Holy shit, I’m pregnant.
“When was your last menstrual cycle, Ms. West?” the older man asks.
“Um . . . I don’t know. I think it was October, maybe early November?” I have no clue. I’m still in shock. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry,” I mumble lamely.
“That’s all right, dear. Let’s go down to the ultrasound room and take a look, okay?”
I don’t answer him. I just follow behind him as he guides me into a dimly lit room.
“This is Jane. She is going to do your ultrasound, dear. We can talk when she finishes up.” He offers a kind smile before stepping out of the room.
I turn my shocked gaze to Jane. She looks like Nurse Hatchet.
“Undress from the waist down. Sheet goes over your legs. I’ll be right back.” And then she’s gone.
I follow her instructions and sit gingerly on the edge of the exam table. My heart feels like it is going to pop right out of my chest. I have no idea how Axel is going to handle this. Besides the brief discussion by the docks that day, we haven’t discussed children. I knew he was still having issues with the loss of our first child, the child he didn’t know about until recently, but this is different.
This is our fresh start. This is our new beginning. I place my hands over my stomach protectively.
A baby. We are going to have a baby. I allow myself a small smile but slip my hands from my stomach when a brief knock sounds and Jane walks back in.
She rolls a condom over the probe and asks me to spread my legs. I blanch but do as she asks. After one awkward, slow thrust, I look over at the monitor and stare in fascination as the tiny, grainy dot appears.
“Well, there you go,” she says, and for the first time, she sounds almost sweet. “That dot there is the fetus. Looks like you are about five, almost six weeks along, which puts your due date at August 3rd.” She prints off a small picture of the baby blob and hands it over into my shocked fingers.
I quickly get dressed, not once taking my eyes off the picture of our baby.
Our baby. As I stand there in the middle of the ultrasound room, the biggest sense of peace settles around me. Axel and I are going to have a baby and I can’t wait to share the news. I am scared, but I know deep in my heart that he will be happy. Placing my hands back over my flat stomach, I promise to protect this little bean with everything I have.
This baby is so loved already. The love is overflowing into my body and I am walking on cloud nine.
Heaven. Absolute heaven. This is what it feels like to have the world.
I get home a little before lunch, quickly hiding the ultrasound picture away until I find the perfect way to tell Axel. This has to be special. He wasn’t there the last time, never got to experience the shock and joy of learning that he was going to be a parent. I can’t wait to experience that with him this time. With only a week to go before Christmas, I know the perfect way to let him know.
Axel gets home shortly after I do. We enjoy a nice lunch before he carries me upstairs for dessert.
I love afternoon dessert with Axel.
Luckily for me and my anticipation, the rest of the days before Christmas are spent with Axel trying unsuccessfully to locate Brandon. I am not focusing on that right now, because I know that tomorrow I will be sharing my news with Axel.
It is Christmas Eve and we have decided to spend the night in and watch old movies. I finally got ahold of Dee two days ago. She has basically disappeared since Beck carried her out of the bar. She was short and, I could tell, frustrated. We made tentative plans to exchange our gifts tomorrow, but that was all.
I drift off to sleep with a smile on my face and butterflies in my belly. Tomorrow is the day I make one of our dreams come true.
“Good morning, Princess, Merry Christmas,” I hear whispered lightly in my ear followed by a soft kiss behind my ear. “Time to get up. Breakfast and Santa,” he says with a smile.
“If you’re playing Santa, can I sit on your lap first?” I reply, rolling over and rubbing my throbbing nipples against his chest.
He lets out a groan before bringing his lips down to my own. He trails slow kisses and nips down my neck and across my collarbone and then drags his tongue across the swell of my breast before taking a painfully hard nipple into his mouth. He sucks deeply and flicks the tiny barbell with his tongue, bringing up his hand and pinching my other nipple between his fingers. I feel the sensation all over my body.
“How ready for me are you, Princess? Is your sweet fucking pussy dripping for me yet? Begging for my dick?” He trails his hand down my stomach, and my oversensitive skin screams for the feelings only he can bring me. “Huh, Princess? Want me to make you fucking scream?