“You know about the book?” I frowned. I’d finished the paperback and now I was onto something else. How did she know I’d been reading up on it?
“I saw it in your room when I was passing.” Lila refused to look at me, and I knew she’d been in my room, maybe when she’d covered me with a blanket. “So, as I said, you’re enjoying reading about it?”
I laughed and shrugged. “I want to be a good dad. I want to support you, too. I can’t do that without knowledge.”
“So, yeah…I’ll let you know if it happens again, maybe you can feel it? I don’t know.” Lila frowned and rubbed her stomach.
“I’d love that,” I agreed quietly, a lump forming in my throat.
We didn’t say anything for a while, then Lila rose to her feet, letting me see the beautiful baby bump once more as she stretched. She caught me watching and moved toward me.
My breath snagged in my throat as she stood before me, tentatively lifting her shirt so her belly was exposed. My hands trembled, but I didn’t move. Not an inch.
“Do you want to feel it?” Lila murmured, gazing down at me.
“Your belly?” I whispered, almost in awe. My baby was in there! It was one thing reading and listening about it, but feeling it?
Damn. I hadn’t expected this.
“Yes,” Lila said with a laugh. “What else?”
Our eyes met, and her cheeks flushed. I averted my eyes, and she reached for my hand, placing it on her belly. Her skin was warm beneath my touch, yet hard. Harder than I’d ever felt it.
“Hey,” I whispered, staring at it. “I’m your daddy.”
Lila sucked in a breath, and I looked up at her, sweeping my hands around her swollen stomach. “Can I kiss it?” I whispered, and she stiffened. “The bump, I mean?”
I felt incredibly stupid for even asking her, but I just wanted to be close to my baby. And yes, to Lila too.
Lila nodded. “Sure.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my lips against the bump, tears stinging my eyelids as I did. I kept my lips there for a beat, whispering that I loved them both.
Because I did. I really fucking did.
52
LILA
“Lila Morrison?”
Victor stiffened beside me, a scowl forming on his handsome face.
“Here,” I called out, rising to my feet.
It was finally the day of the twenty-week scan, and I was so excited. Hopefully today we could find out the gender of our baby. Luckily, we were both in agreement that we wanted to know.
Victor followed along behind me in his high-vis vest and chunky boots, and I turned and gave him a wide smile.
“I hate hearing you being called that,” he muttered. It had been almost four weeks since the divorce was made legal, and he was still complaining about my maiden name.
“Shouldn’t have cheated then,” I shot back, as the nurse lifted her eyebrows.
“You’re just through here,” she mumbled, her eyes still wide. “The doctor is waiting for you.”
“Good morning, Miss Morrison, Mr Rossi,” the doctor greeted us.
I turned to watch Victor’s jaw clench.
