Page 73 of Make it a Double

“I knew you’d come around,” he chuckled, giving my hand a squeeze. “It’s nice, isn’t it? I can’t wait to show you everything it does⁠—”

I shook my head. Men really were stupid sometimes. “It’s not the car, Beckett. It’s you. This. Us.” I ran my free hand over my belly. “It’s knowing I don’t have to do this by myself, and that you’re here. And no matter how nice this car is, I don’t care about the things you can buy us. I care about the time and the effort that you put in making sure I know you’re staying.”

Beckett was silent, but his grip on both the steering wheel and my hand had tightened. When he finally glanced my way, there was a flash of silver lining his lashes. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than right by your side, sugar.”

BECKETT

Growing up with a father like mine meant there were very few things that scared me, but sitting in an OBGYN’s office next to Sawyer had rocked me to my core. Nerves hit me the moment I parked outside the building and hadn’t subsided since. My knee bounced wildly as I thought about stepping into that exam room as a father. It was only slightly less annoying than the constant drum of my fingertips against the wooden armrest. I’d stopped that after earning a death glare from the pregnant mother of three who was sitting across the room as her children played with the toys they’d brought.

After that, I kept my fists clenched tightly so as not to move them. It seemed safer that way.

Sawyer leaned over and placed her hand on my knee. The contact had me turning to see her slightly bemused expression. “Are you okay?” she whispered. “Are you trying to wind yourself up for takeoff or something?”

I huffed a laugh, running my sweat-laced palms against my thighs. “Just nervous. I don’t know why.” I could understand if it was her first, or even if we were about to find out the gender, but this was just a check-up. Sawyer had been to so many over the past seven months. She’d even told me what to expect so that I wasn’t caught off guard.

No matter how many times I reminded myself of this, it didn’t stop the nerves from setting in. This appointment felt like such a pivotal moment in my and Sawyer’s relationship. I didn’t want to fuck it up, especially when she was leaning on me for comfort.

Sawyer hummed softly. “You know, Liv nearly had to drag me into this office kicking and screaming for my first appointment.”

“Really?” I asked.

She nodded. “Being here made everything feel too real. I mean, I’d already taken a stupid number of tests, so I knew what she was going to say before she said it, but hearing her say the words ‘you’re pregnant’ was like being doused in cold water. I didn’t speak on the entire ride home even though Liv tried everything in her power to get me to break.”

If there was one thing I was grateful for, it was Olivia Hart-Bennett. She was a better friend to Sawyer than any of my friends had ever been to me. Hell, I still hadn’t admitted to anyone back home that I was going to be a father. It wasn’t because I was ashamed. I wanted more than anything to have someone I could talk to about this. Duke was the only person I knew who could relate, but I wasn’t sure how to talk to someone who looked genuinely unhappy to be in my presence.

If I couldn’t be there for Sawyer, I was glad she’d had Olivia.

“Sawyer Sutton?” a young nurse called, looking around the room.

I stood and held my arm out for Sawyer. She took it graciously, pushing to her feet with a groan. Her movements had been slower as of late. Part of that was because of our boy’s growth spurt, but I worried about her. There were times she swayed as she stood, closing her eyes as though dizzy. Anytime I asked if she was okay, she waved it off as moving too fast.

We followed the nurse back, stopping to get Sawyer’s weight and do a urine test, before we settled in the exam room. She went through a laundry list of questions while Sawyer’s vitals were taken, and the answers were jotted down for the doctor. Then, she turned to us with a smile and said, “Let’s see that baby boy, shall we?”

“O-Oh,” Sawyer stammered. “I, uh, didn’t know we were going to do one today.”

“Normally, we wouldn’t, but it’s been a minute since our last look, and the doctor wants to get an idea of how the baby is doing.” The nurse looked between us, standing at the door. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it is.” Sawyer’s laugh was entirely unconvincing. If it wasn’t, the way her voice went up an octave said it all. “I was just surprised.”

“Great! I’ll grab the sonographer and tell her you’re ready. Be back in just a minute.” The nurse left the room, leaving Sawyer and me in an uncomfortable silence. I didn’t know what the protocol was here, but I wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

I placed my hand on her upper back. “I can wait outside if you’re not comfortable with me being here for this.” For the first time, I worried that coming with her instead of Olivia was the wrong choice. She was probably much better at this than I was, seeing as she’d been through it before. I, on the other hand, was absolutely terrified to do the wrong thing somehow.

When I moved toward the door, Sawyer latched on to my arm. “Don’t go,” she breathed. I turned back to look at her, my heart breaking at the panic I saw. “I want you here.”

Swallowing my uncertainty, I nodded and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Whatever you want, sugar.”

I helped her get settled on the exam table, glancing away as she raised her shirt and slid her maternity jeans down below her swollen belly. It was stupid, I knew that. We’d already seen each other naked, but this was different. This, somehow, felt more intimate than the night we spent in each other’s arms.

The sonographer came in the moment we got settled, giving a brief introduction before jumping into the imaging. Sawyer gripped my hand, hissing as she squeezed a gel onto her skin. “Sorry.” The sonographer winced. “I know it feels weird.”

“You think I’d be used to it by now,” Sawyer grumbled.

If I thought I was nervous before, it was nothing compared to waiting for the first live image to pop up on the screen. Sawyer and I waited, staring patiently until I heard the telltale sign of a heartbeat.

Then I saw him.

Sawyer had shown me every sonogram image she’d had done, but seeing it in person as it happened was an entirely different experience. He was more perfect than I could ever dream of. It was probably my imagination, but I swore I saw Sawyer and I reflected in the grainy image.