“So my due date was wrong last time?” Lia asks, looking confused.
“Oh no, that probably won’t change. Your baby is just a little ahead on growth. Look at those cheeks; you’ve got a little chunky monkey in there.” Brittany laughs and I feel my balls draw up into my fucking throat. Hasn’t she worked around pregnant women long enough to know that you never call anything even remotely attached to their body chunky? Dear God, Lia is probably going to come up off this bed and kill the twit.
Just as I thought, Lia asks sharply, “Are you calling my baby fat?”
Brittany seems to have caught on to the scent of danger because she gives Lia a wary look before quickly shaking her head. “Oh no, of course not. Your baby is just healthy.” I wince because I don’t see that answer going over much better. Brittany though, is luckily smarter than I’ve given her credit, because she launches into a quick subject change. “Who wants to know the sex of the baby?”
That does the trick; Lia forgets all about her fat baby rage and now resembles an eager puppy. “Can you really tell?” She looks at me with tears in her eyes. “We want to know, right, Luc?”
“We do,” I agree, feeling my throat tighten. This is really happening again and even though I’m not particularly religious, I thank God for giving me another chance to be a father.
Brittany taps a few times on her keyboard, enlarging an area on the screen, then says in a voice like a game show host, “Lia and Lucian, you’re having a girl.”
Lia is full on sobbing now, and I’m staring at the screen in some kind of trance. A girl? I mean, it’s not as if I didn’t know that it had to be one or the other, but I think in my mind, I’d assumed it was a boy. Suddenly, I can easily imagine a mini-version of Lia coming into this world, and I feel moisture gathering in my eyes as well. I rub Lia’s back gently as she leans her head against my shoulder. “Did you hear her, Luc?” she chokes out.
“I heard, baby, and I couldn’t be happier,” I say as I drop a kiss against her temple. “If I could wish for anything, it would be two of you. I never thought that was even possible until now.”
Lia’s tears, which had started to lessen, return with full force at my statement. It was completely true, but maybe I should have kept it to myself until Brittany found another box of tissues.
After what seems like hours, but is much less, we have our pictures and are back in the Range Rover. Lia falls limply against the seat and says, “Whew, that was intense.”
“No shit,” I deadpan, causing her to let loose with a fit of laughter. I think we both needed the comic relief.
“Are you disappointed it’s not a boy?” she asks as she looks down at her hands.
Taken aback by her question, I stare at her bent head for a moment before leaning across the console and putting one hand on the nape of her neck and the other on the swell of her stomach. “Not at all, baby. I was surprised because I don’t think I had let myself believe one way or the other. You and this baby are my miracles and the only thing I feel is utterly and completely blessed.”
“Luc?” she says lovingly.
“What, baby?” I answer, expecting at the least a declaration of her love.
“I’m so hungry. Could you stop at McDonald’s and buy a couple of cheeseburgers to tide me over until we meet Debra and Ray for dinner?”
I give a snort of surprise before patting her thigh. She’s eating for two now and our baby must have quite an appetite because a small meal before the main one has gotten to be the norm for her. “Of course, babe. Just hold tight. I also need to swing by Aidan’s to pick up the Kenson contracts. He was supposed to leave them out for me before leaving for the weekend.” When she gives me a worried look, I quickly add, “I’ll pick up your food first and you can eat it there, okay?”
Lia gives me a dazzling smile that lets me know I’m her hero or, in this case, her Ronald McDonald. “Thank you, honey.”
Thankfully, McDonald’s isn’t crowded and within twenty minutes, Lia is munching on a cheeseburger in Aidan’s kitchen while I flip through the signed contract. It’s taken months and a lot of negotiations, but Kenson will soon be a part of Quinn Software. Aidan worked his ass off on the deal and he’ll be well rewarded for it.
Lia gives a groan of bliss as she finishes her food and takes a sip of her drink. “Feeling better?” I smirk as she lets out a delicate burp.
Her cheeks bloom pink as she mumbles, “Excuse me. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”