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West slips his phone into his pocket and passes me the pictures from the ultrasound. I quickly flip through them before stashing them in my purse.
“We’ve been summoned,” is all he says.
“Summoned?”
“Lunch today.”
“We?”
“Yep.”
His tone is full of dread, and I wish more than anything that I could take it away. “Well, then, I guess that solves what we’re eating tonight.”
“Really?”
I shrug. “Yeah, really. We may as well go ahead and drop this lovely little bomb on them while we’re at it.”
West is grinning now, his eyes clearer. “Really?” he asks again.
Looking up at him, I bat my sooty lashes. “Sure, why not?”
He kisses the corner of my mouth. “I fucking love you.”
“I love you, too,” I say just as the tech returns.
“Dr. Flory is actually ready for you.” Rachel escorts us down the hall to another exam room. “I know you just got dressed, but go ahead and disrobe again and have a seat on the table. She’ll be in soon.”
The rest of the visit passes in an uncomfortable blur, though I don’t know who felt more awkward during the vaginal exam, West or me.
“Stacia, I’ll want to see you back in about four weeks.”
“Sure, that’s fine.” I bite my lip, debating on whether or not I should ask the question lingering on the tip of my tongue.
I decide to bite the bullet and ask, but West beats me to it. “When can we find out gender? I’ve seen a lot of different answers online.”
Dr. Flory smiles heartily at his eagerness. “We offer a sneak peek ultrasound package at sixteen weeks. If you want, you can schedule that appointment when you leave today as well.”
“Thank you so much.”
She pats my hand. “Of course. See you in four weeks.”
“Are you sure about this?” West asks for the millionth time as we turn onto the private drive his parents live on.
“Positive.”
“Okay. Just…if they’re rude—”
I lay my hand on his arm. “West, breathe. Your parents being rude to me won’t break me. Let’s go in there with our heads held high, see what they need, announce my pregnancy, and then leave.”
“Okay. But just so you know, I wanted to take you shopping after your appointment. Not bring you to purgatory.”
I snort out a laugh. “It can’t be that bad.”
Twenty minutes later, I am more than willing to admit it’s that bad. Roland and Prissy Larson are hands down the most superficial, petty, skin-deep people I’ve ever met.
The entire time we’ve been here, all they’ve done is complain, gossip, and pointedly ignore me. Seriously, when we stepped out onto the patio, his parents acted like I wasn’t even there. But I’m trying to keep the peace—for West’s sake.
“Tell me, son,” his dad starts, and I know he’s about to spew some bullshit designed to piss his son off. “What’s kept you so busy you couldn’t make time to see your parents, let alone answer your phone?”
West rolls his shoulders and takes my hand in his, laying them on the tabletop. “She has.”
Prissy titters. Roland glares. All of the sudden, I’m no longer invisible. “Oh, that’s so nice you’re helping Stacy while her dad is—”
Thankfully West shuts his mom up before I can. “Her name is Stacia. And I’m not helping her with anything, Mother. Actually, we have some news.”
His father blanches, as if he knows what’s coming. “Stacia and I are expecting.”
“Expecting what?” his mom asks. God bless, this woman is slow on the uptake, isn’t she?
West grits his teeth and replies, “A baby. Congrats, you’ll be grandparents by year’s end.”
“Son, can I talk to you? In private?” Roland jerks his head toward the french doors leading back into the house.
I worry for a split second that West might actually leave me out here with his mother, but he makes no move to stand. “Anything you want to say to me, you can say in front of Stacia. There’s no secrets between us.”
Roland’s eyes spark with evil intent. “Really? No secrets? Then I’m sure she’s aware she’s nothing more than a paid whore paving the way for you to gain your inheritance?”
Now West is up from the table, up and in his dad’s face. “Stacia is not a whore, and, so help me God, you will either speak to her with respect or not at all.”
I stand and move to where the two men are at one another’s throats. “It’s not worth it, West.”
He turns to look at me, his eyes flashing with barely restrained anger. “You’re wrong. You’re more than worth it.”
Roland sneers my way. “So you’re okay with being a means to an end?”
I square my shoulders and place my hands on my hips. “I’m not a means to an end, sir. I’m the end game. West and I are more than a business transaction. I love your son, and he loves me. It’s too bad you and your wife have your heads shoved so far up your own asses that y’all can’t see it.”
