Page 20 of There Are No Words

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Allegra

“We should get it framed,” I suggested, clutching the sonogram with both my hands.

I stared down at it and felt tears sting the back of my eyes. Was this how all women felt when they had a tangible thing to hold onto of their yet-to-be-born baby?

I couldn’t believe it. I was going to be a mom. To this little one. This little miracle.

I still didn’t know how this happened. Okay, not technically. I mean, I knew how it happened—thank you crap condom.

But if you had asked me a year ago if this was where I’d be today, staring at a sonogram of my baby, I would have said no. Not that I didn’t want kids but not now. It wasn’t planned. I wasn’t with the love of my life.

No, but you’re having a child with Brady, so take the win and bite your tongue.

I loosened my grip on the sonogram, not wanting to ruin it. This was the first thing I had of our baby and I didn’t want tolet it out of my sight, let alone ruin it. I wanted to hold on to it forever. Was that strange?

Brady peered over my shoulder, and I looked back at him before eyeing the two other people in the elevator with us. “Better yet, I think we should frame them all and make a wall for them so we can commemorate the growth of the baby.”

Woah. Had that idea just come out of Brady’s mouth? I was shocked when he’d actually wanted to be part of all of this. And I was shocked again now. He just kept on surprising me. “I love that idea,” I practically gushed, my voice hitting a new octave. When all eyes fell on me in the cramped space, I shrunk and grinned. “Sorry,” I whispered.

I felt Brady’s breath on the shell of my ear as he whispered, “You don’t ever have to apologize to me for being enthusiastic.”

I didn’t need a mirror to know my cheeks were stained a dark pink because they were burning. Scratch that, they were on fire. Brady had a way with words. “Something tells me you’re not talking about this anymore,” I replied, spinning around to face him while looking at the picture out of the corner of my eye.

He winked at me and, for the first time in my life, I sympathized with women who’d said their ovaries fluttered. Mine did at that wink. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish we had this elevator to ourselves so that we could have a little fun. But no. I shook my head, trying to think clearly. That wouldn’t be a good idea. It was a one-time thing. Never to happen again.Well, duh, Allegra, that is what one time means.See, this was what Brady did to me. I lost sense of all rational thought.

“Ding, ding, ding. You’re right, Allegra. I wasn’t talking about that baby x-ray.”

“Sonogram,” I corrected him.

Just then, the elevator doors opened. Brady and I let everyone else leave first since we were in the back. I stoppedwalking when we got outside and opened my purse. “Hold on a second,” I instructed Brady.

He listened, coming to a stop and turning on his heel to face me where I stood a couple steps behind him.

I took out my wallet and placed the picture inside. “I want to make sure I don’t lose it.”

“And you couldn’t do this in the car?”

A warmth spread throughout my body. I didn’t know what it was. It wasn’t like Brady had said anything in particular. Frankly, he hadn’t said anything at all. But I stopped fussing with my wallet and purse and stared up at him, my heart beating so fast I could hear it in my ears. I stared into his intense brown eyes and didn’t look away. Brady and I were talking like we were a couple, which was so unimaginable I couldn’t even fathom it.

Brady and me.

A couple.

Ha! It was laughable.

“What?” Brady questioned, furrowing his brows. “What’s that look for?”

The corners of my lips turned upward and I shrugged. Brady and I couldn’t be together because I didn’t want him to wake up one day and regret settling down with someone like me—someone who didn’t fit the mold. But I wasn’t mad that he was the father of my baby. Honestly, I thought I might’ve made out like a bandit.

I couldn’t exactly express my thoughts, so instead, I lied, telling him, “I’m just glad this appointment is over. Now I can get back to work.”

As though the air had been deflated from him like a balloon, he nodded passively. “Sure. I can only imagine how much work you have with the next issue coming out soon.”

I cleared my throat and started walking again. Brady did the same, falling in step with me. “You could say that. I’m planningan event. So not necessarily about the next issue but still lots to do.”

He looked crestfallen and my heart broke as he asked, “Are you sure it can’t wait, though? I thought maybe we could grab a bite to eat and—”

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