Page 42 of His to Love
He’d brought that up when he’d told me he thought Alexa was in love with me. And I hadn’t said anything to contradict him. I hadn’t said anything at all, really. I’d let him do all the talking.
I wasn’t sure if he’d said anything to Alexa about his suspicions. If he had, she didn’t say a thing to me about it. But I was sure she would be too embarrassed to bring it up to me anyway.
Later, as we drove home from the appointment, Alexa’s phone rang. “It’s the doctor. She must’ve already seen the sonogram,” she explained as she hit answer. “Hello, Doctor Barclay.”
Alexa put the phone on speaker so I could hear too. “I’ve gotten the results of the sonogram and the baby looks great. There is still a small hematoma that I’m concerned about this far into the pregnancy. So, I am revising your orders some. I want you to stay off your feet. You can go back and forth to the bathroom, but that’s about it,” she let us know.
“Patton, I want you to get a chair for the shower, so she can sit to bathe. No baths in the bathtub, though. If there is any bleeding at all, any cramps, contractions, anything that is worrisome to you, I want you to call me directly. Don’t go through the office. If, for some reason, you don’t get a hold of me and I don’t return your call within a half hour, I want you to go to the labor and delivery department at Saint David’s and let them know what’s happening. I’ll advise them of your situation today, so they’ll be prepared and know about your case already. I’ll come by next Wednesday at noon. I’ll be coming to see you each week, so be ready for me to do pelvic exams each visit. Can you do that for me?”
“We can,” I said as I smiled at Alexa. “Not a problem at all. We’ve got this.”
“Thank you, Doctor Barclay,” Alexa said, but she looked grim. “See you next week. Bye.”
Reaching over, I took her hand. I knew she wasn’t happy with the results. “I know you think this part is going to be rough.”
Tears fell in rivers down her cheeks, which had turned red. “This is just so scary, Patton.”
“I know, baby. I know.” My heart hurt for her. I had no idea what it meant to be in her shoes. The life of the baby inside of her relied on her body until it was ready to come out.
“How come no one ever tells you that this sort of thing can happen?” she sobbed. “I don’t know why I thought I would have it easy when my own mother had it so hard. I don’t know why I let that man take my virginity. I don’t know why I let him have sex with me four more times, when every time was just a disappointment. I just kept thinking that it had to get better than that, or no one would bother to do it—except for procreation purposes.”
My blood boiled at the thought of that low-life fucker using someone like Alexa just for sex. “He isn’t worth talking about, baby. He’s a worthless piece of shit. I wish I could erase all that from your mind. I wish I could make this baby mine and not his.”
She pulled our clasped hands to her heart as she cried. “This baby is yours. He will always be yours. Never doubt that. I will forget about that awful man. I swear to you that I will. I will never utter his name again. I will never whine about my stupidity. From now on, I will only think one thought about this child. He is yours. You are his father. That’s the way it is and the way it will always be,” I could hear the conviction ringing in her voice. She’d made a complete turnaround from where she’d begun.
Nodding, I couldn’t help but wonder how much the boy would end up looking like the biological father. After all, they were both full-blooded Hispanics, and I was—well, I was just a Caucasian with some Irish and German in my blood.
What if people don’t think he’s my real son? What if Alexa’s parents don’t think I’m the real father?
I didn’t say a word about my worries out loud. Alexa had enough on her mind without my fears getting into her head. And right now, she needed me to be strong—she needed me to be her rock.
“Let’s just clam down. You know I’ll be here every step of the way.” I did mean that. I didn’t ever want things to end. I wanted so much more with her. I could feel her heart pounding inside her chest, and knew I had to calm her down—and quickly. “How about we drive through Starbucks and get that pink drink you love so much?”
“I think that sounds amazing.” She let my hand go so she could find some tissues to dry her tears and blow her nose. “I don’t know how you can put up with my emotional meltdowns.”
“You’re not so bad.” I had to laugh. “Some of the guys I know have horror stories about how their wives or girlfriends were when they were pregnant. You’re like a walk in the park compared to those stories. I’m thankful for you.”
Looking at me from the corner of her eyes, I saw a smile slowly take over her frown. “I’m extremely thankful for you.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of a great guy,” I joked.
“Youarea totally great guy. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise.” With a heavy sigh, she seemed to have calmed down and let everything else go. “So, a pink drink, and how about one of those little cake pops?”
“I think you deserve that and more. I’ll have dinner delivered tonight from anywhere you want. You can have anything. Anything at all. Lobster. Duck. I don’t want you to even look at the price of anything. You want it, you get it.” I wanted to make her happy. I loved to see her smiling with that special light in her eyes.
Moving her hands over her stomach, she asked the baby, “Baby Patton, what would you like to eat for dinner?”
Baby Patton? Um, no.“Let’s call him Patty. I always wanted to be called that, but no one ever would. My mother wouldn’t let anyone call any of us by a nickname. I want our son to have a cute nickname.”
“Patty it is then.” She looked down at her tummy. “Do you like that?” Her eyes went wide as she reached for my hand. “He kicked!”
I rested my hand on her stomach then felt another kick. “Oh, my God! That’s insane!” I knew right then and there that I wanted to be touching her tummy as much as I could.
After what the doctor said, it didn’t sound like such a weird request. It sounded like I’d be doing pretty much everything for her from now on. So, a quick decision came to mind. “Things are going to change some at home.”
“Like how?” She had her phone out, looking up the restaurants she could pick from. “Do you think French food is good?”
“I don’t care for it. But if you’d like to give it a try, then we will.” I wouldn’t stop her from ever doing a thing she wanted.
“I don’t know. It looks iffy. So, what things are going to change at home?” She swiped to go to the next screen, still searching.
“I’m going to sleep with you from here on out. In the same bed.”
The way her jaw dropped told me I’d shocked her. “You’re what?”
Well, looks like she’s not into that idea at all.
