Page 87 of Stone Rules

“No?” I laugh. She shakes her head laughing. Mission accomplished.

Dr. Chavis walks in and closes the door. She greets us and sits behind her desk. “So I hear your lives have gotten a lot more complicated.”

“To put it mildly,” Charlie says.

“If there is anything I can do, please let me know,” she says.

“Thank you,” I say. “That means a lot to us. The man who is filing suit against her is a scam artist. He’s using this baby as leverage. We’ll take all the help we can get.”

Dr. Chavis nods and makes a few notes in Charlie’s chart. “I want to assure you both that Charlie and this baby are our top priorities here. We will comply with the order to release medical information, but rest assured, it will be the bare minimum. Have you thought any more about the paternity tests we discussed?”

I squeeze Charlie’s hand. “We’ve decided against that until the baby comes. We don’t want to risk him having any more access than he already does.”

“I understand,” Dr. Chavis says. “Well, I’ll have a nurse take you back and gown you. We’ll do an ultrasound today to get a good look at the baby’s heart.”

“Heart?” Charlie asks.

“It’s standard procedure around this time. Also, if he or she cooperates, I should be able to tell you the baby’s sex, so think about whether or not you’d like to know that.” She stands up and leads us to the door. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

A nurse has me wait outside while Charlie changes. Then she takes her vitals and situates Charlie on a table before she wheels in the ultrasound machine. “The doctor will be in soon,” she says, leaving us alone in the room.

“We’ve never really talked about it, have we?” Charlie asks. “In the thousands of hours we’ve spent talking, we’ve managed to completely avoid this one topic.”

“What topic?”

“Whether the baby is a boy or a girl,” she says. “Do you think you’d be upset if it’s a girl?”

“Upset? Why would you say that? I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl as long as it’s healthy.”

“I just thought you might want a boy is all.” She gives her belly a rub. “You know, because a girl might remind you of Cat.”

I give her a sad smile. “Charlie,anybaby will remind me of Cat. Every time I look at our child, girl or boy, I’ll think of her. But that’s okay. I loved her very much. I like to think about her.”

“What ifI’mthe one who doesn’t want a girl?” she asks, guilt washing over her beautiful features.

I feel my forehead crinkle as my eyes question her.

“I mean, I love little girls,” she says. “Hailey and Jordan are wonderful. But, I’m just not sureIwant one. Look at what happened to me. To Piper. What if that happens toourchild? The Mitchells loved their daughters more than any parents I’ve ever seen, yet they couldn’t protect Piper. I don’t know if I could take it, Ethan. It would kill me.”

“The odds of that happening are—”

“One in four, Ethan. One. In. Four. That’s a twenty-five percent chance our daughter will be raped. Molested. Assaulted.”

I can see she’s getting worked up. I step behind her and rub her shoulders. I can feel her relax under my touch and it makes me smile. “Charlie, we can’t live our lives in fear of that,” I tell her. “We could get hit by a bus on our way home from this appointment. We can’t live in a bubble. We have to live our lives to the fullest and hope for the best.”

She cranes her neck around. “Why do I feel there is a rule coming?”

I laugh. “Okay, how about this one. Rule number sixteen—carpe diem.”

“Doesn’t that mean ‘live for today’ or something?”

“Technically, it means ‘seize the day,’ but yes, you’ve got the right idea. We can’t control tomorrow. We can’t change the past. All we can do is make today the best we can make it, and go on from there.”

She pulls me around her so I’m standing between her legs. “I knew there was a reason I loved you. You’re just so . . . reasonable.”

“Reasonable?” I make a sour face at her. “I’d rather you love me because I’m charming. Or sexy. Or an incredible lover.”

“I love you for all those things, too. But right this second, I love you because you’re reasonable.”

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