Sawyer stood up and paced across the room, hoping it would ease his nervous energy. If he sat any longer, his bouncing knees would’ve vibrated his chair across the room. He stared at a wall of photos featuring the success stories of former patients at the clinics. Photos, ultrasounds, testimonials, and thank-you cards covered nearly every inch of the huge corkboard, but there was a gap on the bottom left corner for another success story. Theirs?
Kelsey’s blood draw to test for the presence of hCG had occurred at eight that morning, but they had to wait a few hours for the clinic’s in-house lab to process the results. They’d gone to breakfast, where Kelsey and Royce calmly chatted about everyday things while eating pancakes, sausage, and scrambled eggs. He’d barely picked at his egg white omelet, which he regretted when his stomach released an angry growl two hours later as they waited for Dr. Flores to give their results.
“That sounded painful,” Royce said as he moved in behind him to wrap strong arms around Sawyer’s waist. “We’re going to have things to contribute to the board soon.”
He turned in Royce’s embrace and kissed him briefly. “We are.”
A wrapper rattled across the room, and Kelsey extended a protein bar she pulled from her purse. “I came prepared.”
He returned to his chair beside her and accepted the offering with a grateful thanks. “Which one of us is going to haul around a big-ass purse everywhere?” Sawyer asked before taking a bite. “The baby will have a ton of stuff, and we’re going to need snacks.”
“It’s called a diaper bag, and we’ll take turns carrying it,” Royce said. “Evangeline has probably already set her eyes on a Louis Vuitton or something.”
“One of those would cost more than the high-end stroller you’ve been drooling over,” Kelsey told Royce. His husband had wasted no time in adding a ton of stuff to the Pinterest board.
“What’s high-end about a stroller?” Sawyer asked.
Royce sat beside Sawyer and crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive posture. “It’s made with a sturdier metal frame for stability.”
“The little protective cloth awning cost four hundred dollars alone,” Kelsey said. “Massive thing. That stroller will weigh a ton.”
“But our girl will be safe,” Royce said.
Sawyer melted on the spot and decided they’d buy the expensive stroller.
Royce flexed his arms so his biceps strained against his shirt. “We’ve got plenty of muscle.”
“Join us at Pilates on Saturday,” Kelsey said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
Sawyer was doubting his agreement to return to the studio when a soft knock sounded at the door. His breath caught in his lungs, and he couldn’t have talked if he’d wanted to. Dr. Flores opened the door and stepped inside, but Sawyer couldn’t tell by her expression if she had good or bad news. He reached for Kelsey’s hand with his right and Royce’s hand with his left. Dr. Flores’ mouth curved into a big smile, and the three of them cheered before she could say the words. She waited patiently for them to hug and celebrate the positive results.
“Congratulations,” she said once they wound down. “Your hCG levels are exactly where we want them to be. We’ll have you come back periodically for new draws to make sure the levels increase the way they should. You’ve already started prenatal vitamins well before we started this process, so it’s just a waiting game for a bit. I’ll do an ultrasound to confirm the viability in six weeks, and I’ll turn you over to your ob-gyn after that. Do any of you have questions for me right now?”
Sawyer looked at Royce, who had a matching set of tear trails on his face. He cleared his throat to speak. “Do you have questions for her?”
Royce swallowed hard and faced Dr. Flores. “Do you accept hugs?”
She laughed and opened her arms. “Bring it in.”
Sawyer, Kelsey, and Royce gathered Dr. Flores into a group hug before they turned her loose. Kelsey stopped at the counter on their way out to schedule her follow-up blood tests before the trio strolled into the sunlight.
“Are you guys going back to work?” Kelsey asked.
“We took the day off,” Sawyer said. “We knew there was no way we’d be able to concentrate.”
Kelsey giggled and shook her head. “I’m not going back to work either.”
Sawyer ran his hand through his hair. “How are we supposed to keep this news to ourselves for like ten more weeks? I feel like I’m going to burst.”
“Maybe tell the people closest to you,” Kelsey suggested.
“My closest people already know,” Royce said, gesturing to her and Sawyer. “I can think of an activity that will help Sawyer work through his excess energy.”
“Yeah, I hear you’re good for that,” Kelsey teased.
“Not that.” Royce tilted his head. “Well, not yet, anyway. Let’s paint the nursery. Kelsey can float around the pool like a water goddess and maybe boss us around.”
Kelsey hitched her purse higher on her shoulder and strode to her car. “Damn, I’m loving this idea. I’ll meet you there.”
Royce watched her walk away, and Sawyer took advantage of the distraction to send the Maury Povich GIF he’d found on the internet. It showed the talk show host holding up a manilla envelope with paternity results and the words, “You are the father,” flashing across the bottom. He tucked his phone away so he could watch Royce’s face when he opened the text. “Who’s bugging me?” Royce saw the sender, then quirked his brow at Sawyer.
“Just open it.”
Royce tapped his phone and watched the GIF play on repeat for a few seconds. He snapped his head up and met Sawyer’s gaze, a big smile on his face. “I’m the father.”
“Hell yeah, you are.”
“I’m the father!” Royce’s shout startled an elderly lady going into the medical building next door. “Sorry, ma’am.” He turned back to Sawyer with a look of pure wonder on his face. “We’re going to have a baby,” he whispered.
“We are.” Sawyer would never forget the moment in the clinic when Royce offered to give him the one thing he wanted most in the world: his baby.
“Whose last name will we give her? We can’t do a hyphenated double-barreled last name. Can you imagine? Key-Locke. Locke-Key. I refuse to be one of those parents who set their kids up for relentless bullying.”
Sawyer hooked his finger through Royce’s belt loop and tugged him forward. “I’m already one step ahead of you.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I have a surprise for you. It’s a little something I worked on this week.”
“My birthday isn’t until October.”
“Father’s Day is next weekend.” Sawyer pulled his driver’s license from the clear plastic slot and handed it to him.
Royce stared at it for the longest time before lifting his head. Joy shimmered in those pale gray eyes he loved so damn much. “Sawyer Locke.”
“I changed my name to Locke legally, though I’ll continue to use Key professionally. I checked with HR, and they said it—”
Royce smashed his lips against Sawyer’s right there on the sidewalk. “Fuck. You went and did it.”
Sawyer chuckled. “Surprised you?”
“Yeah, that too,” Royce said. “But I didn’t think I could love you more.” He held up Sawyer’s new license. “I was so wrong.”
To be continued …