Page 136 of Nanny for the SEALs

This was a totally different experience. One minute everything was normal, and then that little black-and-white peanut appeared on the screen. A switch flipped in my head. Heather wasn’t just a woman I was in love with. Now she was the mother of my child.

I didn’t care that it might be Brady’s, or Rogan’s. The feeling of care that I felt, an the overwhelming desire to protect her from everything, was the same.

“Looks to be five or six weeks along,” the doctor said. “I’m sorry you had to find out this way. Congratulations.”

Heather’s eyes were as wide as coffee cups. She looked like she was going to cry, and I couldn’t tell if it was from happiness.

This might not factor into her plans,I realized.She was on birth control. For all we know, this is the last thing she wants.

The doctor removed the wand and cleaned up Heather’s belly, then her own hands. “I’ll give you a moment to process everything. But for now, everything looks good. For you,andyour baby.”

She and the nurse wheeled the ultrasound out of the room, closing the door behind them. For a long moment, the four of us were silent.

“I’ve never seen you speechless,” Rogan said softly. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking… that I have no idea what I’m thinking,” Heather replied.

Brady cleared his throat. “Do you, uh, want to keep it? I’ll support whatever you want to do…”

“We all will,” I chimed in.

Heather smiled at each of us in turn. “Honestly, I’ve never considered what I would do if I ever found myself in this situation. I’ve spent my life tryingnotto get pregnant.” She let out a nervous little chuckle. “But now that I’m here, seeing what I just saw, and having the three of you with me…”

I held my breath.

“I definitely want to keep it.” Her hands drifted over the belly of her hospital gown. “I’m going to have this baby.”

I smiled. “Even if it’s Brady’s awful spawn?”

Rogan covered his mouth and turned away so we couldn’t see him laughing.

Brady glared at me. “Oh, sonowyou decide to tell your first joke?”

“It was a good one,” I said.

“Yeah, some comedian you are.” Brady turned to Heather. “I’d support whatever you want to do, like I said. But I’m glad you’re keeping it.”

Another joke appeared in my head, and I couldn’t resist letting it out: “He’s just saying that because your hair and makeup makes you look like Amirah Pratt right now.”

Rogan busted out laughing. So did Heather. Brady crossed his arms over his chest. “Buddy, you’re kinda ruining a tender moment.”

“You’re right,” I said, brushing aside a lock of Heather’s blonde hair. “I’m with you, no matter what happens. But what about your acting career?”

“Oh.” Heather pursed her lips in thought. “I can put my acting career on hold until after the baby is born, I suppose. If you don’t mind waiting that long before pulling strings to boost my career.”

I looked at Rogan. He winced.

“What?” Heather asked. “What’s wrong?”

“It was my idea,” I said in an exhale. “We knew that things were shaky at the security agency. If something happened to Amirah Pratt on our watch, then we would lose our ability to boost your career. A company that’s going out of business can’t call in favors.”

Rogan picked up where I had left off. “So we boosted your career ahead of time. Made some calls to agency contacts and casting directors in the industry. That way, even if we blew it with Amirah, your career would get the boost we promised.”

“Really?” Heather asked. “Is that why Jonah Weiman was here today? To watch me in action?”

“Unfortunately, no,” I replied. “Jonah Weiman was here to monitor the situation with his client. We’re on thin ice with his agency, so we couldn’t ask for any favors from him.”

“But an agent at William Morris isveryinterested,” Rogan said. “They talked to someone and had you added to that anti-smoking commercial.”

---