’all. Looks like we’re havin’ a baby,” she said cheerily, as if she was announcing the finalists for a short go and not confirming my pregnancy. And while it could easily come off as disingenuous, I could tell she really loved what she did. That joy and lightness was a bit infectious, easing some of the fear knotted in my chest. “Pregnancy test came back positive, so congratulations! Now, let’s figure out how far along you are, Miss Cheyenne.”
After explaining the timeline to her, she urged me to lay down and grabbed out the portable ultrasound resting in the corner. My heart beat louder than a damn jackhammer as I pulled my shirt up enough to expose my stomach and she squirted the cold ultrasound jelly onto my torso.
“Alright, now let’s see just how far along this baby’s measurin’.” She glanced between Maverick and I. “Y’all excited?”
We met each other’s gazes. I still couldn’t read him. His face was a mask of calm, his eyes giving nothing away. I hated that I couldn’t figure out what he was thinking right now. Now when it had become so easy.
I offered him a soft smile and reached for his hand and murmured, “As I’ll ever be.”
