Page 11 of A Baby for Christmas
I grimaced, and even Robin's smile began to falter—but that was something I couldn't allow. I didn't want Robin to feel bad. I wanted to protect his smile like it was the most precious thing in the world. For some reason, I felt even more protective of him now than I usuallydid.
Because he was carrying mychild?
Could thatbe?
"I'm sorry," I made myself say while the chaos in my head raged on. "I just can't believe this ishappening."
"Yeah, me neither." Robin bit his lower lip. "It's kind of insane, isn't it? We broke up because you didn't want to have a baby with me and now I'm having your baby,anyway."
I nodded. That summed it upnicely.
"I get that you're not ecstatic about this," Robin continued, "but this is like, ahugething for me and I wanted to share it with you. You're my bestfriend."
"And you're mine." I stroked a hand back through my hair, suppressing a sigh. Somehow, I managed to force a smile on my face. "I know this is huge for you, and I know you're going to be a fantasticparent."
"Thank you. I'll try anyway." Doubt started to shine in his eyes. "It's not going to beeasy."
"You'll be fine." I grabbed his hand, finally following my impulses. My friend needed support and I was going to give it. He didn't seem to mind either. His smile was coming back, in any case. My stomach unclenched seeing it. Somehow, things were going to be fine; I had to believe that. "Have you made an appointment with a doctoryet?"
"No, but I'll call next week. I was thinking maybe I should go somewhere out of town. I don't want anyone here to knowyet."
"I don't think your doctor is allowed to tell anyone about your pregnancy," I said, squeezing his hand. I hated that he had to hide things like this, how much people loved to run their mouths aboutomegas.
"No, but people would see me in the waiting room, and they're certainly allowed to chat. Some of my students' parents could be there. It would be adisaster."
"I see." Of course. This was going to wreck his reputation. I bit my teeth together. What sort of alpha, what sort of friend was I if I let him do this by himself? "I can take responsibility, youknow?"
He shook his head. "No. You didn’t want this child." As if knowing that I was about to protest, he held his free hand up as he spoke on, determination shining in his beautiful green eyes. "I’m not going to drag you into this. I made a promise and I intend to keepit."
"Let me at least drive you to your appointment," Iinsisted.
"Are you sure you want to dothat?"
"Yeah, I am." It was the least I could do. My friend was right that I didn’t want to be a parent, but this was Robin. Besides, I was only offering to get him to a doctor's appointment. Any friend would do that, even if they weren't the baby's father,right?
Robin rewarded me with a quick peck on the cheek. "Thankyou."
"You're welcome," I said, feeling my skin tingle where Robin's lips had touched it. Part of me wanted to stop walking and give him a proper kiss. Having him so close was the sweetest torture, especially now that my alpha instincts were reacting to the knowledge of hispregnancy.
How was I going to survive the next ninemonths?
7
Ben
Robin gota doctor's appointment for the end of the month. Keeping true to my word, I drove him there. He thanked me again. I told him it was what anyone would do. Honestly, I felt pretty useless, considering the only thing I could do for him was drive himaround.
"I'm kind of nervous," he admitted when we finally sat in the waiting room. "What if it was a false positive orsomething?"
"Did you take only that onetest?"
"No." Heblushed.
I chuckled. "You're going to be fine. I'm sure the baby will be finetoo."
"Okay." He took a deep breath. I wished there was more I could do to make him comfortable. Maybe distract him somehow? Getting an idea, I took out my wallet and fished for old receipts. I always kept a couple around that I probably wasn't going to need anymore. After a short search, I found the receipt for a toaster I'd bought a year ago. Perfect. I started foldingit.
"What are youdoing?"
