Page 2 of The Sinner's Son
“Thanks, Lucy,” the trio called out.
“You’re welcome. See you all at your next scan.”
Silence fell over the room, but thewhoosh whoosh whooshstill played in Sawyer’s mind. He closed his eyes to hold on to the memory longer. He’d fallen in love with the sound at the eight-week scan and wished he could hear it all the time. Lil Plum’s heartbeat got louder, and Sawyer opened his eyes to find Kelsey smiling at him. She held up her phone to show that she’d recorded a portion of the ultrasound.
“They’ll record the heartbeat onto a tiny device for you at our twenty-week scan, and you can tuck it inside a stuffed animal,”Kelsey said. “They have plushies to go with nearly every nursery theme. You’ll be able to hear Lil Plum’s heartbeat whenever you want. We put Ella’s recording inside the cutest little Highland cow and used it in our pregnancy announcement.”
Royce wrapped his arm around Sawyer’s shoulders and kissed his temple. “I can’t wait to share our big news.”
“Me too,” Sawyer said. “But when and how?”
“Our families are gathering at your parents’ house in two weeks for Labor Day,” Royce replied. “We can pull our parents aside for a private reveal and then do something else to announce the news to our extended family and friends gathered there.”
“Pinterest will have tons of fun ideas to look at,” Kelsey said. “Oh! We’ll need to come up with something to announce it at work.”
Royce’s eyes danced with mischief as he rubbed his hands together. “I’m looking forward to that.”
Sawyer got the feeling their pregnancy announcement would end up resembling a prank. He groaned and massaged his temple. “Let’s just keep that one simple. A nice cake shaped like a onesie that announces our due date or something. And we should probably tell Mendoza and HR immediately.”
“Or—”
A knock on the door interrupted whatever Royce had been about to say. With any luck, he’d forget all about the idea when it came time to plan the announcement. Dr. Naomi Yang entered the exam room with a pleasant smile on her face and an ornery gleam in her eyes. Sawyer had liked the ob-gyn from the moment they’d met, and he understood why Kelsey had chosen her. Dr. Yang’s qualifications alone were impressive, but it was her charismatic bedside manner that he liked most.
Dr. Yang made eye contact with each of them before asking, “How are we doing?”
“I feel great,” Kelsey said.
“Great,” Sawyer and Royce chorused.
“That’s wonderful to hear.” Dr. Yang sat down, opened her laptop, and began typing. “How’s your nausea, Kelsey?”
“Not bad at all,” she replied. “Brushing my teeth is the worst part, but I’m usually in fighting form after that. I get an occasional bout in the afternoon, but it’s nothing my ginger lollipops or teas can’t cure.”
“That’s good. Are you sleeping well?” Dr. Yang asked.
“Ten hours every night,” Kelsey said. “I wish I could sleep like this all the time.”
They went through a series of routine questions about nutrition and hydration before Dr. Yang turned her attention to them. “Do you have questions for me, dads?” She’d clocked Sawyer as a nervous Ned during their first appointment, but she’d seemed charmed instead of annoyed by his list of prepared questions.
“Not this time.” Sawyer looked at Royce, who shook his head.
“All right. Let me know if that changes.” Dr. Yang stood up and approached the table to do a physical exam. She gently pressed Kelsey’s abdomen and measured her uterus before returning to her laptop to enter the data. She clicked around to review the images from the ultrasound and Kelsey’s urine test results from the lab. “Everything looks great with the baby and Kelsey,” Dr. Yang said. “Keep up the great work. Drink tons of water to stay hydrated during these scorching August temperatures.”
“Will do,” Kelsey said as she sat up and adjusted her shirt.
“See you all in four weeks.”
Once they were alone, Royce turned to Kelsey. “Where do you want to eat for lunch?”
Kelsey lowered her head and angled it to the side as if listening to her belly. She straightened back up and said, “Lil Plum says Mexican.”
“Are you going to play this cool?” Royce asked when they arrived back at the precinct after lunch. He parked the SUV in the lot but left the engine running. “You’re literally vibrating with excitement.”
“I don’t know,” Sawyer admitted. “I haven’t tried to keep a secret this big since coming out as gay. Ro, I’ve never been this happy before, and I don’t know how to process this surge of emotions. My heart can’t possibly expand further without exploding.” He placed a hand over his chest, hoping the steady rise and fall of his lungs would help center him. All he felt was the continued swelling of gratitude, love, and joy. “I’m a human can of biscuits on the verge of bursting at the seams.”
“That’s just a buildup of gases from the heavy lunch we consumed,” Royce said, patting his stomach.
Denial danced on the tip of Sawyer’s tongue, but his lips wouldn’t form the lie. “The three of us devoured a basket and a half of chips and probably a half gallon of queso before they brought our food out.”