“That sounds good.” His smile was easy and natural. “I’m still going with ghost Elvis for my nursery. They make a mobile and everything.”
“Well, I can’t wait to see it.”
“It’s going to be way more awesome than your weird bear nursery.”
I smirked. “Would you care to place a wager on that?”
He relaxed into his burger, my earlier tears forgotten. “Always.”
15
FIFTEEN
ONE MONTH LATER
Shopping for a baby was more fun than I envisioned. Like … a lot of fun. There were so many options, and for some reason, the women who worked in the baby stores—and it was always women—loved me. I’d never gotten more phone numbers shoved under my nose when I was signing credit card pads and slips.
I didn’t call any of them. I didn’t even hold onto the numbers. I had zero interest. I was already in love after all. It was just with the idea of being a father.
When I looked back at how I’d reacted when I’d first found out about the baby, I was ashamed. I should’ve jumped for joy, made sure Ruby was comfortable, and told her I couldn’t wait to help her. Sure, rationally I understood that I was in shock and was always destined to come around. I wanted to be a stand-up guy for my kid, though. Never once did I want her to doubt that I loved her.
That meant shopping trips, keeping Ruby fed, and plotting out what the nursery was going to look like. I was still determined to decorate in ghost Elvis, although I was the only one who thought that was a good idea. I was never one to back down, even when the whole world was against me.
“I don’t care what you say.” I stared at the ghost Elvis mobile and sighed. “It’s perfect.”
Livvie moved up on my left and Ruby moved up on my right. They had twin looks of disgust on their faces as they studied the mobile.
“That is the tackiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Livvie complained.
“So tacky,” Ruby agreed. “It looks as if it’s made out of cardboard.”
I lightly slapped her hand away when she reached out to touch it. “It’s classy and I’m getting it.” I slid her a sidelong look as she rubbed her ribs. She was a little bigger now. She’d finally popped enough for some people—not all, but some—to realize she was pregnant … and not with a food baby. I thought that would be a relief to her. It was the exact opposite.
“What’s wrong?” I caught her around the waist and stared into her eyes. “Does something hurt?” Ruby wasn’t a complainer. Not in the least. That’s why I had to constantly ask her point blank if something was going on. The flutter thing at the doctor’s office had taught me a very important lesson.
“I’m twenty-five weeks,” she replied, not missing a beat. “My uterus is expanding and it’s normal to feel a bit of discomfort when that happens.”
“You sound like a walking, talking version of Pregnantpedia,” I complained.
She ignored me. “Do you want to know what else happens at twenty-five weeks?”
That was a trick question. If I said yes, she would tell me things that would give me nightmares. They weren’t the sorts of things I was all that interested in either. Like … no offense to the mother of my child, but I didn’t want to know about the baby getting eyelids for the first time, or that she was blinking in there. The whole thing creeped me out.
On the flip side, if I didn’t want to listen, she would give me grief. She knew exactly what buttons to push, which was why when I said that I didn’t want to hear her pregnancy facts that her response was fine, and that if I wanted to be a disinterested father, it was completely up to me.
Before I could respond to her current challenge, Livvie did it for me.
“I want to know what to expect at twenty-five weeks,” she said excitedly.
I shot her a suspicious look but didn’t ask the obvious question.
“I’m not pregnant,” she volunteered, as if reading my mind. “Take a breath. I’m just curious because I plan to be pregnant one day.”
I tipped my head toward Ruby so she could start yammering away. There was no escaping from the baby facts today.
“So, at twenty-five weeks, the baby can get frightened so it’s best not to make any loud noises or jump around,” Ruby started. The smile she sent me was absolutely beautiful, to the point of being distracting. It was like seeing the sun for the first time.
“The baby starts putting on fat at twenty-five weeks, too,” she continued.
