Page 16 of Plea
This woman had a whole baby and didn’t know who the father was. Worse, it sounded like she was going to hide the paternity if she had to, to keep the man she was currently dealing with. It didn’t surprise me to hear something like that in my salon, because a lot of the conversations had in this environment could be scandalous. This time, though, I felt more empathy for the man she was potentially trying to trap, and I wasn’t exactly sure why.
Chapter
Twelve
Carson
I mademy way behind Asia’s back and looked at the ultrasound she held in her hands. Court ran late again, so I was late for the appointment, but I insisted she keep it. I planned to ask her to schedule later appointments to ensure I wouldn’t be late, but at the sight of my baby, no words left my lips. As disappointed as I was that we weren’t married or even in a relationship for that matter, I did care deeply about Asia, so I was becoming more open to the idea of her being the mother of my child.
My eyes watered at the sight of my little one. Even without me knowing if it was a boy or girl yet, even without me holding him or her in my arms yet, I was already in love.
“Wow,” I muttered, reaching for the ultrasound.
I must have startled her, because she jumped and snatched the ultrasound back. Clutching her chest, she laughed and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Jesus, Carson. You scared the shit out of me.”
“Clearly,” I said through my laugh. “Thanks for waiting on me instead of Ubering home.”
“It’s okay. We said we’d have lunch before you went back to work, and even though you were late, I wanted to spend some time with you.”
“Sorry about that again. Is there a chance you can schedule your future appointments for later in the afternoon? I think that’ll keep me from missing them.”
“Of course. I was thinking about that earlier actually.”
I helped her from her seat and asked her how she felt. We made small talk as we walked outside. Once we were inside of my car, I asked her how the appointment went.
“It was good. Hearing the baby’s heartbeat and seeing them on the monitor made everything real. I know I had my doubts before taking the tests, but I’m excited now.” Her hand lowered to her stomach. “I’m excited, baby. We’re going to have a baby.”
“Yeah, we are,” I agreed with a smile, taking her hand into mine. As I caressed her hand with my thumb I confessed, “I wish I could have been there, but I won’t miss the next appointment. No matter what. How far along are you? Did they give you a due date? I thought I saw July on the ultrasound, but that can’t be right, can it?”
She cleared her throat and tightened her grip on my hand. “I’m eight weeks. My due date is August eighth, but she said babies hardly ever come on their exact due dates.”
“Hmm.” I drifted into my thoughts, because I could have sworn I saw July on the ultrasound. Even if I did, that would have had to have been a mistake. Serenity was due to give birth in July, and she was further along in her pregnancy than Asia. Asia and I met in October and didn’t waste a lot of time before we started having sex, but I didn’t think it wasthatdamn fast. August sounded more likely, so I chalked the July date up to itbeing a mistake. “Either way, all that matters is that we have a healthy baby.”
“What are you hoping we have? A boy or girl?”
“Naturally I’d want a boy first. You and I won’t have any other kids, but I would want my son to take care of his siblings, especially if I have more girls.”
She looked over at me as I pulled out of the parking lot and removed her hand from mine.
“Our baby isn’t even here yet and you’re already talking about replacing them with kids you have with someone else?”
“What?” I asked with a laugh. “I’m not talking about replacing them with anyone. I’m just saying this isn’t the way I saw myself starting my family and I don’t plan to have any more kids until I get married. So regardless of who I’m with or how many I have, our child is going to be the elder sibling.”
With a pout, she crossed her arms over her chest. “You don’t want to be with me anymore?”
Sighing, I considered my words carefully. I wasn’t sure if this was a hormonal period or what, but she was overexaggerating, and I wasn’t used to that from her. Still, I wanted to be as careful with my words and her feelings as possible.
“I like what we have now, but I don’t see us getting married, sweetheart.”
“So what about the baby? I mean, I thought since I was pregnant things would change.”
“How about we finish this conversation when we get to the restaurant or back home? I want to look in your eyes while we talk about this.”
Though she huffed and pouted, she agreed. Asia said she wanted me to take her to the apartment because she didn’t want to have the conversation in public, and I could respect that. I had no problem cooking something or having something delivered.
The ride to her apartment was silent, and that was cool with me. When I opened the door to let her out, she shifted in her seat and told me there was no point in me getting out. I knew then that she was about to be on some bullshit, but I didn’t press it. Logically, I knew I’d probably said something she wasn’t expecting, and if she needed space to process that, I was cool with that.
