Page 92 of While We Waited

He places a finger on my lips. “Hold on. Let’s figure this out. Will you let me figure this out?” He raises an eyebrow and I nod.

“First, let’s figure out when a pregnant woman should feel a baby kick. We’ll go from there.”

He digs his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through it. “According to this baby book, you should feel the first kick between the sixteenth and twenty-fourth week.”

“Exactly.”

“Exactly?” He throws his phone on the bed. “You’re not twenty-four weeks yet.”

“But Dr. Katz said Sprog is growing faster than normal. If Sprog is growing faster than normal, shouldn’t I have felt her kick by now?”

“I don’t know. It makes sense, but I’m not a doctor. Let me grab a shower and then I’ll drive you to the doctor’s office.”

My mouth drops open. “You’ll drive me to the doctor’s office?”

He shrugs. “Yeah. What else do you want to do?”

“This is why I fell in love with you. You’re the sweetest grump in the world.”

He smiles. “Fell in love?”

My eyes widen when I realize what I said. So much for keeping my mouth shut and not love-vomiting all over him.

“I didn’t mean it. It’s a turn of phrase is all.”

His smile widens and I’m temporarily blinded. Hudson Clark is always handsome, but he’s movie star handsome when he smiles.

“I kind of figured out you loved me when you freaked out, I was going to die because all the people you love die.”

I groan. “You couldn’t have ignored my logic?”

“Nope.”

“Can we pretend I didn’t say the l-word?”

“Nope.”

“I didn’t mean to say it.”

“Too bad. You did.”

“UGH!” I stomp my foot and shout. “Stop being stubborn!”

“I’m not—”

I hold up my hand to quiet him. I place my other hand on my stomach.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” He asks after a few moments of silence.

“I think I felt the baby move. It was a little flutter. The book said making some noise might help but I…” I trail off when I feel another flutter.

He falls to his knees in front of me and cradles my belly. “Hello, Sprog. Your mom and I can’t wait to meet you. If you’re a girl, you’ll be as beautiful as your mom. She’s a stunner. And if you’re a boy, I’ll teach you to play football. Or soccer if you prefer. Or you can take ballet lessons. Whatever you want, you can have.”

Tears leak from my eyes as I listen to Hudson speak to our baby. He’s going to be the best dad ever. I couldn’t help but fall in love with him.

Hold on. I said I love you to Hudson and he basically said, I know. He didn’t say it back. Does he not love me? Is this relationship doomed to fail because I love him and he doesn’t love me?

I can’t be with a man who doesn’t love me back. I want the kind of relationship my parents had. I want a man who kisses me goodnight and whispers I love you before wrapping his arms around me and falling asleep together.

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