Page 80 of Endure the Pain
“I thought I should introduce myself since I’ll be tagging along during these…exchangesand will take over when Maura’s impending motherhood hinders her availability,” Sean said.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I mumbled, unintentionally. The fucktard was already planning my exit and his takeover. What was worse was that he didn’t care how transparent he was about it.
Nicoli didn’t acknowledge my slip. He continued to scrutinize Sean with a hint of disdain. “The deal I have is with Maura and a stipulation of that deal is that I’m to work only with Maura. You hold no power in the Quinn family. I have no interest in doing business with you.”
I had to bite my lip, hard, to keep myself from smiling.
Sean held a dumbfounded expression that nearly did me in. “Maura won't always be able to—”
“Why? Because she’s pregnant?” Nicoli interrupted him again. “Meeting with me isn’t exactly strenuous and I can be accommodating when I want to be. If I must go to the hospital while she’s in the middle of delivering her baby to get my drugs, then so be it.”
“You better bring booze because we’re both going to be traumatized after witnessing me push a watermelon through my vagina,” I quipped.
Nicoli smiled despite himself and turned back toward the bar, silently dismissing Sean. “That’s not how I imagined I’d see your vagina. Way to ruin my fantasies.”
I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back, laughing.
CHAPTER 26
“You should have pulled my ass out of bed, Grumpy! We’re going to be late for my appointment!” I yelled as I rushed through the house.
“You would have shot me if I'd tried that,” he grumbled behind me.
Asher chuckled next to him. “We’ll get there on time.”
I slowed once I reached the stairs. “Brody, we’re leaving!” I yelled out when I didn’t see him in the foyer. He was going with me because Jamie and Louie had mob shit to do.
Both Brody and Stefan stepped into the foyer.
My father watched me as I made my way down the stairs. His demeanor was guarded, and he eyed me with caution. Even though it had been almost a month, I hadn’t completely forgiven him yet. I reached the landing and approached them. “Are you ready?” I asked Brody.
Brody cleared his throat and elbowed my father.
Stefan straightened his shoulders and asked, “Would you mind if I came too?”
I did my best to not show my surprise. He’d been trying to get me to forgive him this past month and I wasastounded by the amount of effort he was putting forth. He'd been doing his best to give me space, sided with me in every bickering match I’d had with Sean, and paid for all the baby crap Brody had insisted I needed.
He was also paying for the room across the hall from mine to be converted into a nursery. I wished I could blame it entirely on his stubbornness that kept him from giving up, but I knew deep down that he was trying to prove to me what my forgiveness was worth to him. “I’d like that,” I said.
He gave me a small smile and gestured for me to take the lead. I walked out of the house to where Will was waiting with two Escalades and four of Stefan’s goons. We took both cars and made it just in time for my appointment.
Brody and Stefan went into the room with me while Dean and Asher waited in the hall. I sat on the exam table and Brody took the only guest chair. Stefan stood with his hands in his pockets, studying a pregnant anatomy poster. We didn’t wait long before my doctor walked in. He greeted me with a warm smile, but it dropped as soon as he saw Stefan.
Dr. Greene caught himself and re-plastered a smile on his face. “I see we have new faces with you today. Parents?”
“Yes, these are my parents,” I replied before Stefan and Brody could knee-jerkingly deny it. Dr. Greene didn’t seem to care that they were gay, why should they? He didn’t even care that I had two boyfriends.
“How have you been doing?” Dr. Greene asked me as he opened my medical chart.
“I still haveall-daysickness, but it’s not as bad as before and I think I felt the baby move,” I answered.
He nodded as he read whatever was written in my chart. “You’re at sixteen weeks, so it’s very possible you could be feeling him or her already. I see here we got the results of your prenatal screening. Everything looks excellent. No genetic abnormalities. With this type of blood test, we’re able to determine the baby’s sex as well. Did you want to know, or did you want to wait? Or I can tell someone of your choosing for a gender reveal?” he said, gesturing to Brody and Stefan.
I perked up and I looked over at Stefan, for what, I didn’t know. The answer? Guidance? I wished Jamie and Louie were here.
“You can wait until Jameson and Louie come with you next time,” Stefan suggested, obviously seeing my internal debate.
“Or you can find out now and you can surprise them later tonight with a gender reveal gift. We could stopsomewhere after this and pick up a pink outfit or blue outfit, depending on what the baby is. You can wrap it and give it to them later to open,” Brody quickly added.