Page 56 of Seven of Hearts

I could do this.

“Excellent. Well, let’s get right to it,” she said as she dropped down to a rolling stool. “This is the anatomy scan where we look to see if the baby is growing right on track, so I’ll be taking lots of measurements. But I have a feeling you two might be most excited to see if the baby is a boy or a girl. Do you want me to tell you or keep it a surprise?”

“We’d like to know,” Leah said.

I sat still as a statue as Leah wiggled her leggings down below the curve of her belly, and folded her sweater up under her bra. The woman tucked a paper towel in the waistband of Leah’s leggings before smearing gel across her belly.

The screen flicked on, and the woman moved the wand across Leah’s skin, searching. “Is this your first time watching an ultrasound, Dad?” the sonographer asked.

It took me a minute to register that she was addressing me.

Iwas Dad.

“Uh, yes, ma’am.”

A black-and-white form appeared on the screen. “Well, here’s your little one.”

Leah squeezed my hand as a steady whooshing played through the computer’s speakers.

“That’s the heartbeat,” Leah said with a smile as she tilted her head over to look at me.

But I couldn’t stop staring at the screen.

“Everything’s looking normal so far,” the lady said as she clicked away on the computer, taking measurements of the head, body, arms, and legs. “Baby’s right on track. Just what we like to see.”

The glimpse of Leah’s face that I caught was pure, unfettered joy. She was radiant, beaming from ear to ear as she watched the screen.

I leaned up and kissed her temple. Instead of watching the screen, she closed her eyes and nuzzled closer.

“All right, Mom and Dad.” She paused with the ultrasound wand on a particular spot on Leah’s belly. “It looks like your baby is a boy.”

Leah’s eyes widened and her mouth popped open as she looked over at me. “A boy!” Her whisper was mixed with a laugh. “We’re having a boy!” Her feet wiggled as they hung off the end of the exam table because she just couldn’t contain herself.

Her excitement was the only thing keeping the tendrils of anxiety from strangling me completely. The thought of having a boy had pricked at my mind this morning.

That old saying about the sins of the father being laid on the children ate at me.

I didn’t know a damn thing about being a good father. All I knew was that my son deserved better than me.

“Wow. You look great,”Leah said with a bright smile when she opened her apartment door.

I lifted an eyebrow and looked down at my navy dress pants and pale blue button up. “You sound surprised.”

“Not surprised. I just haven’t seen you dressed up before.” She turned back into the apartment. “You know—besides at the wedding. Give me just a sec to grab the cupcakes out of the fridge and then we can go.”

I couldn’t help but watch the sway of her ass as she walked away.

“How was the rest of your day?” Leah called over her shoulder.

After the appointment, we had gone our separate ways to finish out our work days before meeting for dinner with her parents.

I would have preferred to attend my own funeral than this dinner, but I didn’t say that out loud. Second chances weren’t something that I gave out easily, and her parents were still on my shit list after they ambushed her.

But if it meant something to Leah for me to make an effort, then I was going to make a damn effort. She had invited them for dinner at Luca DeRossi’s restaurant so that we could tell them that the baby was a boy.

Leah had been on cloud nine since her appointment, and I had been reeling.

It hadn’t felt real until now. But in the span of one heartbeat, everything changed.

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