Page 1 of A Love So Sweet

ChapterOne

“Six months.” Allison glanced up at Lance as he squeezed their entwined fingers. “I can hardly believe it,” she said, looking back at the ultrasound monitor.

“Believe it,” Dr. Corvine inserted. “Your baby is growing, healthy, and before you know it, you’ll be in the delivery room.” She smiled. “How do you feel about that?”

Allison took a deep breath then exhaled, her eyes traveling back up to Lance’s soft brown gaze. “Honestly?”

“Yes,” he said.

“I’m scared as hell.”

Dr. Corvine chuckled while Lance smiled.

“That’s normal,” the doctor assured. “You’re going to be a new mom.”

“A great mother,” Lance added.

Dr. Corvine nodded. “If you weren’t nervous, I’d wonder if you were human.”

“So,all first-time moms have this fear?”

“It’s a combination of rattled nerves and excitement. Are you excited, Allison?”

Allison quieted, falling into deep thought about what she’d been feeling lately. A kick jolted her from her musing, and immediately her free hand caressed the side of her belly.

Eyes twinkling now, she glanced to the monitor then back to Lance. “I am excited. But more than anything, I hope I can live up to my husband’s expectations.”

Lance’s thick brows dipped as he frowned. “What expectations, Beauty?”

“Of being a great mother.”

Lance lifted her hand and kissed her fingers. “That will come naturally. It’s not something I demand from you. Please, don’t worry about that. I know your heart and have experienced your love—our child, I’m sure, has felt the same for six months and will continue to do so after they are born.” He kissed her hand again and squeezed her fingers lightly.

“I just have one question,”Dr. Corvine inserted. Both Lance and Allison looked her way. “Where’d you get him from, and are they manufactured in multiples for me and my friends?” She said to Allison in reference to Lance.

Laughter bellowed from Allison, and Lance smirked.

“Doctor, you are too little too late. He has five brothers who are not as gorgeous but close.” Allison winked at Lance. “They’re successful, well-mannered—except during competitive sports and recreation. But they’re also married. Pretty recently, if you count the last two to four years as newlyweds.”

“That is recent.”Dr. Corvine frowned. The fifty-five-year-old Black woman kept up the charade. “Why didn’t you get pregnant ahead of time? Then you could’ve come to see me sooner, and maybe I, too, could’ve been a Valentine?”

A smile spread across both of their faces, and Allison nodded. “You’re possibly right, I think.” She thought of her sister-in-law’s who were some of her closest friends.

Avery Michele-Valentine was her boss at the news station WTZB. Bri St. James-Valentine had been her best friend for decades. Camilla and Corinne snagged their Valentine before Allison and Lance fell in love, so after thinking it over, Allison grimaced.

“You know what, they were already accounted for even before Lance, and I became husband and wife. You would’ve needed to run into one of them before any of us to snag a Valentine.”

“Wow.That’s such a blessing but a curse for me, I suppose.”

They all joined in, in laughter. “I guess there’s no use of me asking about a daddy,” Her brow dipped, “or is there?”

“Absolutely not,” Allison quipped.

Dr. Corvine snapped a finger. “Damn.”

They cajoled, and Dr. Corvine wiped Allison's belly clean of the lubricating gel.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

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