Page 91 of Nitro

Holly starts to collapse, but Doc catches her and sets her on the bed beside me.

“Maybe I should have brought my smelling salts.” He chuckles. “I’ll get you some water. Sit tight.”

When he comes back with two glasses, I’m almost back to normal. My vision’s not nearly as hazy, but my stomach’s still rolling.

“That’s why you’re eating pickles like they’re going extinct,” Holly finally says.

“Pickles?” Doc raises a brow at me. “What kind of medical empath are you? Didn’t you suspect you were feeling her cravings?”

“No,” I say lamely.

“How often are you eating them?”

“He goes through a jar every other day,” Holly says, smirking.

“That’s a lot of salt. We should check your blood pressure.”

Before Doc can pull out the cuff, I stop him. “I’m fine, but damn, this explains so much. I’ve also been eating double rockyroad fudge ice cream by the gallon, and I don’t even like that shit. It’s death by chocolate.”

“Wait until you try the ‘pickles for two’ flavor,” Doc says.

“Gross. Is that a real thing?” Holly asks.

“It is. I’ll be sure to order a whole case of it for your man.”

“Don’t you dare. Okay, maybe just one pint so I can try it.” Who the hell am I kidding? I’m getting sick of all that other stuff.

“Baby, we’re going to be parents,” Holly whispers. Tears brim in her eyes. I hope to God they’re happy tears.

“How do you feel about that?” I ask.

“I’ll leave you two to talk. If you need anything, call me. Tomorrow I’ll stop by with prenatal vitamins. In the meantime, no alcohol, obviously. You don’t smoke, so that’s good. Yeah, that about does it. Congratulations. Once the shock wears off, you’ll have a million questions. My phone’s always on for both of you.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Holly gives him a hug before he leaves.

Once we’re alone, I wrap her in a gentle embrace. We hold each other for several minutes, not speaking, just trying to get a handle on our emotions. I’m happy. I’m terrified. I don’t know what to think.

“I love you, kitten. No matter what, that will never change. I’m going to try to be a good dad. I swear I will.” My voice cracks.

“Oh, honey. You’re going to be the best father our child could ever want. That is, if you still want me. Us. Me and the baby.” She looks up at me with fear in her eyes.

“I want you and the baby, forever. I was going to wait to do this, but fuck, why the hell not now?” I kiss her lips before releasing her. After grabbing the little black box from the bottom drawer of my dresser, I get down on one knee. “I was going to be all romantic and shit, but I can’t wait. Holly, I have loved you since the day we met. No woman could ever compete with you. It really was love at first sight, as lame as it sounds.”

“Oh, Nitro.”

“Hold on. There’s more. I’m not going to lie. I’m freaking the fuck out about the baby. There’s no way I’m ready for this, but I’ll get there. I’ve got nine months to get my shit together and figure out how to be the kind of man our kid can look up to.”

“Sweetie, you’re already the epitome of perfection.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” I laugh. “Watch out before you inflate my ego beyond what I can handle.”

“I think you need a little ego-inflating. You’re too hard on yourself about this dad stuff. No one’s good at it without trying. We’re going to read all the books and watch every video. As you said, we’ve got nine months to learn as much as we can.”

“Maybe less. We don’t know how far along you are.”

“I’m guessing less than three months since my stomach’s not poking out yet.” She runs a palm over her flat belly.

“We need to make an appointment to get that baby picture thing done.”