Page 150 of All The Things: The Last Thing He Needs Omnibus

“Okay, good. And kiddo is healthy, so no bad surprises, right?”

She only nodded and smiled again.

“Gavin just texted. I guess my mom’s plane is late, so, uh…”

Tina looked at the little flower-shaped clock on her nightstand. “Shoot, I’ll be late for my checkup.”

“Any chance you can reschedule?”

“Yeah, probably, but the last class is tonight too. They were going to go over positions and breathing and stuff.”

That sounded pretty important. “Well, it would take almost an hour to get a cab out here. I haven’t tried Uber or anything before—we could maybe do that?” Ben wasn’t sure how that worked, but he figured he could look it up easily enough. “It’s a really short ride on the back of my bike…” Oh, Gavin would kill him.

Tina worried her lip between her teeth, looking like she was considering it. “Gavin made me promise not to ride on the bike.”

“Yeah, he threatened me with…” Tina probably didn’t need to know the exact wording of Gavin’s threat. “Well, bodily harm. But I’m not seeing a lot of other options. Tony and most everyone we know is at work right now, so…”

He hadn’t crashed a bike since he was Tina’s age, and that was because he was too stupid and too young and felt invincible.

When it looked like Tina might agree, when she stood up and grabbed her purse, Ben went on autopilot to the front closet. He grabbed his thick, padded jacket for her, reached for Gavin’s helmet, but every worst-case scenario he’d ever heard started to play on a loop in his head. Damn it all. It’s not like they were in the middle of a life-or-death emergency, right?

Tina was right behind him when he turned around. “Ya know, on second thought. How about you call and see if you can get your appointment moved to after the class? Then we can just stroll over there, right? It’s a short ride, so the walk can’t be that bad. Or I could just do the Uber thing.”

God, she looked relieved. “I’ve walked there before. It’s nice, and it’s good for the baby. There’s even a park with benches on the way if I need to rest.”

He nodded and shoved his gear back into the closet.

A few minutes later, they were on their way. Tina had called and they were able to move her appointment to the following day. Apparently the nurse was emphatically against her riding a motorbike anywhere. So, okay, good call on his part.

Tina looked up at him as they walked, shielding her eyes from the bright sun overhead. “Why the long sleeves?” Fair question, given how warm it was.

“Ink can fade in the sun, or get blotchy and look like shit, then I have to touch it up. It’s easier to just wear lightweight shirts.”

She nodded and asked, “Does it hurt? While you’re doing it, I mean. It looks like it would hurt.”

“Sometimes. Some more than others. Neck hurts, back of the arm, but it’s not too bad. I’ve seen guys cry like little girls on my table, and I’ve had other people fall asleep. Just depends on the person, I guess.” He glanced down at her, watched the way she held her hand under her belly like she was trying to support it. “What about that?” Ben nodded toward her. “That looks a lot more uncomfortable.”

“Sometimes,” she echoed with a small laugh. “It’s kinda cool, though. He moves all the time now.”

“He?”

“Well, mostly I just feel weird saying ‘it’ all the time.”

“But you think it’s a boy?”

Tina nodded, but she looked embarrassed too. “I think so. I mean, I know I can’t really know, but…”

“Mom thinks so too,” Ben told her, as if it were a secret. “The last picture I sent, she texted me back and said you were probably having a boy. Something about how high it is or something.”

Her expression brightened, like she needed the confirmation that it was okay to speculate. “I mean, I don’t care either way, but it’d be cool to be right.”

“It’d be cool to prove me and Gavin wrong too.” They’d been betting the baby would be a girl for weeks now.

Tina laughed then. “Yeah, that too.” She turned off the sidewalk onto a footpath. “It’s faster if we cut through the park.”

Ben followed along, glad for the shade. “You don’t come through here alone, I hope.”

“I used to, but some guy looked like he was following me once, so I haven’t done it again.”

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