Page 50 of Wild For You
Her eyes lit up. “Wonderful! Alex is quite the character. All of your sisters are. I’m glad to finally meet the big brother they always talk about. And it looks like y’all are expanding the family even more!” She gestured toward the photos in my other hand as she turned to smile at Kelsey, and then she seemed to catch herself. “But I’m getting ahead of myself here.”
I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I leaned back in the seat and placed my arm along the back of Kelsey’s chair, feeling her relax against my side.
“I looked over your paperwork, Ms. Davis—”
“Please, call me Kelsey.”
She smiled warmly. “I see you’re measuring about ten weeks, Kelsey. Does that sound right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Dr. Heller pulled her eyes from the chart in her hand and looked pointedly at her. “And we’re happy about that?”
“Yes.” Kelsey’s voiced pitched up at the question, then realization dawned on meandher at the same time, and I understood what Dr. Heller meant about getting ahead of herself. “Oh, yes! Yes. I’m keeping the baby.” She ran her handacross her stomach. Something I noticed her do more than once since she took the test at home.
“Good.” The doctor’s smile could have warmed a refrigerator. “Let’s go over a few things, and I’ll write you a prescription for some prenatal vitamins. Your bloodwork from your previous doctor showed you have occasional low iron. So, we want something that will fix that.”
“Okay.”
The doctor threw out a bunch of information, and at one point, Kelsey grabbed my hand as it all overwhelmed her. I tried my best to absorb what information I could, but it was a lot for even me.
“Now, do you have any questions?”
“Lots,” Kelsey replied.
We all laughed, and Dr. Heller gave Kelsey a phone number she could call or text anytime if she had concerns. “It’s like a personal phone but for my patients. I understand how scary this all can be, especially for a first-time mom. I’m a mom of five myself. I try to make myself available whenever I can.”
“Thank you.” There was no denying the relief in her voice.
“I’m excited to be on this pregnancy journey with you, Kelsey. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need something.” With that, Dr. Heller left us to gather ourselves. Kelsey was quiet as we left the exam room, then the building, so quiet I started to worry.
“Hey, how are you feeling?” I asked as I opened the passenger door of my truck for her.
“Good. Just… overwhelmed, I think,” she assured, and I nodded, closing the door and making my way to the driver side.
When I was settled in my seat, I turned to look at her before starting the engine. “I get it.” Reaching across the center console, I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I’m here for you, Kelsey. And not just you. I’m here for anything the baby needs as well.”
Her eyes shimmered with tears as they met mine. “What are you saying?”
“You’re… special to me. I care about you. And I know this has all happened extremely fast, but… the fact still remains. I’m right here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Her watery smile was the only response I needed as she said, “I care about you too, Andrew.”
I kissed her knuckles. “Now, let’s head to the bookstore to get you something else to read besides those thrillers you love so much,andI have a surprise for you.”
Her eyes lit up like a kid at a carnival. “Really?”
I nodded as I pulled away from the clinic and headed toward the center of town, but not before I snuck a message to my mom and sisters. I was going to need reinforcements for what I had planned.
Kelsey walked through every aisle of the bookstore as if each was a new cave of buried treasure for her to explore. I’d never been much into reading, a side effect from forced reading in high school, but even I found myself interested in a few autobiographies from World War II veterans.
After selecting my two novels, I went in search of Kelsey. It wasn’t until I made my way to the back corner of the shop that I found her surrounded by stacks of erotic romance novels.
The dichotomy was evident. Kelsey came across as a sweet and innocent woman, with her hair in loose curls thathung down her back, and wearing a dark-orange T-shirt dress topped with in an oversized white-and-brown floral cardigan, and white Converse sneakers on her feet. Yet around her were books that depicted all sorts of sexual exploration within a relationship.
It left me wondering how much of Kelsey was innocent, and how much of her was willing to try new things.
“There you are,” I said, and her eyes lifted from where she was reading the back cover of a book that had a man’s bare, tattooed torso taking up the entire front. Squinting, I read the title asBefore the Lieby KD Robichaux. I set my selections on a nearby chair and wished I didn’t have my crutch as I moved toward her, being forced to hobble rather than prowl like I wanted to. Once she was within reach, I wrapped my arm around her waist. It seemed that since the other day, when we shared our first kiss, I hadn’t been able to keep my hands off her, always needing to touch her somehow.
