“You really believe that?” she asked nervously.
“With all my heart.”
25
“Is it done?” I asked Diana, the manager of the Tide club shop, as I entered.
Face lighting up, she beamed. “Sure is, honey. It’s so damn cute I almost died!”
Leaning on the counter, I waited as she disappeared out back, then came back holding it up proudly for me to see.
“Jesus Christ,” I whispered, and pride burst into my chest.
“Hey, no blaspheming!” Diana joked. “But yeah, I get why you said it. Adorable, ain’t it?”
“It’s perfect,” I replied, pretty damn speechless.
Wrapping it in tissue paper and putting it into a white gift box, she looked at me and asked, “So who’s this for, darlin’?”
“A relative,” I answered, not even missing a beat. No one could know yet.
Smiling wide, she giggled. “Well, you’ll be their favorite person in the whole damn world giving them a gift as good as this!”
“Yeah, hope so.”
Taking the gift box and hiding it in the back of my truck, I pulled out onto the road to pick up my girl. It’d taken a few weeks to get the appointment, but I’d secured the best ob-gyn in all of Tuscaloosa, and we were heading there now for our first appointment.
We’d been advised to come in early due to Molly’s momma’s condition. Hearing that conversation on our initial meeting with the GP nearly had me going insane. As if the worry of my parents finding out about our little angel wasn’t enough, finding out that Molly’s momma died of something called severe preeclampsia almost had me collapsing to the floor. We’d been advised to choose an ob-gyn as soon as possible due to this, and Dr. Adams had requested an appointment immediately.
Fucking preeclampsia—just one more worry to add to the already sky-high pile.
I knocked on Mol’s front door and she answered with a nervous smile and immediately moved in for a hug.
“You okay, baby?” I asked, rubbing her back.
Looking up, she answered, “Just nervous, I guess.”
Holding out my hand, I tipped my head toward the truck. “Let’s go.”
“You must be Molly. I’m Dr. Adams.” He introduced himself, standing to greet us.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Adams.” Molly shook his hand and turned to me, laying a hand on my arm. “This is my boyfriend, Romeo.”
The doctor sent me a huge smile and shook my hand, saying, “Nice to meet you, Bullet. I’m a big fan—season ticket holder.”
“And I recognize your face, Miss Shakespeare. The good luck charm that’s going to help Bullet here lead us to the championship again.”
I watched Mol blush, still hating the attention, and I pulled her into my chest. “She sure is. Thank you, sir.”
And then he asked the one question I really didn’t want him to. “Any news on the draft? Seattle Seahawks are dying this season. Their quarterback was forced to retire early through injury, and you’re a sure win for first draft.”
I flashed a panicked glance to Mol. The day I’d learned Seattle was looking like an option, Molly found out we were pregnant, and I hadn’t dared bring it up with her since. I wasn’t sure what my future held for us now. We hadn’t even talked about our next step beyond making sure she and our baby were healthy.
Shifting uncomfortably, I answered, “I know as much as you, sir, but from what I’ve been hearing from my coaches, Seattle is a big possibility for me.”
We sat down, and I got the meaning of Molly’s long hand squeeze. We would be talking about Seattle later—great.
“Okay, you two, let’s meet your baby,” Dr. Adams said excitedly.
When the time came for the sonogram, I swear I’d never been more nervous for anything in my life. The doc inserted a long camera-looking thing inside my girl and she gripped onto my hand, squeezing it like a vise as I pressed kisses along her fingers.
When a tiny picture appeared on the screen beside Molly’s head, all the breath left my body. I felt Molly stiffen and once again tighten her grip on my hand, but I couldn’t speak. I don’t know what the hell happened in that moment, but the stark realization that what I was looking at was a baby my girl and I created was life changing.
I loved Molly more than anything and often wondered if anything else in my life would ever come close to how I felt for her, but seeing our baby, hearing its tiny heartbeat, I realized I could love another in an entirely different way. The man who never thought he would ever love anyone, was incapable of such an emotion, right here in this room held the hand of the woman who’d not only opened his eyes and heart, but was also gifting him with the perfect unison of us both: a child.
Feeling wetness on my cheek, I realized I was crying, and for the first time ever, it was in happiness.
“Everything looks great and it measures as though you are… about… ah… about eight weeks along,” Dr. Adams said, interrupting my fixation on the screen.
Seven months. In seven months we would have a little one of our own.
Dr. Adams passed Molly a picture of the sonogram, and standing up, I kissed her head, watching her staring, disbelieving, at our little angel. Turning to me, she smiled and placed the Polaroid on the bed beside her. She got that I was spellbound by everything happening lately, and as always, she put me first, knowing I needed to see that picture. It was the security that my life was now infinitely better.
“You can get dressed now, Molly, and we’ll see you again in about two months unless you experience any of the problems we discussed. If so, you need to come straight back.” High blood pressure, dizziness, extreme swelling, severe headaches, abdominal pain, blurred vision… Fuck me, the list seemed endless. I knew I’d become an overbearing dick, but shit, there was no way I was losing the two most precious things in my life. I’d never forgive myself if I did.
“Can we find out the sex, then?” Molly asked quietly.
“Hopefully,” the doctor replied and slapped my back, forcing me to look up from the tiny image of our baby. “Congratulations, son, I’ll see you at the championship in Georgia and Roll Tide!”
“Roll Tide,” I croaked out.
Dr. Adams left, and Molly put the picture in my hand before shuffling to get off the bed.
As I watched her contented face, a small, happy smile still there on her lips, I just needed to hold her. Picking her up in my arms, I crushed her to my chest, just breathing in her vanilla scent.