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I forced a smile, turning to stare at the screen as he recorded.
“This is amazing.” Aimon’s hand traced my side, flattening to cover the area that wasn’t being monitored.
“Oh.” Dr. Anderson backtracked, rolling and stopping. Then, she moved further up. “Do we want to know the sex of the baby or will this be a surprise?”
“We want to know.”
“Yes, please.” Aimon cleared his throat, staring down at his phone. His smile was gone. It suddenly looked like his world had just disappeared. And maybe it had.
The doctor rolled back over, clicking buttons. “You see this right here? Congratulations, you’re having a girl.”
“A girl?” My head lifted as I brought myself to my elbows.
“We’re having a girl!”
“A girl? No, I saw a boy in my dream.”
The doctor laughed. “We do that sometimes, Fayette. They’re just dreams. I can almost promise you it’s a girl.” The doctor wiped my stomach helping me to sit the rest of the way. From out of nowhere, Aimon grabbed the sides of my face, pressing his lips to mine.
“We’re having a girl. Pink, for the nursery. Or purple. Girls like purple, right?”
“Both colors work great,” Dr. Anderson answered. “Fay, everything looked fantastic on the monitor. We’re going to make your next appointment for 4 weeks. Stop by the receptionist at the end of the hall for your date. I’ll see you then.”
I waved to her, letting Aimon help me down. As I fixed my dress, I watched him stare back at his phone. The voices made it easy to know he was rewatching the video. His smile…it wavered into something else. Something that my own chest ache. I wasn’t prepared for this. Not the emotion and surely not the feelings that were growing by the minute.
“I could take off and meet you here for your next appointment if you want.” He glanced up, his lips pulling back at the side in a weak attempt to smile.
“I’ll have to see how Charles is doing, but I’d like that very much. I want you here.”
“Has he been to all your appointments with you?”
“Yes. He was very upset not to be able to come today. He’s really declining, Aimon. I wish…” I shut my mouth, putting my head down. “Never mind. I have to go. Thank you for coming, and thank you for—”
“Are we really out of time? I can make you dinner. Or maybe we can go look at paint colors?” He handed me my jacket. “I’m not ready for you to leave.”
The pain was too raw for me to handle. I wanted to go back with him. I wanted to return to my parents’ house. Could I ever leave there again if I did? I was torn, just like I’d been the entire time. Charles was the link to my father, and a big part of me still needed that. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
He nodded, hesitating before lowering to his knees to be face-to-face with my stomach.
“Hey, little girl. This sucks. I shouldn’t say sucks. I apologize.” His hand wrapped around my hip. “I promised myself the other night that when I met you, I’d tell you I love you and that I’m sorry.” His jaw tightened repeatedly as he stared ahead. “I don’t begin to understand why things turned out the way they did. I’m sure it was entirely my fault. I do that, you see. Bad things happen to me. Not this time. I’ll make this right. I don’t have a choice.” His forehead rested against me, and I had to wipe the tears. “I want you to be good in there for your mom. She’s special, like you. I’ll see you soon, okay?”
My sniffle had him looking up and standing. He didn’t say anything as he helped me into my jacket. Not that I expected him to explain anything to me. There was nothing left to say. There was nothing either of us could do to change the current circumstances. The only one that could do that was Charles, and I wasn’t sure he’d ever budge.
Chapter 18
Aimon
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
“Aimon, you have to stop moping.”
My hand came back, ignoring Jessica. I tossed another jellybean into the trash can, watching it bounce off the metal.
Thunk.
