Page 94 of Theirs to Take

“We tried that, and it didn’t work,” she reminded. After their night together she wanted him to move in with her, but not to keep her safe. Ranger went on and on about him moving in with her for her own safety and that just pissed her off. Millie wondered if he had slept with her just to get her to agree to let him move into her place to keep an eye on her. She wanted to ask him if he felt anything for her, but she was sure that she already knew his answer and it was only going to hurt her feelings.

“We slept together once,” he said. “That hardly counts as us being more than just friends. I won’t fuck it up again, Millie. Just give me another chance to prove that to you.”

“Can I think about it?” Millie asked. She noted the disappointment on his face, and she felt bad for making him feel that way, but she didn’t want to rush into anything that wouldaffect her baby. If she moved into Ranger’s place permanently, and it didn’t work out, her child would be the one paying the price and she couldn’t allow that to happen. This decision was going to be one that she wouldn’t take lightly, even if her not giving Ranger an answer right away, upset him.

“Sure,” he agreed. “You should shower and get dressed while I make us something to eat. We’ll need to leave for the hospital in just over an hour.” They had given her the earliest appointment that they had for her sonogram. She was thankful that she wouldn’t have to wait all day to make sure that her baby was all right. It was torture trying to sleep last night without having all of the answers that she needed to hear. As soon as she found out that the baby was all right, she’d find a way to sit quietly and decide what to do about Ranger’s offer.

By the time she checked into the hospital for her tests and sonogram, she was about ten minutes late. “How is it possible that I’m up before dawn and still late for my appointment?” she asked Ranger.

“You took forever in the shower,” Ranger grumbled.

“Hey, you took forever to make breakfast,” she accused.

The technician who had gotten her ready for her sonogram giggled. “How long have you two been married?” she asked.

“What? We’re not married,” Millie insisted. “We’re not even together. We had sex once and I got pregnant, but then, he ghosted me.”

“Jesus,” Ranger moaned, “can you not tell everyone our personal business? I mean, I’ve apologized a few times now. What will it take for you to actually forgive me, Millie?” he asked.

“I’m not sure yet, but I’ll let you know,” she hissed. The technician pulled up Millie’s shirt exposing her belly and she almost wanted to tell her to cut it out. It was the first time that Ranger had seen her belly since the night that he got her pregnant. Her body had changed so much, that she worried that he’d find her gross now.

“Sorry to bring it up and cause a tiff,” the technician said. “You two just act like an old married couple. You certainly argue like one too. This might be a little cold,” she said, squirting some gel onto Millie’s belly.

“Will we be able to find out the baby’s sex?” she asked.

“I’ll try,” the technician said. “Sometimes these little guys don’t cooperate. If I can tell, do you want to know?” she asked.

“I’d like to know,” Millie agreed.

“I don’t know that I’d like to know,” Ranger said. “I like to have some things be a surprise.”

“Well, I just surprised you two days ago, letting you know that I was pregnant with your baby. Wasn’t that enough of a surprise for a bit?” Millie asked.

“If you don’t want to know, you can always step out of the room,” the technician offered.

“But then Millie will know, and I won’t,” Ranger said.

“Right—we’ll both get what we want. We’ll be compromising just like you said earlier,” Millie said.

“You didn’t let me finish what I was going to say,” Ranger said.

“Go on then,” Millie prompted.

“I was going to say that you have a big mouth and will tell everyone in town, including our mutual friends and I’ll eventually find out what we’re having. So, it’s not really a compromise. I’ll eventually lose.”

“I’m not sure what you want me to say here, Ranger. I want to know the sex of the baby—my baby,” she said.

“Our baby,” he shouted, causing the technician to jump. “Stop calling him or her your baby. We made that baby together and it’s our kid.”

“Fine,” Millie spat. “I’m going to find out what sex our baby is since he or she is inside of my body and it’s my decision to know.” The technician was bobbing her head back and forth between the two of them as if she was watching a ping pong match.

“Have we made some kind of decision here? I have a full schedule today,” the technician said. “How about if I can tell the baby’s sex, I’ll write it down and put it into an envelope. You two can decide what to do with it later after you’ve had some time to think about it, and maybe some couple’s counseling.” Millie wanted to point out that they didn’t need couple’s counseling because they weren’t a couple, but that wasn’t the truth. Even if they weren’t together romantically, they were still two people who were going to raise a child together and that made them a couple, for better or worse.

“That sounds fair to me,” Ranger agreed.

“Me too, as long as you promise not to destroy the envelope before we decide what to do, just to get your way,” Millie said.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Ranger challenged. Millie made a humming noise in the back of her throat letting him know that she didn’t believe him for a second. He’d do it and then tell her it was for her own good. Kind of like when he told her that he wasn’t jumping into bed with her again for her own good. She was sick to death of Ranger telling her the way things were going to be. He was the one who had decided to stop talking to her. He was the one who pushed her aside as if their night together meant nothing to him. It’s one of the reasons why she quit at McTavish. She loved her job there but working under Ranger with him not speaking to her, was almost too much.

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