Page 83 of Nanny for the SEAL

TWENTY-EIGHT

Ivy

“Alright, Ms. Campbell, let’s take a look under the hood, shall we?”

My pulse is way too noticeable as I lie back on the table. Xaden is right there beside me, though, and squeezing his hand does help.

“This is going to feel a little weird, but it shouldn’t be uncomfortable at all. If it is, tell me.”

I nod at the ultrasound tech, and then she squirts weird, slightly blue jelly onto my lower belly. It’s warm, thankfully, but it does feel distinctly like someone just hawked a loogie on my stomach.

“Ugh.” I grimace.

“You okay?” Xaden squeezes my hand back, and I look up at him and find his brows crinkled together.

I smile, patting the back of his hand with my free one. “Yes, I’m fine. It just feels kind of gross.”

The woman running the device laughs. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

She starts moving the wand around my stomach, pushing in slightly before sliding to a new spot. There’s a screen that shows what’s going on in there, but I can’t make heads or tails of what I’m seeing.

“This your first?” she asks.

Xaden and I answer at the same time, but I say yes, whereas he says no.

“Oh, sorry.” He flinches, ducking his head.

The situation isn’t exactly straightforward, but it’s not like blended families don’t exist. I shake my head again, turning back to the tech, whose name is Barbara going by the name tag.

She probably told me, too, but I’ll admit to being a little distracted.

“He has a daughter from a previous marriage. This is my first pregnancy, though.”

Barbara nods. “Ah, gotcha. Well, you’re in good hands. Juggling the kiddos will be a trip, though, I’ll tell you. I have two birth kids and two steps kids. It’s a treat.”

I can hear the “hold onto your ass” in her tone, but there’s that love behind it, too. The kind that I imagine most mothers offer their kids.

The thought makes my chest pinch. I haven’t gotten another text from my mother since the first, and it’s been two days. Maybe she’s over it.

“So, where’s the big sister to be?”

Xaden sighs. “She’s with a family friend. We haven’t told her about all this yet.”

“Oh, well, don’t stress, honey.” Barbara grins, reaching up to pat Xaden’s hand like I did. “Kids take this kind of stuff really well. She’ll be excited to have a sibling and then immediately over it when she realizes it’s going to be a while yet.”

We both laugh. It’s exactly the kind of comforting anecdote we needed to hear.

“Alright, well, if you look here,” Barbara points at the screen, “you see this open-looking space. That’s your uterus, and that little dot on the inside is baby.”

My breath catches, and I grip Xaden’s hand. It’s really in there. I can see it. Burning fills my eyes, and my heart rate kicks up as my emotions get the better of me.

“Based on what I can see, you’re still very early in your pregnancy. I’d say just coming up to four weeks, which lines up with what you’ve told me about when your last period was.”

I nod, and then my brain starts spitting up questions like it’s going out of style, my stomach churning.

“I’ve been extremely nauseated. Is that normal? Can I do anything? I mean, I know pregnancy makes you feel nauseous, but damn, this is rough. I was taking my birth control up until the test. Is that why? Will that do anything to hurt the baby?”

“Calm down, babe. Try to take a breath.” Xaden’s voice is soothing in my ear, and he rubs the back of my hand as Barbara cleans up the goo from my stomach.

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