Page 24 of The Green Card Baby Deal

All of a sudden, her arms were around him, and she snuggled up close. It was working. Maybe this could be real, after all. Then she said, “Just so we’re convincing when she gets here.”

He wasn’t sure whether she was making excuses to be close to him, but Luis took it as a good sign either way.

CHAPTER 13

CLARA

Weeks later, Clara and Luis were back at a doctor’s office together. It was her first scan, and she’d been wringing her hands about it all day. The relief she felt when Luis offered to go with her was more than she wanted to admit to. She’d been the one to insist this be kept professional, but for some reason, his just being there was a comfort to her. Even though they hadn’t known each other long, Luis always made her feel safe and taken care of, which was something she hadn’t felt since she’d left home.

The nurse had taken Clara’s weight and blood pressure, and she’d asked all the usual questions. Then she told Clara to get into a hospital gown, hop onto the table, and wait for the doctor to arrive.

“Do you want me to go?” Luis asked.

Clara shook her head. “Please don’t.” She tried to keep it together, but she couldn’t stop her hands from shaking. What if things had gone terribly wrong? They did tell her that her fertility was declining. Didn’t pregnancy also become more dangerous as one got older? If something went wrong with this pregnancy, Clara feared she may never get another chance. And she was about to find out just how viable this pregnancy was.

Luis must have sensed her nervousness because he stepped in and took her hand, just as she had done when he’d admitted his fears about his family. It felt good supporting each other. And she supposed it wasn’t unprofessional at all. Business partners had to look out for each other, or the business would fail. In this case, the business was this pretend little family they’d built together. Support was fine, she told herself. Of course it was.

“Are you okay?” Luis asked her when she squeezed his hand a little too tightly.

“I think so,” she murmured back. “I think I’m just scared.”

“It’s going to be all right,” he assured her, and when he said it, she felt inclined to believe it was true. “Trust me.”

Preparation for the scan wasn’t as bad as she thought it was going to be, but it wasn’t a lot of fun either. Luis seemed to know exactly when to crack a joke or say something encouraging. “I don’t think I could do what you’re doing,” he said. “Not even for a million bucks.”

Clara gasped when she felt a coolness she hadn’t expected, and Luis squeezed her hand again. “A million bucks to you is like a penny to everyone else,” she said, trying to hide the tremor in her voice.

“Exactly, which is why I would refuse outright.”

She chuckled and felt a pinch.

“Relax,” the doctor told her. “It’ll be much more comfortable if you relax.”

“That’s easier said than done.” But Clara gave it her best shot anyway. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Then Luis’s voice cut in. “So you and your sister are twins, right?”

Clara could barely nod.

“Did you ever try to fool your parents into thinking you were each other?”

He was trying to distract her, and Clara thought it was the sweetest thing. She decided to answer his question. “One time, neither one of us wanted to go to school, so we made a pact. One of us would claim to be sick and stay home while the other went to school. So we’d get every other day off, and as far as our parents knew, it was just me who had the flu for a week. The truth is I kind of think our mother knew the difference and played along so we could have a few days of fun. We were identical but very different in a lot of ways.”

“She must have wanted you to have a good story to tell your future husband,” Luis said. “Seems to have worked out just fine.”

“All right, you two,” the doctor cut in. “You’re going to want to hear this.”

“Hear what?” Luis asked before Clara could get the words out. Apparently, he was every bit as nervous as Clara was. Rather than worry her, though, his concern comforted her. He was such a lucky man in so many ways. If he already cared about the baby’s well-being, then he would definitely keep his promise to take care of both Clara and her child. At least, that’s what she told herself.

As Clara gathered her thoughts, she heard a little whooshing coming from the machine. She’d heard that sound before. “Wait. Is that?—”

“That’s your baby’s heartbeat,” the doctor said. “It’s a good, strong heartbeat.”

“It is?” Clara didn’t know why she felt the need to ask. She’d been expecting the worst to prepare herself for it, and for some reason that made it difficult to process good news.

Unlike her, Luis seemed to have expected the best. “I knew it!” he said. “You see? I told you it would be good. Amazing.” His cheeks were flushed and his smile so big. Clara could hardly believe it. She’d thought the baby part of the bargain was just for her, but he seemed to be as excited as she was. He really was going to be a father to this child, and he was loving it. He was a good man, maybe the best man. If she ever had doubts about that, they were long gone now. As she watched him, her eyes welled with tears, which she would normally have attributed to hormones, but this time around, she wasn’t so sure.

The doctor finished up the exam and said, “For what it’s worth, as far as we know at this stage, you’re progressing beautifully. I see no reason to worry. Now all that’s left to do is let your fiancé spoil you.” She turned to Luis. “And that’s an official prescription, Mr. Morales.”

---