Page 32 of Come For Me
He was all man, Olivia had to give the woman that. But she had a feeling Elliot wasn’t as right as she thought she was. Call it mother’s intuition, but…
Dain took exception to Elliot’s assumption. “I’m man enough to ‘throw’ boys and girls, little Otter. And I’m not a horse, you know.”
“That’s what she said.” Saint chuckled at his own pun. The rest of the group roared with laughter.
Olivia glanced at the inner office door and prayed someone would come rescue her before she sprang a leak.
The nurse chose that moment to poke her head out into the waiting room.
“Mrs. Brannan, we are ready for you. Would you and your husband like to come with me?”
Dain stood silently, his hand reaching for hers. For a moment she wasn’t sure if he was trying to help her from her chair or looking for support himself. The clasp of their hands reminded her it didn’t matter. This went both ways. They gave to each other, took from each other, and found themselves in their partner. And she’d thank God every day that Dain—and now this baby—gave her that. They belonged to her.
When the two of them stepped forward, so did the team.
“No, sorry.” Olivia tried to smile, but she was suddenly too nervous for her lips to stretch that way. “You guys can wait here.” No way did she want Dain’s team witnessing her wetting the table. And if something was wrong… No, she needed just Dain, much as she loved the rest of them.
“We’ll stand guard,” Elliot assured her.
Do I need a guard?She looked to Dain, who winked at her on the side Elliot couldn’t see.
“Mrs. Brannan?”
The nurse. Right.
Olivia followed her into a room much like the normal patient rooms, with a similar table to lie on and the same damn paper that stuck to her bare butt anytime she sat on it. She gave it a death stare before turning back to the nurse.
“We need you to hop up onto the table and pull your waistband down under your belly, please.”
No bare butt? Relief eased her nerves until she realized that if she wet her pants, she’d have no clothes to go home in.
Dain helped her get settled. They had a few more minutes alone for their nerves to ramp up again before Maryann entered the room.
“You ready for this, girlfriend?” Maryann asked, settling onto the chair situated in front of the ultrasound machine.
“I think whether I am or not, we better get this show on the road. My bladder’s about to bust.”
Maryann chuckled. Dain squeezed her hand. When she met his eyes, amusement and tenderness and fear all warred in their depths. She squeezed back.
Maryann fiddled with settings and probes and bottles of warmed KY Jelly. The first swipe of the machine over her belly brought a groan from Olivia.
“Yep, your bladder’s full,” Maryann said. “Hold it in.”
“That’s easy for you to say.”
Maryann winked, then went back to her focus on the screen. All Olivia could see was gray static around the sides and a black cone of nothing in the middle. Maryann moved the wand around and pushed and fiddled. Clicked keys and buttons. Olivia bit down on her lip, seriously beginning to fear for her clothing.
“There’s the little bugger.”
Dain’s sharp inhalation of breath filled her ears. Of all the moments in her life that were burned into her brain—meeting Dain for the first time, their first night together, their wedding, the morning showers and late-night cuddling sessions, so many things that had touched her heart and soul and bonded her to this man in a way that could never be broken or matched—that single breath felt most important. Her Dain, her warrior, revealing his fear and awe over something neither one of them could control: another human being. Tears stung the backs of her eyes.
And then she focused on the screen.
Oh God. Oh…
“Dain?”
“I see it.” His grip felt like it would crush her hand. “I see it.”
