Page 45 of Rocky Mountain Home

Good practice for down the road, indeed.

Jesse watched protectively as the doctor laid an actual tape measure over her belly and made notes. “You felt the baby move yet?”

Panic struck instantly because Dare had to shake her head. “Is that bad?”

“Nope, pretty common, actually. You’ve got a long torso, and this is your first. I bet Buckaroo is moving like crazy, but at this point you’re not recognizing the sensation.” Dr. Martins picked up a small device and turned back with a grin. “One benefit of you two being lazy about appointments. Ready to hear the baby’s heartbeat?”

“Seriously?” Jesse’s grip on Dare’s fingers tightened.

“Of course. Dare’s nearly twenty weeks along. The baby’s heartbeat is loud and clear already.”

Dare couldn’t speak, but she nodded her approval.

She lay still as possible as the doctor placed the instrument on bare skin, the cool metal warming rapidly as Dr. Martins tilted it.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

At first Dare wasn’t positive what they were listening to. It could have been any of a dozen machines in the room suddenly emitting sounds into the hushed moment, only it wasn’t.

It was her baby.

The situation sank in further than before. There really was another little being in her belly, not just random germs demanding her body’s attention, but a person being built one bit at a time. Reality kicked up a notch.

Heartbeats were real.

She remembered lying in a circle with her family, heads resting on each other’s stomachs. Laughter would burst free as gurgles and rumbles echoed in their ears. But there were the times they’d quiet enough to hear other things. The rush of blood through veins. Air whispering into lungs. Hearts pumping as they powered life.

After fooling around with her boyfriend, she’d dropped her head on his chest and felt the unsteady pulse as they came down off the drugging high.

She thought back to Jesse and being held by him that first time after they’d reconnected. His strong arms had enfolded her against his body—his pulse a steady metronome under her palms.

Life.

Jesse collapsed into the chair with a lot less grace than usual, his grin frozen in place as he listened intently.

“That’s the baby?” He glanced at the doctor. “It’s not Dare’s?”

“One hundred percent baby,” Dr. Martins assured him. “There’s a faint echo of Dare’s heart if we change the angle, but what we’ve got right now is one healthy baby’s heartbeat.”

“One.” Dare breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Lord, for small mercies.”

She expected Jesse to make some crack about twins being awesome, but he was motionless, his expression gone unreadable.

Dr. Martins was smiling, but she glanced at the clock as her face turned serious again. “I hate to rush this moment, but I have to keep moving. I need you to stop at the front desk and set up an appointment for an ultrasound and a few more tests. We’ll need to discuss which you want to take, and which you don’t. Before you leave, Scott will give you a package of information to read through.”

Dare nodded, soaking in the last couple thumps before the doctor put her things away and headed to the door.

“Prenatal vitamins, as much rest as you can. Take care of yourself, and if you have any questions, let me know. Congratulations, and let’s work on making a healthy baby.”

“Thanks.”

“Wait.” Jesse snapped out of his daze. “When’s the baby done? I mean, due?”

Dr. Martins smiled. “October thirty-first according to the charts. First babies are often late, so a two-week window either side would be perfectly normal.”