Page 118 of Rival
“Fast,” Griffin chokes out. “That’s good, right? Her heart beatin’ that quickly? I read it’s much faster than an average adult but hearin’ it instead of readin’ about it is so different.”
Grinning, the doctor fake whispers to Edith. “This is my favorite part. The dad, well, in your case,dads, always react strongly to this. She sounds great, mom. Perfect even.” Glancing at us with dancing eyes, she keeps the machine on Edith’s stomach for a while longer, allowing us time to keep listening.
My vision goes a bit unfocused, and I realize there’s a sheen of moisture in them. Dragging my eyes away from where our little girl’s heart is, I meet Edith’s unblinking stare. She’s watching us react to hearing the baby for the first time, a content smile decorating her unbelievably gorgeous face.
I can’t believe this is actually happenin’.
Lunging forward when the sound disappears, I want to plead with the doctor to put it back. I’m not done hearing that sound. With my hand resting over my heart, I feel my own thump-thump-thump racing almost as fast as hers.
Christ, I think I just synced up to my kid.
“Okay, let’s talk about you now. Tell me how you’re feeling.”
I’m rooted in place, not wanting to move at all and lose this tempo under my hand as it continues to beat just likehers.
Griffin moves next to Edith and helps her sit up, who closes her gown and removes my baby from view.It fuckin’ hurts.
Only picking up bits and pieces of Edith’s soft voice as she explains things about some aches and pains in different areas, then answering the doctor’s questions about her morning sickness, I finally come back to myself when Dr. Willet says, “Let’s try the Pyridoxine again.”
“What’s that?” I ask, cutting her off.
She silences me with her eyes, and instead of answering, she continues as if I never spoke. “I think it wasn’t helping last time because you were taking the pre-natal vitamins with it, but I’d like to try cutting the vitamins down and see if those aren’t making your nausea more rampant. Are you okay with that?”
Sighing in relief, Edith agrees. “I’ll try anything.”
“I’m concerned about your weight gain, well, lack thereof, but if we can get you some relief with the vomiting, your weight should start going up. We’re getting to the point in your pregnancy where we’re looking for larger increases each week until D-day.”
“D-day?” Griffin sounds so confused, his head turned to the side in curiosity.
Snickering at her own joke, she crosses her legs and leans forward. “Delivery day. Best day in the world!” Winking at Edith, she claps excitedly. “It’s gonna be a party. I’ll give you a list of foods to try. Keep up your water intake. That’s most important. I’ll have the nurse come in and schedule you to come back in two weeks. Normally we wait a month, but I want to see how the meds are working and adjust if necessary.”
Thanking her, the guys and I follow the doctor out of the room so Edith can get dressed, then before I can blink, we’re back out in the lot with an appointment card in all of our hands.
“Shit,” mutters Griffin, glancing back toward the hospital. “I had a ton of questions. I forgot to ask all of them.”
Laughing softly, Edith shakes her head at him. “Text me your questions and I’ll do my best to answer.” Turning to me, then Jaxon, she asks a bit nervously, “Are you all going to come again?”
“Yes, I fuckin’ am,” I state, hitting her with a look that I hope she sees as my promise I’ll be here every step of the way.
The other two agree as well, and this time, Jaxon walks her back to her car. Then the three of us stand shoulder to shoulder as we watch her drive away.
Forcing ourselves to get back in the truck, we spend our drive coming up with a plan on how to help her with the nausea and food we can start stockpiling at her place. The conversation moves to how amazing it was to hear the baby’s heartbeat, the changes to her body, and what we get to look forward to.
My hand finds my chest once more and my lip curls up when I realize it’s still beating just as quickly as hers. I’ve memorized the sound of my daughter’s heart.
Chapter Fifty-One
Jaxon
27 weeks and 4 days
Not seeing Edith is fucking crushing me. It’s not that our communication has been nonexistent, but she’s held me at a distance and I’m beginning to panic that it’ll be too late in her eyes to undo the damage I did.
Shealwaysanswers the phone when I call her. Ignoring anyone just isn’t something she’d do. Our conversations are always peaceful, but the moment I try to go into anything deeper beyond how her pregnancy is going and how she’s handling the changes with Clayborn being gone, she shifts the conversation to a lighter, more superficial topic.
I did manage to draw her out and ride with me over to the barn the guys and I completed while she was away. She wanted to see it all finished, and there was a sad longing when she looked it over. A disappointment that she wasn’t there to see the project to the end.
But that was ten days ago. I’m literally living off the sound of her voice and pieces of information I manage to squeeze out of Mason and Griffin.
