“Oh, I’m okay, Drew. This is normal,” she promised.
He was confused. “Yeah, I know. People get the flu all the time. You’re probably just dehydrated.”
“No, I don’t have the flu,” she said, staring him straight in the eyes. “I’m pregnant.” Drew gently set her on her feet, suddenly feeling a little woozy himself.
“Pregnant? Did you say you are pregnant?” He needed a minute or thirty. “When exactly did you find out that you’re pregnant?” She looked down at the floor, guiltily. “So, that long ago? And why exactly are you keeping this from me? I am guessing that the baby is mine?” He didn’t mean to yell at her, but he felt his temper rising. Still looking down at the floor, Karlie shrugged. “Karlie,” he barked, making her and all three nurses jump. Karlie seemed woozy again, and he wrapped his arms around her. “We need a room—now,” he shouted at the nurses, sending them scattering. Within a few minutes, they had her in the ER triage center, waiting for a doctor. The nurses asked about his relationship with Karlie, and he just about lost his shit. Telling them that he was her fiancé wasn’t a lie. Now that he knew about the baby, his baby, they’d be getting married. The news just sent his plans into hyperdrive. Damn, a baby? How hadthat happened? They didn’t use a condom, but she said she was on the pill. Fuck, he knew better than to trust someone else for protection. He should have worn a condom, but she felt so fucking good, and he lost his mind, his sanity, and believed her. Would she have lied to him? No, not Karlie.
When he was finally let back to be with her, she was resting. She looked so tired and pale. Yeah, she was coming back home with him, and he was moving her into his house—their house. He’d take care of both of them. They were both his, and the sooner Karlie realized it, the better. He couldn’t let her go again. He couldn’t lose them both.
They had her hooked up to a machine that seemed to be monitoring the baby’s heartbeat. It looked like a belt that went across her belly, and he could hear his baby’s heart beating. It sounded strong and healthy. He went over to the machine as if he felt a connection to it, just watching the little blips on the screen made every protective instinct inside of him roar to life. Karlie moaned and started to stir.
“Baby don’t pull at that, it’s an IV. You were dehydrated, and they are giving you and the baby fluids,” he brushed a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the baby, Karlie?” he whispered, all anger gone.
“I wasn’t sure that I could stand seeing you with Lisa just yet. I needed time to get used to you two being together before I told you. Plus, there is nothing you can do right now for the baby. I promise, Drew, I was going to tell you about her just as soon as I could get up the nerve,” she was fidgeting with the finger monitor that took her pulse.
“Her?” Drew couldn’t help but take her hands into his. He wanted so badly to pull her into his lap and cuddle her close, but he didn’t want to mess up the baby’s monitors. “You know it’s a girl?”
“Oh, no—I mean not really. I just have a feeling,” she instinctively reached down, touching her belly. “Is that her heartbeat?”
“Yeah- she’s strong, a fighter,” Drew also reached for their little bump and pressed his hand to her tummy. “Baby, Lisa and I were never together. It was a plan that Jake came up with—to have her waiting in my bed for you to find her there.” He watched her, needing to make her believe him.
“But,” she looked so confused, “but I saw her in your bed. She told me that you two had just had—" she looked down, crying now. “She said you just had sex with her, and you were in the shower.” She met his gaze, her own questioning.
“I know what she told you, and she was lying, baby. That day, when you went to your parents’ house, Jake knew that you would be there for a while. He called Lisa and told her to get her tail over to my house, and they even plotted where you should find her. She just got lucky that I had been in the shower when she broke into my house. After I got out of the shower, she was there, and you were gone. She told me about Jake’s plan, but by then, it was too late—I had already lost you. I have been trying to find you for three months now,” He looked down at his hand rubbing her bump—their baby. “God, Karlie, if I had known, I would have taken care of you both. I went out of my mind without you.”
Karlie was sobbing now, holding his hands to her belly. “I’m so sorry, Drew. My dad told me that you were looking for me, but I just couldn’t trust that you weren’t with Lisa. After what Jake didto me, I just—I believed the worst. I’m so sorry.” He wiped away her falling tears and lifted her into his arms, sliding onto her bed to settle her on his lap. She snuggled into his hold, allowing him to rest his chin on top of her head.
“Baby, I’m not Jake,” he whispered.
“I know,” she said, sitting up and looking into his eyes. “I know you’re not Jake, but my head didn’t want to believe my heart.”
Drew leaned in for a soft kiss. “God, I missed you, honey. I don’t want to miss you anymore. When you get out of here, I am taking you home where I can take care of both of you.” Karlie nodded, and he felt himself exhaling in relief. The doctor came into the little room that was sectioned off by curtains. Drew made no effort to move, holding Karlie tighter to him when she started to get up.
“Hello, I’m Dr. Morrison. I hear that you have been having some morning sickness and got a little dehydrated.” He started looking at her chart.
“Yes,” Karlie’s voice still sounded so hoarse, probably from getting sick so much.
“I see here that you are almost 13 weeks along,” Karlie looked up at Drew when she nodded. He couldn’t help but smile at her. “Well, the good news is that your morning sickness should be subsiding soon. Usually, it slows or even ends with the start of the second trimester. So, a few more days and you should be feeling some relief. Of course, some women experience morning sickness their entire pregnancies,” Karlie moaned, causing both the doctor and Drew to snicker. “But I’m sure you’ll get through it,” the doctor continued. “The baby’s heartbeat sounds strong, but I’d like to do your first sonogram if that would be all rightwith you.”
Karlie sat straight up. “Is there something wrong with her?” Drew wrapped his arms around her, trying to calm her. Her pulse sounded like a freight train coming through the room over the monitor.
“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to let you take a look for yourself, for peace of mind,” the doctor assured her. “I understand that you’re the baby’s father?” He looked at Drew when he asked the question. Drew just nodded. He was worried about both Karlie and the baby, and the knot in his throat was making it hard to talk. “Okay, well, how about we take a look at this little one, and then we can talk about getting you out of here,” the doctor promised.
He put some gel on Karlie’s exposed belly and started rubbing a little wand over her abdomen. Suddenly, a little lima bean shaped alien appeared on the monitor. Karlie gasped and started crying again. He could see the baby’s heart beating on the screen, and suddenly, everything in his life had meaning again. He had Karlie and their baby in his arms, and that’s where he was going to keep them.
∞
Karlie couldn’t quite make out the little image on the monitor through her tears, but when she heard the doctor say that everything looked perfect, she felt like collapsing again—this time in relief. She had been so worried over the past two days that she would lose the baby because she had been so sick. Drew kissed the top of her head. “See, baby, she’s fine.” She leaned back into his hold and exhaled deeply, completely relaxed for the first time in months. She felt like she was home again. Hetold her he wasn’t with Lisa, and she needed to believe him because she couldn’t do this by herself anymore. Her father had been right; she needed Drew, and he needed to be a part of his baby’s life. Drew even seemed happy about the baby. The doctor was finishing up the sonogram, reassuring her that everything looked good with the baby.
“Can you tell the sex yet?” she asked hopefully.
“No, it’s too soon. Usually, after nineteen weeks, and if the baby cooperates, we can tell the sex. Do you know when you conceived?” She looked back at Drew, silently asking him. He just shrugged and grinned at her.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but it had to be over that weekend since that was the only time we were together,” he said.
She nodded, “About three months ago,” she said. “I was on the pill at the time, and I stopped taking it right away after I found out I was pregnant.” She looked back at Drew as if telling him the story, too. “I thought I had a stomach bug and went to the doctor, but found out that I was pregnant instead. I was shocked because I thought that I was covered. He told me that it was the antibiotics that I took, for my busted lip, which made my pill ineffective.”
