Page 23

CHAPTER 23

MIRIAM

“Miriam Delgado?”

I didn’t even see the nurse step into the waiting room, too busy being overwhelmed by the four huge men scattered around the small space, sucking up all the air.

Leaning into my side, Susanna whispers, “Do you want Theo to ask them to stay out here?”

With a forced smile, I shake my head subtly, silently thanking her for being supportive. Standing, I don’t miss the way all of them rise in the same instant, Ezra bouncing on his toes, ready to hurry me into the back room.

“Susu and I will hang out here until you’re done,” Theo says, an arm slung across the back of Susanna’s chair. He eyes the guys, then teases, “I don’t think there’ll be enough room for all of us.”

They insisted on driving me over here so I wouldn’t have to take the bus, and I refused any of the potential fathers’ offers for a ride. I was shocked that even Richard reached out with an invitation. It was polite. So I returned his politeness with a simple, “No, thank you.”

The nurse doesn’t even lift a brow when I’m followed through halls by a contingent of silent men. As soon as we’re inside, they all do their best to step out of the way and hold up a wall, except for Ezra.

“Take a seat so I can get your vitals.” I sit at the same time Ezra does, filling the chair next to me. He leans forward to watch as she wraps the blood pressure cuff around my upper arm, only flicking her gaze toward him once. “How have you been doing since we last saw you?”

She starts pumping up the cuff, and I wait until she’s done to answer, wincing when it tightens almost painfully around my bicep. It feels as though she went further than normal, and I blow out my held breath as she quickly releases it and jots down the numbers.

“Just tired. Still feeling nauseous at different times of the day, so that’s not fun.”

“Any headaches, changes in your vision, or spots?” She looks around the room, then asks, “Are you okay with these questions while everyone is in here?”

Waving them off, I let her know I’m fine. “Headaches, yes. They’ve been more frequent lately, more noticeable after a restless night of sleep. No blurry vision or spots. And I’m fine to answer anything with them here.” Smiling at her, I lean forward and read my blood pressure, then furrow my brows. “144 over 98 is kind of high.”

“It is, but we’ll get it sorted. Dr. Jolee will talk about it with you when she comes in. It looks like you’re about three months along now, that sound about right?” I hold my finger out when she grabs the pulse oximeter and she slips it on my finger. “Pulse looks good,” she says reassuringly.

“Twelve weeks and two days, to be exact,” I say as Ezra starts bobbing his head as if taking mental notes. I peek at the other three and see Kevin writing something down in one of those little notebooks you see journalists use. Pointing at him, I ask, “Are you taking notes, Kevin?”

He lifts his head slowly. “Yes.”

I raise a brow, not sure how to take that. “Okay,” I drawl out.

He doesn’t seem bothered by my reaction. Tatum is standing next to him with his arms crossed, fighting back a smile, then winks at me when I roll my eyes. Richard seems uncomfortable, but he doesn’t seem to be overly upset at being in here with us.

“So, I’m going to have you go over to the scale so I can get your weight and?—”

“Okay, so that part I’d love for you to not announce out loud,” I say quickly.

I don’t care what anyone says because I’m not ashamed of my body, but I really don’t want them to hear how much I weigh, especially now that I’ve got a little extra padding. The nurse laughs and nods in understanding. She uses her body to shield the numbers when I stand on the scale, to Ezra’s eternal frustration.

He flops back in his chair to pout. “I don’t give two shits how much you weigh, just so you know.”

“Noted,” I tell him, sitting back down. The nurse informs all of us that my doctor will be in shortly, so I should sit up on the table. Thankfully, this is just a checkup, so I don’t have to put on a gown for a full exam.

“She’ll just have you lift your shirt when she does her measurements,” she tells me after I ask.

As soon as she slips out of the room, Tatum is behind me, holding out a hand to help me up on the table.

It’s Richard who surprises me next, asking, “What’s going on with your blood pressure?”

“It’s gone up a bit since my last appointment. Anything above 140 over 90 is considered high. During pregnancy, the biggest concern is blood flow to the baby if it gets too high. There are other things, but I’m sure my doctor will help me stay on top of it. There are a lot of options. I’m not too worried about it.” I know I sound reassuring, but I’ll admit that number did scare me.

I’ve been in the medical field long enough to know generally what early signs of high blood pressure can indicate and the problems that may accompany it. Now isn’t the time to get anyone worked up over possibilities when I haven’t discussed it with Dr. Jolee.

They all seem tense, so I try to redirect to a different topic just as the door opens. “I’ll be sure to ask about paternity testing as well. Just in case we get off track with other things, don’t feel bad bringing it up.”

“Seems we’ve got a lot of visitors today,” Dr. Jolee says boisterously, striding into the room with the nurse behind her. Curiously, she asks, “I heard paternity testing. Should I ask or just let you fill me in?”

My face flushes red. Jesus, how the hell do I explain this to her? Giving me a chance to compose myself, she pats my hand, sits on her stool, and rolls over in front of me. Crossing her legs, she puts my chart on her leg and clicks the pen.

“We’ll get to that later. My biggest concern right now is that blood pressure. Laurel said you’ve been having more regular headaches. Will you describe them to me?”

The moment she asks, the remembered pain draws my hands up, palming both sides of my head. “It’s here. Like a pounding pulse, and heavy. Every now and then, it feels sharp, but they seem to go away after taking a pain reliever. I try not to take them often, but if I’m at work, I will sometimes. Sleep seems to help get rid of them as well.”

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I don’t look at any of them directly, keeping my eyes firmly on Dr. Jolee. “How often are you experiencing them? What does your diet look like?”

“Not every day, maybe three a week on average, recently a bit more often. And diet? Umm, probably not the greatest, but not bad. I do my best to cook most nights, but I do grab quick snacks to tide me over.”

“Salty snacks?” she asks as she stands up and uses her stethoscope to listen to my heart and lungs. “Deep breath in for me.”

“She loves chips, particularly the salt and vinegar ones,” Ezra unhelpfully supplies.

I glare at him, but the heat I’m feeling is from being called out. “Tattle tale. But yes, I’m struggling with cravings for salty things. Sugar makes me feel sick to my stomach, to be honest.”

“Told you it was a boy,” he whispers to the guys.

Dr. Jolee starts laughing and turns to face him. “Someone’s been researching a bunch of nonsense, but that’s funny. There are actually good reasons for wanting salt when you’re pregnant, but with your blood pressure, I’m more concerned that you’re retaining fluid. Scoot up the bed so I can check your ankles.”

I shift up and close my eyes when her cool hands start squeezing around my ankles. She continues to educate Ezra while I unexpectedly get my aches massaged away. I had no idea I was sore from being on my feet so much.

“When you’re growing a fetus, the volume of blood increases in a woman’s body, which can dilute the sodium levels, triggering the body to crave salt in an attempt to replenish. Miriam, it’s not a lot, but you do have a bit of swelling in your lower legs and ankles. I’m going to prescribe you a blood pressure medication, something low dosed for now, and see if we can’t bring that pressure back down. While I’m not overly worried about water retention, this will help with that as well. I also want you back in two weeks just for a blood pressure check to see where we’re at.”

Kevin is furiously writing, then asks, “What’s the medication and possible side effects?”

She checks with me first, then fills him in as she moves around the room to gather her tape measure and Doppler ultrasound. It’s just a little handheld device, but Ezra is eyeing it warily.

“What’s that?” he asks, pointing at it accusingly.

Waving it at him, she gives me instructions to raise my shirt up and lower my pants. “It’s for the baby’s heartbeat. I’m going to press to feel for the bottom of your uterus and take some measurements. Sorry if it’s uncomfortable, Miriam.”

Knowing this is part of the drill since they did this at my last appointment, I stare at the ceiling and keep my face neutral as she presses on my lower abdomen, finding the spot she’s looking for, then measures my stomach. Calling out the numbers, the nurse, Laurel, jots them down, along with Kevin.

Then, she squirts some gel on my stomach and moves the Doppler around, the loud swishing sound until a steadier thrum echoes. “There’s baby,” Dr. Jolee says softly, keeping an eye on her watch and pressing some buttons to record my baby’s heart rate.

I’m not sure why I do it, but my head falls to the side and I find Richard. His eyes are wide and his mouth is parted slightly in surprise. He’s staring at my stomach like he’s never seen it before. I press my lips together to battle the memories of him jerking his cock over the same area to come on my skin before he used his fingers to wipe it away and place it inside of me.

It’s as if he has a direct link to my thoughts, because his eyes dart to mine. My breath catches just as he looks back to what the doctor is doing. I feel ashamed for thinking about that night while in here, but fuck, how can I not?

“Baby is good! I’ve got a rate of 156. Just perfect. And you’re measuring right on the money as well. So, for now, I’m going to have Laurel schedule you in two weeks to check that blood pressure. From there, we’ll decide if we want to increase the dosage or look at doing a stress test.”

She hands me the paper towel and I wipe at the gel as I sit up with Tatum’s hand on my lower back to help me. I whisper my thanks, then ask, “Can we talk about doing a paternity test? Without going into details, I’m obviously uncertain who the father is. I read that there are non-invasive tests we?—”

“Let’s table it for later,” Richard bites out. We all turn to him in shock. “I’m sorry. I forgot about a meeting I’m going to be late for. I’ll be in touch, Miriam. Please, let me know when your next appointment is.”

We all watch as he leaves the room and my doctor breaks the silence. “I’ll put the information about paternity testing in your folder. That won’t be an issue when you’re ready to do it. I’m also going to give you a handout for foods to avoid and foods that will help with your blood pressure. This one is a bit more involved than the standard one you got last time.”

“Would you give us a few copies, please?” Kevin asks, and she agrees.

Dr. Jolee holds out a hand and helps me down from the bed until I’ve got my feet under me. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Not that I can think of.”

Nodding, she says her goodbyes to Kevin, Tatum, and a pale-faced Ezra who’s unusually quiet, then tells me I can leave after Laurel gets me an appointment.

We all leave with papers and probably more questions than we came here with. My biggest concern is Richard’s reaction and fast departure. They all say goodbye, Ezra trying to hug me first, but Tatum pulls him away with promises to call.

Susanna and Theo drive me home, and I fill them in on everything I learned today with promises to keep in touch. Susanna, in particular, has been overly protective since I went missing last week. I feel awful about it, but I’m pretty sure her guys gave Kevin quite an earful on the side because no one’s brought it up outside of a few more apologies.

Today has been a long as fuck day, filled with men who piss me off, but also turn me on. Tomorrow I’ll worry about why. Today, I’m going to get myself off, hopefully resulting in a well-deserved sleep for what’s left of the evening and night. Plus, it’ll take care of this need starting to build now that I’ve been around them a few times. There’s a reason I wasn’t opposed to spending the weekend with them. They’re fucking gorgeous and literal sex on sticks.

After showering off the hospital, I walk over to my top drawer to find my vibrator. I’m not looking to take time today. Exhaustion is already settled deep within me. I feel around for a minute, but when I come up empty-handed, I go through my other drawers, figuring I must have put it away in the wrong spot. Ten more minutes of searching through not only my dresser but also my side table yields no results.

Standing in the center of my room, I plant my hands on my hips, completely irritated and pissed off.

“Where the fuck is my vibrator?” I yell out to my empty room. Then, a thought filters in, ever so slowly.

Ezra…That motherfucker.