Something in my chest swells at the cuteness of the moment. Swells and threatens to explode in happiness at the utter sweetness of him talking to my unborn babies.
This man.
Chapter thirteen
Connor
I’msurroundedbypregnantwomen.
So.
Many.
Pregnant women.
I don’t like it here, and it’s not because of the overwhelmingly abundant symbols of fertility swarming in the room. There’s just something about the place that I can’t quite put my finger on but itches at me just the same.
Rosanna’s hand falls to my knee. “Your bouncing knee is literally shaking me.”
“Sorry.” I bring her fingers to my mouth for a kiss. “I’m just excited.” Or nervous.
A small tug at my pants breaks through my disquietude. “Wanna play?” My eyes fall down to a blonde-headed boy, probably around the same age as Leila, who peers up at me expectantly with a partially-broken, discolored dinosaur in his hand. “Here’s a bronkasaurus for you.”
“A bronkasaurus, huh?” Sharing an amused glance with Rosanna, I give the boy a small smile as I take the toy. “Thanks, kid.”
“Kid?” The child in question widens his brilliantly blue eyes and turns his mouth into a contorted smile of surprise. “I’m four!”
I disguise my snicker as a cough. “Oh, I’m sorry, then. You’re a big boy.”
“Ms. Taylor?” a dour-faced woman in faded teddy bear scrubs calls out, interrupting our playtime before it ever really began.
Taylor. The name eats at me every time I think about it. Really need to get it changed to Shay as soon as possible. Wiping my sweaty palm on my pants, I take Rosanna’s hand and look down to see the kid’s disappointment. “Sorry, buddy, but I gotta go with my lady.”
“Okaaay,” he sighs sadly. “’Bye, mister.”
Rosanna and I both chuckle softly as we move to follow the nurse, but then my amusement fades as I take in the murals on the hallway walls with flakes of paint peeling off.
That’s what it is. Faded. Everything’s faded here. The toys, the scrubs, the murals. I’d thought it would be good for Rosanna to see the same doctor she’d been to the first time, but now I’m thinking she needs a change. An environment that feels fresh and hopeful instead of faded and sad.
“Step onto the scale, please.” The absent-minded murmur comes from the nurse who apparently doesn’t feel much like socializing today.
Rosanna shrugs her jacket off. “Hold this, will you?”
Right. She doesn’t need a bulky jacket skewing her numbers. I fold it over my arm and watch as the nurse goes about recording Rosanna’s weight and blood pressure. “This is a little higher than we’d like to see, Ms. Taylor.”
“It’s probably just because I’m nervous. Doctors, you know,” my woman helpfully throws out.
Hmm. Maybe I need to buy a blood pressure monitor for home so we can keep an eye on it, along with anything else the doctor may recommend. My phone has been very active lately, searching for what happens at the second prenatal appointment along with the best insurance for pregnant women. After all, a first-time dad needs to be well-informed on the care of his unborn children.
“Follow me, please.” Shit. Would it kill her to smile at us? Or to inject a little excitement in her voice? Two babies are growing in my woman’s belly right now, and if that’s not cause for a bit of happiness, then I don’t know what is.
Wrapping my arm possessively around Rosanna’s waist, we head into a private exam room. “Are you okay?” she quietly asks me after the door closes. “You’re a little clingy.”
“Me?” I smirk. “What gives you that idea?”
Her pointed look to her side says it all. She’s right; I concede. Taking my hand in hers, she wipes the sweat off on my pants before linking our fingers together. “Why are you so nervous? I’m the one who’s carrying two babies and going to have to squeeze them out.”
Fuck.I sway on my feet, growing a little lightheaded at the thought of what she’s going to have to go through, whether vaginally or by c-section. Either one is enough to put knots in my throat. Online searches aren’t necessarily a good thing, especially when all my brain can recall is everything that could possibly go wrong during the process of bringing children into the world.
