Page 33

CHAPTER 33

MIRIAM

“Twenty weeks! You ready for this, Miriam?” my doctor asks.

“Not really,” I mutter unhappily. “I have to—” I cut myself and look around the room. All four of the men are standing as close as possible and it’s overwhelming.

Ezra shifts from side to side excitedly. “You have to what?”

I have to pee!

“Nothing,” I huff, making eye contact with the ultrasound tech. She nods in understanding when I cross my arms and stare at the ceiling to pout.

She pats my arm, then sits down to explain what she’s going to do. “Alright, so this will probably take a bit of time, just so you’re all aware. I’m going to do a ton of measurements as long as the baby is cooperating, then, if you want Miriam, I can see if this little peanut will let us find out if he’s a he or she’s a she. Did you want to know, or is it going to be a surprise?”

I swear to God, every single head turns to me for a decision. Feeling particularly annoyed, I wave at all of them. “Well, do you want to know?”

“You’re cranky, petal.” Ezra is grinning from ear to ear, and he leans over my head so I’m looking at him upside down. “Want me to make you less cranky?”

“I’m not?—”

“Ez, man. You’re not supposed to tell a woman they’re cranky!” Tatum scolds, setting a hand on my shoulder, but I shift so he’ll let go.

“I’m not cranky,” I say again after being so rudely cut off. “I have to freaking pee.” Shifting around on the table to get more comfortable, I sigh because it’s useless. “And I’m uncomfortable.”

Kevin moves around to the top of the bed, pressing his fingers into my shoulders to massage them. This time, I don’t move away and simply enjoy the pressure. “This will be over before you know it.” He nods to the ultrasound tech to begin, and I hiss when she squirts the cold gel on my stomach. Kevin leans down to whisper, “Close your eyes and rest for a bit.”

I bare my teeth at him, but don’t argue. Instead, I focus on his fingers digging in and ignore everything around me and the way the tech is pushing directly on my fucking bladder as she starts clicking away on her keyboard.

Ezra is standing behind her, continuously asking, “What’s that?” until finally Richard kicks him. I know he did because they had a heated, not so under their breath argument. I crack an eye open to look at the tech and see her glancing at the two of them, but she keeps going with the ultrasound as if she’s on autopilot.

Finally, we finish up. “Okay, head into the bathroom to take care of your business. After that we’ll get a few more measurements, then find out the baby’s sex. Sound good?”

“More than you know,” I mumble, attempting to sit up on my own, but fuck this bed and lying flat on my back. Kevin slides his hands under my shoulder blades and helps me sit up. I eye both Richard and Tatum as their hands shoot out to help me stand, but I brush them off until my head stops spinning. Neither of them moves, so I grab both and stand up, then rush off to the bathroom.

This time, as I get back on the narrow bed, I feel so much better and relaxed. “Now you’re not cranky anymore!” Ezra cries out. Thankfully, Tatum smacks him for me. The tech giggles, seemingly more at ease as she gets more gel and we start again.

“Oh, wow. Your baby is apparently feeling much better too.” Click click click. Then she says, “Just a couple more photos, then I can get pictures for you to keep if you’d like.”

“Yes, please,” Richard says. It’s the first time he’s spoken out loud, aside from the lecture he gave Ezra. I’m surprised he’s the one that says it, but I don’t want to make him feel uncomfortable by staring at him in shock.

“Ready to know what you’re having?” she asks me, clicking again on her keyboard.

I can only nod, all of a sudden extremely nervous. It feels as if this is going to change things. Not that it wasn’t real before, but it feels like the baby is getting an actual identity now.

Then a thought pops in. “ Wait! ” Everyone looks at me, but I only have eyes for the tech. “Is everything okay with the baby? Like, no major concerns or missing limbs or something? No issues you can see?”

She gives me a warm smile. “I have to give these to your doctor, but what I can say is that from what I can tell, nothing concerning stands out.”

I blow out a breath in relief and smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. So, have you picked out a name for your little boy?”

“I fucking knew it!” Ezra shouts, but all I can do is blink in shock.

I glance at Richard and find him watching me unblinkingly. Swallowing hard against the lump in my throat, I croak out, “Yeah. I-I have a couple of ideas.” That grabs the rest of their attention, aside from Tatum, since we already discussed this.

“You named our boy, petal?” Ezra asks at the same time Richard blurts out, “What name are you thinking?”

I’m not sure why, but now that I know my baby is definitely a boy, it just feels as if I know my choice is the right one. “Gabriel.”

Kevin’s hand is heavy on my shoulder when he squeezes it in approval. I keep my eyes locked on Richard who seems frozen from all of the extra information today. He keeps swallowing hard over and over again. The tech distracts all of us by handing out photos from today.

We each receive a strip with three pictures, the last two with typed words that say, “It’s a boy!” and “Baby Gabriel.”

Handing me a towel, she instructs me to wipe off the last of the gel and head back to the OBGYN clinic for my appointment and stress test. Ezra is chattering away while Kevin helps me right my clothes and to sit up from the table.

I blink against the bright lights in the hallway, then notice Richard isn’t moving. “Are you coming?” I ask him softly, but he’s busy staring at the photos.

Waiting a moment without an answer, I move to leave the room when he says, “I’ll be up in a few minutes.” He sounds numb, shocked, and maybe overwhelmed.

Deciding to give him the time he needs, we all leave him as we head back. Multiple heads turn in our direction as I walk through the hospital with a group of men following behind, but I do my best to pay no mind to their curious looks. It doesn’t work. The longer we weave through the halls, the more I’m noticing it.

Growing aggravated, I’m about to snap at one of them who literally leans over to whisper something to her husband with her finger pointed at us. Kevin moves in next to me and wraps an arm around my waist, then gently guides me to the other side of him to place himself between me and the onlookers.

“Thanks,” I whisper, pushing a strand of hair out of my face.

He squeezes my hip gently. “Don’t worry about them. There are a million reasons people could be looking.”

“Maybe they’re awed by how spectacularly gorgeous we all are,” Ezra pipes in. I laugh and give him a smile over my shoulder.

“Maybe by you all. I’m turning into a waddling, chubby, obviously pregnant woman.” I’m lighthearted when I say it, but Ezra’s face turns immediately into a scowl.

He turns around and walks backwards so the gossiping woman can clearly hear him. “Well, I think you’re drop dead gorgeous, petal. Sexier now than ever before.”

“Hush!” I hiss at him, but there’s no anger in my tone. It’s sweet that he jumped to my defense.

“Never,” he calls back, then jogs to catch up to us. “So, what are we doing once we’re out of here? A movie and some snuggles?” His eyebrows are wagging, hinting at something more than snuggles.

I laugh quickly and shake my head. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m going back to work.” I check my watch, then pick up my pace. “Shoot, the ultrasound took longer than I thought it would. The girl covering my shift while I’m here is going to kill me.”

After checking in, the receptionist sends me back almost immediately to one of the quiet rooms where they perform the stress tests. In these rooms they keep the lights dimmed and have a nice, comfortable recliner chair I get to relax in after I’m hooked up to a fetal monitor.

Ezra walks around the room as the nurse gets me strapped up, picking up objects before immediately setting them back down. “So, what’s all this for?”

Glancing at the nurse, I shake my head to let her know I’ll answer him. “It’s a monthly test my doctor wants me to do. It’s sort of like a test they’ll do later on in pregnancy where they simulate contractions to see how the baby and I will handle them, but this is less intensive. I’m pretty much going to lie here and the monitor is going to check my blood pressure regularly along with a longer monitor for the baby’s heart rate.”

“Gabriel,” Ezra says, turning to me.

I smile at the use of his name. “Yes, Gabriel.”

“Little Gabe,” he murmurs. Kevin and Tatum each find a chair and get comfortable. Ezra looks around the room as we all start getting comfortable, then avoids the other chair and stretches out on the floor.

At least he’s not going to be pacing for the next hour.

After some easy instructions, the nurse leaves the door cracked and I close my eyes in an attempt to relax. I can feel myself already wanting to drift after less than ten minutes, but the door creaks.

Cracking an eye, I watch Richard slip into the room and step over Ezra’s legs to sit next to Tatum in the corner. Once he’s settled, he gives me a quick nod. I want to ask if he’s alright, but Kevin softly mutters, “Sleep, Miriam.”

I yawn, probably unattractively, but I don’t give a shit, then close my eyes again. I drift off to the sounds of their steady breathing and not one of them says a word.

It feels like I only napped for a few minutes before Tatum is lightly brushing his fingers along my cheek to wake me. Just as my eyes open, I see both Kevin and Richard have already left the room and I frown.

“Kevin got called back to the station, and they rode together. It was an emergency,” Tatum tells me. “With the drive back, he couldn’t wait for you to wake up.”

I nod and blink up at the ceiling to wait for the nurse to come back and unstrap me. While I completely understand that they had to leave, I’ll admit I am disappointed to find them gone. There’s a lump forming in my throat, so I gently cough to clear it away. I’m not going to be one of those weeping girls who can’t handle minor obstacles.

Maybe Richard was right. Maybe I need to reconsider the distance. I glance at the screen displaying my heart rate and see it already ticking up, so I inhale slowly through my nose and blow it out through my mouth.

Thoughts of moving can be tackled at a later time. Today, I need to get my ass back to work.