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“You ready?” he asked as he neared.
It seemed the most natural thing in the world for him to wrap his arms around her and drop a kiss on her cheek. Although she longed for a proper kiss, the affection in the gesture sent warmth rushing through her.
“I’m ready,” she countered. “Are you?”
Kyle’s smile was ever so slightly crooked as he opened the passenger door and ushered her inside. “I am.”
“I’m glad.” She studied him as he walked around the car and slid behind the wheel once more. “I’m a little nervous about the ultrasound.”
“Why?” Kyle got the car started and pulled out of the parking lot before glancing her way. “I thought this was just routine.”
“It is. But they look for certain things. I can’t help but wonder what they might find.”
“What are they going to look for?” Kyle’s brow creased.
Melody instantly regretted sharing her concerns. The last thing she wanted to do was freak out Kyle. He’d only just learned about the baby and probably hadn’t yet come to terms with becoming a father and now she was heaping new concerns onto the pile.
“They’ll check the heartbeat and determine my due date.”
“None of that sounds too bad.”
“Nooo.” She drew the word out. “And then they’ll look to make sure everything looks normal. Two arms. Two legs. That the organs are developing okay.” There were just so many things that could be wrong. And so many things that could be right. When had she become such a pessimist?
“Is there any reason to think anything will be missing?”
His faint note of teasing as he asked the question lightened Melody’s mood. She was being anxious for no good reason.
“Of course not. I guess it’s just going to be more real after today.”
And Kyle would be beside her as they both saw their baby for the first time. It roused all the things she so badly wanted but was afraid she might never get. For the last several weeks, since she’d learned she was pregnant, she’d been so focused on what was wrong with their relationship that she hadn’t thought about all the things that had once been right.
She’d braced herself to be a single mom, not even giving Kyle the benefit of the doubt. Because of the way her father had often treated her, she’d been quick to expect Kyle to disappoint her. If she anticipated Kyle not wanting to be a father, then it wouldn’t hurt as much when that was what happened.
Automatically going on the defensive certainly wasn’t fair to Kyle. Or herself. Or their baby.
“There’s no going back,” she said.
He shot her a curious look. “Do you want to go back?”
“You didn’t ask for this.”
“Did you?”
“You mean did I try to get pregnant?” Melody wasn’t sure how to take his question.
“I wasn’t asking if you deliberately became pregnant,” he said and then sighed. He reached for her hand. “I was merely reflecting your question back at you.”
His matter-of-fact reaction to their situation should be the perfect balm for her agitation, but for some reason she was finding his encouragement annoying. At the same time, his fingers gave a little squeeze and she found herself torn between wanting to fight with him and needing to give in to his attempt to connect with her.
“If I’ve learned anything in the last year it’s that it’s really hard to maintain relationships while on the road. I thought a lot about what would happen if I decide to take my career seriously. I’d be traveling a lot on tour and making appearances. That sort of life is hard on everyone.”
“And you’re worried that you can’t have your career and a baby.” He didn’t voice the obvious question: whether she’d intended to choose between her career and continuing her relationship with him. “I think you can do it all.” A pause. “If you want to.”
This was the decision she was dreading. Did she want it all? A family? A career? Her feelings for Kyle hadn’t changed, but things were so much more complicated these days.
“Do you want to give us another shot?” she asked, her heart thudding hard against her ribs.
“I think we owe it to ourselves to do so, don’t you?”
