Page 83 of Snowed In With The Second Chance Daddy

Trevor kisses the back of my hand.

“I love you,” he mouths.

Each time he says he loves me, the weight of our time spent apart lifts. I grow stronger each time he says it.

I’m no longer afraid. All it took was the reaction to maybe being pregnant to clarify everything for me. I’m safe. I’m good. I deserve this.

“There we go.” Dr. Smythe smiles. “Yep, there’s a baby there.”

I laugh. Trevor’s hand tightens in mine.

“Fetal pole is developing nicely, we can see the gestational sack here…” Dr. Smythe turns the screen toward us. “And that’s the heartbeat. Subtle, but you can see it.”

All of the gray blurs and black splotches are perfect. Because they’re mine. My baby. It doesn’t have to look like a baby for me to know. “Oh my god, Trevor.”

Trevor’s head dips down, pressing my knuckles to his forehead. Tears catch on my fingers.

“Baby.”

“It’s a beautiful thing when people are so happy.” Dr. Smythe smiles. “You’d like pictures, I’m sure.”

“Please.” Trevor nods. “Poster sized.”

I laugh, beaming ear to ear. “It’s happening. It’s real.”

Trevor places a hand on my lower belly. There are no signs of a baby yet, but it will happen sooner than later, I’m sure.

And it doesn’t matter if we can’t see it, I can feel it. The baby doesn’t have to be wiggling around for me to know it’s there. There’s just a warmth in my belly. A power.

I’m growing life.

We’re starting our family.

“So, I’ll run your blood work to make sure everything is above board as far as your levels go. You’ll need to start prenatals and…” Dr. Smythe rattles through everything, and I try to keep up, but the gears are spinning in my brain.

I’m four months into the future, nine, one year, ten,eighteen.

A whole life. I’m going to be responsible for a whole life.

The most beautiful terror I’ve ever experienced.

Shortly after we get our grainy prints of our grainy growing baby that looks more like a blob than a baby right now, Trevor and I leave the office in a daze. We walk down the street hand in hand without a plan. We just walk. Doesn’t matter where we go or what we do. What’s unspoken is we have each other now. We will always have each other.

Trevor stops suddenly. “Uh, how are you feeling?”

I shrug. “I feel fine. I realized because my period was late. Not because of feeling ill or…” Though that will change. That’s one of the many things Dr. Smythe said. It’s early yet. I’ll more than likely start feeling the effects of my pregnancy sooner than later.

“Are you hungry?”

I laugh, pulling myself into his chest. “You think because I’m pregnant I’m suddenly ravenous?”

“I think I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Trevor runs his hands up my arms, then places his palms against my cheeks. “It’s my job to take care of you.”

I look into his eyes. The eyes of the love of my life. Thefather of my child.

I wonder if our baby will have his eyes. His curls. The softness of his smile. “I could eat.”

Trevor kisses my forehead. “Then let’s eat.”

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