Page 35 of Tied up in Knots (Gummy Bear Orgy #4)

You want me to check his genitals?

I can’t believe Bambi almost came without me today. I also can’t believe she was driving three hours round trip to a doctor out of town just to avoid people talking about her going to her doctor’s office. Have the people in this town always been like this, or did I just ignore them?

It makes me happy when Bambi lets me hold on to her the entire walk into the office and doesn’t protest when I sling an arm around her shoulders, over the back of the chair, as we sit and wait for her name to be called.

She flips through a pregnancy magazine as we wait, and I look over her shoulder inspecting the ads and articles.

There are a few about the more unpleasant side of giving birth, things that would make a weaker man faint.

I’m used to blood and guts and if it has anything to do with keeping Bambi safe and healthy during birth, I want to know it.

When she tries to flip the page, I stop her with a finger to the corner until I can finish reading the article. A quick glance at Bambi from the corner of my eye reveals her trying to hide a smile.

“Raelyn Parker,” a nurse calls from a door next to the receptionist counter.

“Right here,” Bambi calls back.

I help her stand and we both head to the back, following the nurse to a door numbered six.

“You’re going to be right in here today,” she says gesturing inside the room.

There’s a standard doctor’s bed with the weird white paper draped down the center with those feet holsters folded in at the end, a bunch of machines with cords and attachments next to it.

There is only one window in the room, narrow and long running at the top of the exterior wall.

There are blinds covering it, but it offers a bit of warm sunlight to the stark room.

Everything is clean and sterile as it should be, the walls a soft white with blue trim, a picture of a woman cradling a newborn baby on some informative poster on the wall.

We’re instructed to sit, and I help to lift Bambi onto the bed, the paper crinkling loudly beneath her. She doesn’t have to wear one of those ugly paper gowns, so we just wait for the doctor. The sound of my shoes pacing on the linoleum floor is the only noise in the room.

I can’t stand still or sit still for that matter. In less than ten minutes I’ll see my son for the first time and the thought has me frantic and excited. I always thought if I were to have a child I would panic and freak out in a bad way. But the only emotion I’m feeling is happy, extremely happy.

Bambi watches me pace back and forth in front of her, the picture of calm and collected. That’ll be useful when the baby’s born, one of us will have to be the levelheaded one.

The door squeaks, alerting me to the doctor’s arrival.

I instantly stop pacing and turn to face the door, standing dutifully at Bambi’s side.

At least as best I can while she sits on the bed.

A dark-haired female doctor, dressed in blue scrubs and a white lab coat enters looking at the clipboard in her hands.

“Hello Miss Parker, it’s nice to see you agai n _ Oh,” she stops mid step, spotting me standing next to Bambi. “I didn’t know you were bringing anyone with you.”

“I hope that’s okay?” Bambi asks unsure.

“Of course this is your appointment, you can bring whomever you like. I’m Dr. Amelia, and you are?”

She holds her hand out to me, and I accept it, grateful she doesn’t put up more of an argument about me being here.

“Warren Graham. The father.”

“Oh!”

Dr. Amelia stares wide eyed at me, her hand frozen in mine, not expecting my blunt declaration of fatherhood. I honestly didn’t realize I was going to say that either, but I felt it important for the doctor to know. Small town gossip be damned.

“I thought you said the father wasn’t involved?”

The good doctor finally drops my hand and turns an inquisitive look at Bambi, who is reddening like a ripe tomato. Her cheeks, two round rosy cherries I want to bite into.

Now that I’ve said it, claimed my place and responsibility, she can’t deny it.

“He was away for a while, and I hadn’t expected him back so soon. But he is the father.”

She looks up at me through her lashes, explaining my absence and her fib in much nicer words than I deserve. I give her a grateful smile, relief flooding my chest along with unwavering admiration for her.

“Alright then, well let’s get started, shall we?”

Dr. Amelia sits in the rolling stool and begins going through Bambi’s file asking basic questions to get up to date on her current state and confirming the first two trimesters of her pregnancy.

Going over records sent by her previous O.B.G.Y.N.

from Kenai. Apparently, Bambi has seen Dr. Amelia in the past for general female checkups but nothing to do with her pregnancy yet.

Once she’s satisfied, with all her questions answered, we finally get to the good part of the appointment.

“Great, now let’s get a look at this little fella and make sure he’s developing well. Lay back and pull up your shirt so I can access your stomach.”

Bambi begins to lean back, and I catch her around the shoulders helping lower her to the bed.

She unbuckles her overalls and pulls up her sweater revealing her extended stomach.

I stroke it reverently before the doctor squirts clear jelly on it, rubbing it in with a device attached to the ultrasound monitor.

A black and white grainy image appears on the screen. It’s hard to tell what anything is at first as the doctor repositions and searches for what she’s looking for.

“Okay, there’s his heartbeat.”

The soft thumping sound of a tiny fluttering heartbeat fills the room, and I can’t stop myself from falling to one knee, my hand firmly gripping at Bambi’s as I stare at the grainy image.

That’s his heartbeat, he’s alive in there, growing every day.

The reality of it hits me harder than expected and heat burns the back of my eyes.

The doctor is looking at the screen and I expect to see Bambi watching the monitor as well.

But when I look to her, she’s looking at me.

She’s seen this all before, but this is my first time.

I lock eyes with her, letting her see the most vulnerable parts of me. The parts I hid from everyone, even her. Not anymore.

I kiss the back of her hand and turn back to the ultrasound when the doctor speaks again.

“I see a foot, and there’s a hand.” I don’t see either, but I trust she knows what she’s doing. “Let me reposition to get a better view from the side.”

She moves the device on Bambi’s stomach to the opposite side and then, there on the screen, I see the white outline of a tiny body curled in a ball.

“There you are, perfect image. Let me capture that for you.”

She freezes the image and clicks a few buttons, snapping a picture of our baby. I can’t believe we made that.

I stare in awe as she prints out the strip of paper and then begins rubbing at Bambi’s belly again.

“Let’s just make sure everything else is developing, organs, bones.”

“Can you check on his…” I gesture with a circle around my groin area. “Stuff? Make sure that’s all good?”

Dr. Amelia stares at me, obviously trying not to laugh. “You want me to check his genitals?” she says as professionally as possible.

“Yeah. You know…make sure it’s a boy and all.”

Then she laughs and shakes her head at me. I doubt I’m the first father to ask such a thing. It’s a legitimate concern.

“Sure thing.”

Bambi laughs at me too, her belly shaking as she tries to stifle it so as not to interfere with the ultrasound. But the doctor appeases my ridiculous request, positioning the ultrasound to show his little man bits. All I can see are two round shapes, but she assures me those are his testicles.

The rest of the appointment isn’t nearly as exciting, but I try to pay attention and listen even as I stare at the printed black and white photo the doctor took.

Keeping Bambi’s hand in mine the entire time the doctor goes over what to expect in the third and final trimester.

Lots of it sounds familiar since I started reading pregnancy books as soon as I got back.

It makes me smile when she mentions not being alone in her apartment, especially at night, because moving around is going to get more difficult, and she wouldn’t want her to fall or hurt herself.

“Don’t worry Doc, I’m staying with her now. I’ll take good care of her. Promise.”

“Good I’ll hold you to that. Now have you decided on a birthing plan? Do you want an epidural?”

From my readings I know what an epidural is and am myself curious if she wants one. Bambi is a strong woman, but she’s also never been great with pain.

“Yes, and yes. I’ve worked everything out with my grandmother and best friend.”

The unintended barb is an unexpected sting to my chest. I should have been the one to work out a birthing plan with her and the fact that I still don’t know adds one more item to my to-do list.

“Wonderful. And since Mr. Graham is staying with you, I assume he will be your ride to the hospital?”

“Yes,” I answer before Bambi has a chance to.

I may not know her birthing pla n _ ye t _ but I know for damn sure I’ll be driving her to the hospital. My assertiveness gets me a soft smile from Bambi, and it soothes the sting from before.

We go over a few last items and then the doctor is leading us back out to the waiting room and wishing us a good day.

On our way back to the car we pass a realtor’s office. I had spotted it on the way in but was too distracted to pay much attention. Passing it now, I slow to look at the listings posted on the exterior window, showing houses and property for sale and lease.

I make note of the prices and scan through a few listings.

“Looking to purchase a house?” Bambi hedges a hint of humor in her tone. I can see how it would be amusing considering I’ve live d _ by choic e _ on a boat for the last decade.

“Maybe, just keeping my options open. Can’t live on a boat forever.”

“Here I was thinking you were going to do exactly that.”

I muffle a chuckle. Little does she know how my plans have changed. I love my boat and the freedom it’s granted me, but it’s time for a change. Time to find something more suitable for a family.

Continuing down the window I spot a listing for a house I recognize.

“I didn’t know the hangout house was listed for sale.”

Bambi steps up to my side, pressing close to my arm and I instinctually wrap it around her waist. She doesn’t pull away and I count that as another small victory in my favor.

“Me neither. I just figured whoever owned it died or moved away and a family member or someone owned it and just didn’t care about it.”

We stand side by side reading the listing for the house the adolescents of the town have claimed as their own.

Nearly three thousand square feet, five bedrooms, three and a half baths, and multiple acres of land.

Considering how long it’s been sitting and its less than livable conditions, the price isn’t horrible. It’s downright cheap.

It never crossed my mind that living in the hangout house was a possibility.

It’s never been a home in my mind, yet the longer I think about it the more I realize it has been a surrogate home for many.

Bambi always loved that house. I could tell not only by the way she admired things like the dusty chandelier and the colorful stained-glass windows, but because she outright told us how amazing it would be to live in such a unique house.

An idea sparks and my mind takes hold of it, processing through the probabilities and possibilities. Ideas forming and taking shape faster than I can keep up with. Just more things on my list to research.

“I wonder what happened to the people who used to live there. Do you remember anyone ever living there?” Bambi asks, pulling me from my growing plan for our future.

I shrug, shaking my head. “No. As long as I can remember it’s been empty.”

We stare for a moment longer before Bambi sighs and tugs at my arm. “Come on, I’m hungry. Let’s go get some lunch.”

“You’re always hungry.”

“It’s not me, it’s the baby, he’s hungry. And you don’t want your son going hungry now do you?”

I smile down at her. I think this is the first time she’s referred to the baby as my son out loud.

“I don’t want either of you going hungry. What do you feel like eating?”

“Chow mein…and pickles!”

“Your wish is my command.”