Page 72 of Surprise Mother Pucker

Charlotte’s eyes were drooping as she snuggled into Storm. “You're going to have to go put her down in her crib soon,” I told him.

“Can we have just a few more minutes?” he asked. “I feel like I've missed out on so much, I want to soak up every bit of it.”

“Sure.” I nodded, my heart aching at the distraught look on his face.

We ended up sitting there for another three hours while I struggled to keep my eyes open, the busy day taking its toll on me.

Eventually, I gave up and let the lull of sleep claim me.

Chapter 30

Eli

“Are you sure you can take the morning off?” Kennedy asked. “It’s not like I haven’t been through this before.”

She was sitting at our kitchen counter, feeding mashed-up banana to Charlotte, wearing a large sweatshirt of mine and a pair of leggings with her hair thrown up in a bun.

To me, she had never looked better.

“For the twentieth time, of course I can. I want to be there for every appointment,” I insisted.

It was time for her first medical appointment, and I was excited to go. According to my Internet research, they were going to do a scan at this appointment, so there was a good chance I would get to see our baby.

“And you’re sure that Storm doesn't mind babysitting Charlotte this morning?”

“Babysitting?” Storm asked indignantly as he wandered into the kitchen, walking over to Charlotte and placing a kiss on the top of her head. “I resent that. I am merely parenting. I am not babysitting.”

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “Let me guess, Sunny told you to never call or view it as babysitting?”

Storm beamed at me. “Yep. In fact, she described something I didn't think was anatomically possible that she would do to me if I ever referred to watching Char as babysitting. I understood her point, though, so I will never call it babysitting when I'm looking after my little angel.” He said the last part as he looked down at Charlotte, gently weaving his fingers through her tufts of hair.

“Have I mentioned lately how much I freaking love Sunny?” Kennedy said as she cooed at Charlotte.

“She is pretty awesome,” I agreed, taking a sip of my coffee.

“How are we doing today?” the doctor asked as she entered the room where Kennedy and I were waiting.

“Hey, Dr. Helm. I’m feeling good.” Kennedy greeted her warmly before turning to me. “Dr. Helm was the one who delivered Charlotte.”

“And how is that sweet baby girl doing?”

“She's doing everything in her power to figure out how to crawl away from me.”

The doctor laughed. “I remember those days well. So, you're here for a pregnancy appointment by the looks of it,” she said, checking her tablet. “Well, congratulations. Are you Dad?” she asked, turning to me.

I nodded. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Okay, so the nurse took some blood, didn't she? The first order of business will be a scan, so we can measure the size of the fetus and figure out how many weeks along you are.”

Kennedy nodded. “If it helps, I'm pretty certain I know the exact date I conceived.”

The doctor's eyebrows rose. “I love that, but I do think it's best to always double-check these things. What’s your bet?”

“I’m eleven weeks along right now—well, eleven weeks post-conception.”

I silently thanked the universe that Google existed. If I hadn't done copious Internet searches before coming to this appointment, I wouldn't have known how calculating gestation worked. To my utter surprise, it wasn't simply the day the child was conceived; it was the weeks from the last day of a woman’s period…or something like that. It was a type of math that baffled even me.

“Okay, then, why don’t you hop on the table, and I’ll get scanning,” the doctor said, gesturing to the examination table in the corner of the room.

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