Page 38 of Entirely Yours
Yeah, it’s next Thursday. I’ll be about 8 weeks along.
The three little dots pop up and then go away and then pop up again. I hate that I stare so intensely at the screen while I wait. Finally, he responds.
Jules
Would it be okay if I came to the appointment?
Oh. I honestly hadn’t thought about that. I scrunch my face up and repeat the mantra I’ve had running through my head lately:Give him a chance.
Ok.
The day of the appointment, I’m a nervous wreck. I haven’t seen Jules in over a week, though we’ve texted back and forth—he makes sure to remind me daily that we’ll be okay. He also left some nausea remedies in a bag on my doorstep last weekend but didn’t knock to let me know he’d dropped by.
When Ben and Gabe are home, they usually prop their door open so Chloe can run back and forth between the two apartments. She loves her newfound freedom now that I don’t feel like I have to watch her like a hawk.
She’s over there now, and Dad is dozing in his La-Z-Boy. I think he appreciates other adults being around, too, but would never say that outright. I walk over and lightly shake his shoulder.
“Dad, wake up.”
His eyes pop open. “Huh? What? I was awake. What’re you on about?”
He always claims he was actually awake and not taking a nap. “Right, well I’m about to leave. You still good with Chloe?”
He nods the affirmative, so I head over to get her from her new best friends’ house.
Walking into the hallway, I almost run smack into baby daddy himself. He’s holding a single stem rose—this one is peach.
“Holy shit, you scared me! How are your steps so quiet?” I demand.
His usual smirk appears beneath his trimmed facial hair, and I can’t help but ask, “Have you ever considered a mustache?”
Jules raises an eyebrow, holding the rose out for me. “Hello to you too, Thea.”
I take it, thanking him, and respond with, “I think we’ve moved past that, though, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you, maybe formal greetings are in order.”
He opens his mouth to speak when a little blonde streak runsinto the hallway, pausing long enough to take the rose from me. “Hi, JuJu! Bye, JuJu!” And then she’s gone, but I immediately clock the flinch that crosses Jules’ face.
“I can tell her not to call you that if you don’t like it.”
“No!” he rushes out. “I-I like that she calls me that. My sister does, too. I…” He shoves his hands in his pockets which draws my eye to his tanned and tattooed forearms. “I always want to make sure I’m respecting your boundaries with Chloe.”
My eyes snap back up to his because that is oddly refreshing to hear from a man. I take a deep breath. “Listen, we are going to be co-parenting, which will obviously be new for all of us. I really cannot see you crossing any lines that you shouldn’t, but I’ll let you know if you do. Deal?” And for some reason it feels like a good idea to hold my hand out for him to shake.
He stares down at it for a beat before sliding his hand into mine. It’s rough and warm and—dammit! This is the reason we are here in the first place.
I snatch my hand back and brush past him toward the stairs. “Right. Let’s go,” I call over my shoulder.
Jules doesn’t respond but I can feel him behind me.
In fact, he’s silent all the way to the doctor’s office. He insisted on driving, opening the door for me, and even helping me into the car, though, that felt like an excuse for us to touch again.
I didn’t mind.
What I do mind, however, is the silence.
My palms are sweating, and I really should get an award for the amount of times I hold back from blurting out a random statement. After we park, Jules reaches over and stops my hands from rubbing up and down my thighs for the zillionth time.
“I’m nervous, too,” he says.
