Page 224 of Redeeming 6

“Fuck them,” I told her, casting a warning glare at a particularly pervy father-to-be who was eyeing my girlfriend’s legs. “They don’t know us.”

“Joe, we’re the only teenagers here,” she continued to ramble, tone panicked. “That girl over there looks like she’s in her early twenties, but that’s it. All these women are way older than me.”

“It doesn’t matter, Molloy,” I tried to soothe. “Age is just a number.”

“You’re right,” she agreed, smoothing down the hem of her pleated skirt. “You’re absolutely right, Joe.” Reaching for my hand, she shifted closer, welding her side to mine. “God, I need to pee so bad.”

“Just hold it,” I replied. “You read the form. It said you need a full bladder.”

“Yeah, but it’s so uncomfortable.” She squirmed in discomfort. “Distract me.”

“How?”

“Tell me who was on the phone.”

“Shannon,” I replied, sighing heavily. “She’s gone to Dublin with the school.”

“Really? You never mentioned it.”

“Because I didn’t know,” I admitted. “Yeah, that’ll be fun to explain to the old man when he gets wind of it.”

“No.” Her hand tightened around mine. “No, no, no, you don’t need to explain anything, okay? You need to just stay away from that asshole. Let your mother handle it.”

“Molloy.”

“I’m serious, Joe,” she choked out, pulling my hand onto her lap. “I can’t cope with knowing he’s hurting you—”

“Aoife Molloy?” a frazzled-looking nurse called out, thankfully putting an end to the conversation. “You’re up, sweetheart.”

“Oh Jesus.” Looking like a deer caught in headlights, Molloy sprang to her feet, dragging me with her. “Don’t leave me, Joe,” she whispered with a death grip on my hand as we followed the nurse. “Don’t leave my side.”

“I won’t,” I promised, letting her pull me into the dimly lit room with her. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“My name is Margaret, and I’m the ultrasound technician,” the woman introduced herself, closing the door behind us. “You’re here for your dating scan, is that right?”

“Uh, yeah?” Molloy croaked out, and then reluctantly let go of my hand when the woman led her over to the examination table. “Uh, he’s the father, so can he stay with me?”

“Sure, Dad can sit on the chair next to you.”

Dad.

Holy fuck.

“Joe?” Molloy squeezed out, eyeing me meaningfully from her perch on the table as she lay on her back and held out her hand.

“Shit, yeah.” Shaking my head to clear the panic, I closed the space between us, sank down on the chair next to the table, and grabbed her hand.

“According to your notes, this is your first pregnancy,” the technician stated as she lubed my girlfriend’s belly with a bottle of clear gel. “The first day of your last menstrual cycle was December fourteenth, is that correct?”

“Uh, yeah,” Molloy croaked out. “That’s right. I had some spotting at the end of January, but my friend was saying that might be—”

“Implantation bleeding,” the technician filled in with a knowing nod. “Uh-huh. And you’re a half twin, is that right?” Stuffing a wad of tissues under the waistband of my girlfriend’s skirt, she fiddled with the ultrasound machine next to the table, tapping buttons and typing on the little keyboard. “Fraternal? Dizygotic?”

“Uh…” Molloy looked to me and I shrugged, having no fucking clue what any of it meant. “Yeah, sure?”

“Okay, well, let’s just have a look.” Retrieving the wand from the machine, the woman rolled it over my girlfriend’s stomach. “You’ll feel lots of pressure on your lower abdomen and pelvic area, but it shouldn’t be painful.”

Attention riveted to the screen in front of us, I watched as it transformed from darkness to a weird pale orb, with a strong pulsing movement coming from the middle of it.

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