Page 23 of Eternal Pieces
“Shit. Sorry, baby. I’m not angry at you. It’s just…” I gently squeeze her shoulders and bend to look her in the eye. “Max and I worry when we’re not around to keep guys like that away from you.”
“Please. After everything with James, you’re lucky you had your dad on your side. But you can’t risk everything again because of those jackasses. I rarely see them anyway. They’re not in my classes, and it’s only if they randomly see me in the halls that they say anything.”
I share another look with Max. We’re still on the same wavelength.
“If they do anything else, you’ll tell us straight away,” Max says, it’s a clear command and not a question.
“I promise, I will. Can we leave now?”
“Sure,” I say, giving Aaron and his friends another glance as they get in their cars and drive off.
Violet hugs her friend goodbye and gets in the car with Max. I turn to Sarah. “Make sure Violet stays away from them.”
“O-okay,” she stammers, her eyes wide.
“Thanks.” I flash her a smile. “You’re a good friend to Vi. Now, I’ve gotta go meet my baby.” I can hardly stay angry when I’m about to meet a mini-me.
CHAPTER 12
VIOLET
My ass is sore from sitting on the hard plastic chair in the hospital waiting room for so long. Both my hands are also going numb from being held so tightly by Max and Maddox. The pressure, albeit a little uncomfortable, is reassuring, and it’s helping to calm the nausea swirling in my stomach.
Maddox seems relaxed yet a little nervous. His knee keeps bouncing up and down, knocking into mine every few seconds.
To my right, I can feel the tension radiating off Max. He’s not moved since we sat down fifteen minutes ago. His jaw keeps clicking where he’s grinding it so hard as he stares blankly at the sitcom playing on the screen in the corner.
I give both of their hands a squeeze. This is a happy day, we get to see our baby for the first time. But being in a hospital stirs up a lot of dark memories for us all. Max’s life was completely changed when he woke up in one after the accident. Maddox had to watch as his twin suffered, not knowing how to help. And I left them alone to deal with it all by themselves.
“Violet Cassidy?” The nurse finally calls us in. Hand in hand, we follow her through to the ultrasound room. She closes the door behind us, and I see her attention flick to our joined hands for a brief second. There’s a lack of disgust or surprise on herface, like we usually get from strangers. I’m sure she’s seen all sorts of different relationship dynamics while working here.
“I’m Dawn,” she introduces herself. “If you can lie back on the table, please. I have a few routine questions we need to go through first before we start the scan. Is that okay?”
I nod and get comfortable on the table, smoothing my dress down on my lap. Max and Maddox stand at my side while Dawn sits at her computer on the other side. She has me confirm my details before firing off a few questions about my health and lifestyle.
When she asks, “What sort of exercise are you doing?” Maddox snorts out a laugh and answers for me.
“Plenty of cardio.”
I poke him in the ribs and he gives me a cheeky grin. Dawn blushes a little, but remains professional.
After a few more questions, she says, “That’s the boring bit over with. If you can lift your dress and pull your leggings down under your tummy, I’ll apply some gel and we can have a look. It’s a little cold.” She squeezes it onto my stomach, and butterflies kick up when she presses the device to my pelvis and starts moving it around. I give Max and Maddox an excited grin. They both give me a gentle smile in return, trying to shield me from their nerves.
We all watch the screen as the nurse searches for our baby.
“We think I’m at least three months along now, but it could be later,” I tell her to fill the awkward lack of conversation. She nods, but doesn’t say anything. I should let her concentrate, but my brain and mouth have opposing ideas. “My boobs have been pretty sore, and I’ve been kinda nauseous. Those are all good signs, right? We did a lot of tests and they all came out positive?—”
A firm hand grips my wrist.
“It’s alright, sweetheart.” Max stops me from getting too worked up.
The nurse keeps her eye on the screen, a slight pinch to her brow. “I’ll be able to tell you a clearer estimate of how far along you are in a moment.”
How far along?That means…I’mdefinitely pregnant! Which is a very good thing, so why does she have such a tense expression?
The longer she takes, the more worried I get. Did I make a mistake? Is there nothing there? Or is there something wrong with the baby? I tried not to think of worst-case scenarios before coming here, but what if?—
“Is that the baby?” Maddox leans forward, squinting at the screen.
