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“She got sick this morning,” I answer for her when it becomes clear that Faith isn’t going to bring it up. She huffs out a breath and gives me a mean look. I cross my arms at my chest and steadfastly ignore her.
“Sick?”
“The smell of eggs in the morning makes me sick. Titan didn’t realize it and thought he was surprising me for breakfast,” she explains with a sigh.
“Is this something new? Because of the baby?” the doctor prods.
“Yeah, it’s just certain things: eggs, ground beef, and, ugh, anything with rosemary in it.”
“Those are quite specific. This child might be a handful,” the doctor laughs. I don’t like his laugh either. It’s entirely too personal. Like he’s sharing some inside joke with my wife… with Faith.
“Just like her mother,” I add with a smile and if my voice sounds territorial—it should.
The doctor glances at me and our eyes lock and he gets my message. I can see it on his face.
“Are you ready to hear the baby’s heartbeat?” he asks, and damn if my own heart doesn’t speed up. I’ve never been through this, didn’t really know what to expect, but I didn’t know I’d get to hear my child’s heart… my child’s heart… beating.
“More than ready,” Faith says, smiling at the doctor, and I make a note that the first thing I’m going to insist on is finding a new doctor. An older one who has more experience… and a female one. Definitely a female.
I watch as he lifts Faith’s shirt up. My gut tightens with dislike. I’ve never been possessive over a woman before in my life, but I’m definitely feeling that today with Faith. I won’t bother denying it. I move in closer to Faith. She looks at me, her face shocked, and watches me even closer. I try not to flinch under her heavy gaze. Maybe she can see what’s bothering me, though, because she grins.
“Easy, Big Daddy,” she whispers and just like that, the worry is gone. I don’t know how I managed to get my ass tied in knots over Faith, but I think it’s clear I have. I just need to make sure she does the same. I reach over and take her hand in mine. Her smile falters, her gaze moves to our now joined hands and then slowly back to my face. I give her hand a gentle squeeze and her face goes sweet.
I haven’t been paying attention. Not until the sound echoes in the room, but the doctor has an instrument of some kind on Faith’s stomach and it’s picking up the baby’s heartbeat. It’s fast… so fast my immediate reaction is something is wrong.
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask before I can stop myself.
“Not a thing. It’s a perfectly healthy heartbeat, one hundred and twenty beats per minute.”
“One hundred and twenty? Is that normal?” Faith asks.
“I promise it’s fine,” the doctor says and he pats her hand. I don’t stop the growl that bubbles out. Faith’s face jerks to me and her eyes get round as saucers. She gives me a look that’s meant to censure me, but I just shrug. If possible, her eyes get larger.
She needs to get used to it… and apparently, so do I.
forty-two
faith
“I can’t believe you growled at Dr. Brankins,” I laugh as Titan pulls his car into my driveway.
“He was touching you,” Titan mutters.
“He was trying to be reassuring!”
“He was being annoying.”
“You’re crazy,” I say with a sigh. He turns off his car and then moves so he’s looking right at me.
“You need a woman doctor.”
“You can’t be serious, Titan.”
“I am serious and this guy was way too young. He can’t have delivered very many babies at all. You need someone who knows what they’re doing.”
“Dr. Brankins delivered every single one of Kayla’s, CC’s and Petal’s babies. They love him.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? Because so far I’m thinking all of your cousins are insane and your aunt is a walking poster child for straitjackets.”
“That’s not nice, Titan,” I tell him, but it takes work to keep from laughing. I mean, he’s not completely wrong.
“The only thing that quack doctor made sense about was I needed to watch over you more, and make note of things that bother you and watch for problems.”
“Um… I don’t remember him saying that, Big Daddy.”
“He clearly said it,” Titan argues.
I get out of the car, because I’ve got a really bad feeling about this. Titan has a look in his eye that scares me and maybe excites me—which scares me more.
“He did not say that, Titan.”
“Babe, he did,” he argues. He puts his hand at my back and walks us up my sidewalk toward the front door.
“When, Titan? When did he say that?”
“You were in the restroom. He said you needed someone to watch over you and make sure you got enough rest and ate right.”
