Page 44 of Daddy's Double Surprise

“Don’t you start with me. You kept things from her and everyone else in your life. It wasn’t my fault she found out and saw you for what you are.” Rick didn’t back down. He walked toward me puffing his chest out as if he were challenging me to a fight. I refused to back away.

“And if you didn’t try to set her up with every single man in this city, maybe she’d have felt more comfortable telling you things, or asking for your help. You’re overbearing, Rick. She hates it. Can’t you see that?—”

“I see it!” he shouted as his chest heaved a few breaths. “I’m not a blind fool. Besides, Melanie tells me every day. I don’t need you on my case too.” His thumb and pointer finger pinch the bridge of his nose as I take a step back and tug the sleeves of my shirt back into place. When he looks up at me with a sincere look of concern and anger, I brace myself. “She’s pregnant, Carter. Melanie told me everything. I know this is a horrible shock toyou, but she’s alone and she’s hurting, and there’s no way I’m ever going to get through to her again.”

His news felt like a smack to the face. My hands clenched into fists, for a second doubting he was telling me the truth. But while Rick was temperamental and a bit controlling, the one thing he wasn’t was a liar. I backed against the table, perching myself on the edge and gripping it for stability as my head swam. She was pregnant? But she hadn’t told me anything. Was that what she meant when she said she was keeping secrets too?

“What?” I asked to no one in particular. Sunny was out there hurting, alone, and pregnant with my baby. My eyes rose to meet his, but he had calmed significantly. The monster of a man who came in to tear my head off had been replaced by a gentle-eyed giant who looked sad.

“Before you say anything, I don’t know where she is, but Melanie does. She’s in contact with her and gives me regular updates to make sure I know how badly we both failed her.” He pursed his lips as his shoulders slumped. “The very instant Sunny contacts you, you tell me. And you make this right, Carter. I won’t stand for her being alone and having a child on her own.” It was the first time I’d ever heard him use her nickname, and I was shocked by it, but also by the fact that this seemed like a resignation. He was telling me I had to do the right thing, and to our generation that meant manning up and taking care of her.

I watched him walk out, but I couldn’t move. I leaned against the edge of the table feeling the ebb and flow of shock coursing through me. Sunny being pregnant meant a new baby, a new chance for my heart to be torn out of my chest the way it had been when Hope died. I knew why she hadn’t told me; I didn’t have to question it. Though we’d been careful, it had happened, and I’d told her I didn’t want more kids. She had to be terrified to tell me, and on top of that, all of this stuff with Kira.

I grappled for a chair and let my legs give out beneath me, thankful the chair caught me. What was I going to do now? I had hurt her beyond belief, but she carried a part of my heart now, beyond just my affection for her.

31

SUNNY

The needle pinched as it stuck into my arm. The nurse was being careful, but blood draws were always a bit painful no matter how gentle the phlebotomist was. I held the bandage to the inside of my elbow and sighed as she finished up.

“It’ll just take a few minutes and we’ll be right back with you. Dr. Fetters will be right in.” She smiled in her professional way, the way I’d smile if I were the practitioner, and I had a patient here for a pregnancy test.

Luna sat on a chair along the wall of the tiny clinic exam room with her hands folded in her lap. She’d taken the day off of school to come with me when I called and told her I’d like company. Mom would’ve come, but I knew she would have made a huge deal about me not eating anything for those few days, and I didn’t need to hear the lectures. After the soup she brought by, I managed to force myself to eat three times a day because I knew it was the right thing. I still threw it all up, but I ate at least.

“Sunny, you don’t have to do this all alone.” Luna stood and walked over to the exam table, resting her hand on my knee.

“I know, you’re here,” I said boastfully, faking a smile for her sake.

“I mean Carter, not me.” She frowned and tilted her head. My hand rose to find a strand of hair to twirl, but with all the vomiting lately, I’d taken to tying it up in a messy bun. It kept my long locks safely tucked away so I didn’t have to hold it out of the toilet or trash can. The nervous energy had to go somewhere though, so I chewed my lip.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I told her. I’d been avoiding his calls and messages, thankful he was older so I didn’t have to sit and read a million texts a day.

“Well tough, we’re talking about it now.” Luna could be just as stubborn as my mother, a nag at times. My instant thought was regret over asking her to come along, but it cooled as she started talking. “Carter really is the man of your dreams, Sunny. I know you can’t see it because of the pain, but I see it. I’ve known him for a while. Dad would bring him over and they’d have card games. Carter would join us for dinner. He’s not the horrible man you might think he is.”

I didn’t want to feel what she was feeling, but when I looked into her eyes, I saw how sincere she was. She squeezed my knee and rested her head on my shoulder as she continued. “You’re hurting, and I get that. But Dr. Price is probably hurting too. You can’t possibly think he hid things from you on purpose with the intent to hurt you. If he had known how it would hurt you, don’t you think he would have spoken up sooner?”

Everything she said made sense, just like the stuff Mom told me the other day. I knew Carter, and I knew his heart well, probably better than any of my family did, including Dad. My heart hurt though, a clawing ache at my soul that relentlessly hammered me. I couldn’t shake the questions I had about his secret keeping, and I was guilty of it myself, which didn’t seem fair at all.

The door popped open as Dr. Fetters walked in. He glanced up at me and smiled, walking over to his stool to sit down. Luna hovered by my side, but she no longer rested her head on my shoulder.

“How are you doing today, Soleil?” Dr. Fetters’s large brown eyes studied me intently as I swallowed the frustration I’d been feeling. I was pregnant and not planning it, depressed after losing my best friend, and heartbroken over the state of my relationship—or non-relationship at this point; I didn’t know.

“I’m okay,” I told him, burying the truth yet again.

“The chart says you’ve been having morning sickness?” He flicked his gaze at my chart and then back up to my face.

I bobbed a shoulder and nodded, saying, “Yes. I took a home pregnancy test, and it came back positive. I’ve been throwing up a lot. I think I need vitamins and some anti-nausea meds.” If I were the one prescribing the medications, it would be a prenatal and some doxylamine and B6, but I wasn’t the medical professional in this situation.

“The bloods came back positive, Soleil. Congratulations.” He didn’t offer a smile, but I didn’t want the congratulations. I was content enough with the situation and knew I would grow to love this baby with my whole heart, but right now my heart was so raw I didn’t know what I truly felt. “We’ll get you some prescriptions and set you up for your first real appointment. We’ll do a sonogram to measure the fetus and determine your due date. How does that sound?” He stood up and clutched the chart to his chest as I sighed again. Something else I wanted Carter here for.

I nodded, but it felt more like I was watching someone else respond. The air in the room was thick, pressing against my chest. A sonogram. An actual picture of this tiny life inside me. The reality of it hit harder than I was prepared for. I wasn’t justsick; I wasn’t just feeling weird. There was a baby growing inside me. Carter’s baby.

Luna squeezed my knee again, anchoring me to the moment. I let out a breath and turned back to Dr. Fetters, who was already scribbling something down.

“We’ll start you on a prenatal vitamin today,” he continued. “And I’ll prescribe some Diclegis for the nausea. It’s a combination of doxylamine and B6, which should help with the vomiting. Try to stay hydrated. I know eating has been tough, but small, frequent meals can sometimes help. Dry toast, crackers, things like that.”

I nodded again, this time more firmly. “Thank you.”

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