Page 89 of Sugar
Fuck.
Ava deflates beside me. “It’s a sign,” she mutters, eyes glued to the pattern of geese covering the woman from shoulders to ankles. She stands, looking down at me, a little unsure.
I stand too and give her a hard kiss. “I’ll be right here if you need me, okay?”
“Okay,” she mumbles, a little dazed. “But if I come back with a sonogram picture of an ancient sea creature please don’t laugh.”
“I would never,” I promise.
I watch her disappear into the fluorescent-bright hallway with the nurse. And then the door shuts.
And I wait.
The truth is, I’m just as fucking scared as Ava is.
Fifteen minutes later, the same nurse reappears. Her eyes find mine immediately. “Kasey Bennett?” she asks.
I rise to my feet. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Would you mind coming back with me?”
Nerves shoot through my limbs. “Everything okay?”
“Ava is asking for you.” Her face is stoic and gives me nothing to work with.
I nod, following her back to an exam room with a closed door, emotion fisting my throat the entire way. The nurse knocks twice before pushing the door open a few inches and peeking her head in. “Ava? I have Kasey here with me.”
“Thank you,” I hear her say. Her voice is small. Watery. I can’t see her yet, but I can tell she’s crying, and my fear ratchets up another ten levels.
The door opens wider and . . . there she is, lying on the exam table. The Bennett Rescue Ranch shirt she grabbed out of my drawer is pulled up and tucked into her bra, exposing the soft skin of her torso, her small bump on full display. A blanket made of what looks like paper is draped over her lap, and her feet are cradled by a set of stirrups that are braced from beneath the table. Her legs are closed, though, and a woman with a blonde ponytail moves some sort of wand over Ava’s stomach.
There’s no doubt Ava’s been crying, but her smile is so wide it immediately balms over every ounce of worry. She’s . . . happy. Beaming. “Talon feet?” I ask. Breathless. Unmoored.
She shakes her head. “Even better. Look.” It’s only now I notice a small screen attached to the big machine that Ponytail’s wand is plugged into. The black-and-white image is grainy, butthere’s an unmistakable flutter. Butterfly wings, soaring into the sky.
And then the image goes dark as Ponytail shifts the wand, pressing up from the bottom of Ava’s stomach now. I keep my focus trained on the screen, waiting, until some sort of bean-shaped white blob appears, five small circles cresting over it.
A foot, I realize. Anindescribablysmall foot.
The wind knocks clean out of me as I look at Ava. Tears are streaming down her face, eyes glued to the monitor.
“You can get closer,” Nurse Geese says, pressing a gentle hand between my shoulder blades. Encouraging me forward.
My gaze slips back to Ava. She’s studying the monitor as Ponytail moves to another new angle, soaking in everything she sees on that screen like her life depends on it. But her arm is extended out, hand reaching for me. In a blink, I hold it in mine.
“Do you see how pretty she is?” Ava whispers, salty tears coating her rosy lips.
“Of course she is,” I murmur back.
“She?” Ponytail says with a small smile.
Ava looks at her, abruptly pulled from what’s happening on the monitor. “Can you tell yet?”
The woman nods. “But it seems you already know. It’s a girl, honey.”
Ava’s eyes squeeze tight as a joyful sob rattles through her.
I move closer, hunching over her, pressing hard kisses all over her face. “So damn incredible,” I mouth into her cheek. “So fucking perfect, Ava. Look at what you’re doing. Look at what you’re capable of.”
