Page 119 of Pucking With My Head

“I love you too,” he hummed, leaning over to kiss me.

“I was talking about Joey, but you’re not too bad.” I giggled as he squeezed me.

“Brat.”

“Old man.”

We were quiet for a moment before Gideon spoke. “Your anatomy scan is tomorrow, right? We find out the gender?”

I nodded. “It’s a bit later than normal, given the whole privacy situation, but better late than never.”

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“Actually”—I sat up straighter, looking him in the eye and holding on to his shoulders for balance—“I was thinking. Why don’t I take Joey?”

His brow furrowed in confusion.

“She’s slowly getting more involved in this pregnancy, and I want her to feel included, so I was thinking she can find out the gender with me and be the one to tell you.”

Gideon’s eyebrows rose, a look of impressed pride making me wiggle happily in his lap. “That’s an amazing idea. Are you sure you don’t mind driving?”

“I can handle a little driving, old man.”

“If we had time, I would show you just what this old man can do.”

“So she’ll take more pictures of your belly, and she’ll know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Joey asked as we pulled up outside the doctor’s office. She was still wearing her school uniform, as we had come straight from pickup to make the appointment. Her hair was in two little Dutch braids, thanks to Jensen, but they were starting to fall apart after a full day at school.

“That’s right, and once we know, we can go to the bakery and get some cupcakes for the daddies.”

Joey nodded enthusiastically. I had told her that once we knew the gender, we would get little cupcakes that had a secret filling that was either pink or blue. We had wanted to do something to surprise the dads, but we didn’t want to plan anything too extreme. After all, I was pretty sure Joey wouldn’t be able to keep the secret for longer than a few minutes.

The scan should have already happened, but we had been waiting to hear back regarding Jennifer Lowe.

The internal investigation was still pending, apparently, but my files had been locked up tight, and Jennifer had lost her access to the office. If she was found to be in the wrong, shewould have her access revoked permanently. It wasn’t until Jensen made the complaint that I learned that she was a part-time receptionist at that particular doctor’s office.

Joey grabbed my hand as we walked into the office.

The receptionist checked us in, and before we even made it to the waiting room, we were being called to see the doctor. The lack of wait was a good thing, because Joey was already jumping around with excitement.

Dr. Benson was just as sweet as last time, ushering me into the exam room with a warm smile. “Hello, Bethany, and who do we have here?” she asked as she noticed Joey.

“I’m Joey!” she declared excitedly. “I’m going to be the one to tell my daddies if the baby is a boy or a girl.”

Dr. Benson didn’t skip a beat. “Well, that’s a big responsibility! I guess we’d better find out. I also need to count all the baby’s fingers and toes.”

Joey listened to the doctor with rapt attention as I got on the exam table and lifted my shirt. Dr. Benson knew that this was my first pregnancy, so she was perfectly tactful when it came to what she was saying to Joey.

“Now, this is going to let me find out if you have a baby brother or a baby sister,” Dr. Benson explained to Joey as she started the sonogram.

She didn’t say anything for a few minutes as she scanned my stomach. Joey and I watched the screen, looking at the little formed baby.

“Okay, Baby looks all healthy, so now I just need to find out if they’re a little boy or a little girl!”

“I want a sister, but a boy would be okay,” Joey said, her tone serious.

Both the doctor and I chuckled at her words.

“I think I can tell,” she said after a moment, turning to Joey. “Now, Joey, do you want me to tell both you and Bethany, or should I tell just you?”

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