Only One Mistake, page 16
Michael leans over a bit to look at the screen. “Oh my God,” he whispers as the baby flips around. “Do you feel that?”
“I feel little flutters,” I answer him as I look at the screen. His arm goes around my head as he leans more in.
“Look”—he points at the screen—“two hands and two feet.” The tears run down my face as he looks at the screen in awe.
The doctor presses things on the machine, and we see dots as she takes measurements. “I’m just making sure everything is growing properly.” She tells us. “Do you want pictures?”
“I want one,” Michael says to her and grabs his phone. She prints out a row of pictures, putting the wand back in its place. She grabs a towel and wipes my stomach, handing Michael the pictures.
“Congratulations, Dad,” she says to him, and all he can do is beam with pride.
Chapter 27
Michael
“Congratulations, Dad,” the doctor says to me as she hands me the long black-and-white pictures of my baby. I don’t know why, but the minute she says dad, my chest puffs out, and all I can do is smile.
“Thank you.” I look back down at the pictures. “Our baby,” I say, my finger rubbing the picture. The lights turn back on, and I look over at the doctor who opens Jillian’s file back up.
Jillian sits back up and holds out her hand for the pictures. I hand them to her. “Okay, so,” the doctor says, and my head whips to look at her. “From the measurements, I’m going to say that you are going to probably have a big baby.”
“What?” Julia says in almost a whisper. “But how?”
“I was almost eleven pounds,” I reveal, and the doctor tries to hide the smile on her face when Jillian gasps out.
“What?” She glares at me, and I just shrug, looking back at the doctor.
She takes a look at me and then at Jillian, turning to look back at the file in front of her. “Heartbeat is healthy,” she says. “How are the hormones?”
“Fine, fine,” she says quickly. My eyes fly to Jillian, her eyes are big and she just shakes her head.
“Okay,” the doctor says, closing the file. “If there is nothing else.” She looks at Jillian. “I’ll see you in a month.” She gets up and smiles at us.
“Thank you,” I say as she walks out. I wait for the door to be closed before I look back over at Jillian.
“Are we going to talk about the hormones?” I ask, and she avoids my eyes.
“I have to get dressed,” she deflects. “You can wait for me outside.” She points at the door.
I roll my lips, trying not to laugh. “Okay, we’ll discuss it later,” I say, walking to the door and pulling it open. “If you don’t want to tell me, I can always google what it means.”
“While you’re at it,” she says, getting up, coming to the door, and she looks so fucking cute. “Google what not to do to piss off the woman who is carrying your child.” She slams the door in my face.
I smile at the door, taking the phone out of my pocket and sending my parents the sound of the heartbeat.
Me: The baby’s heart beating.
I press send and then send them a new picture of the sonogram. The door opens, my eyes find Jillian’s, her eyes go from me to the phone. “Did you google?”
“No,” I deny, shaking my head, “I just sent my parents the sound of the heartbeat.” I press play on the audio. “It’s the most beautiful sound in the world,” I say, wanting to bend and kiss her, but not sure if I can or even if she wants me to.
She walks past me to the front desk as she turns to me. “Do you have your schedule for next month?” she asks, and I nod my head and pull it up.
It takes three tries to finally schedule the appointment. “And we said no, right, to the 3D ultrasound?” the receptionist asks Jillian, and I look up from my phone to see her.
“Sadly,” she says. “My insurance doesn’t cover it.” She shrugs. “I’ll see the baby in 3D when he or she comes out.”
“Schedule the appointment,” I say, angry that she had to do all of this before without me. The pit in my stomach is burning. “I can afford it.”
“It’s a lot of money,” she says, looking at me and then at the secretary, and I know she has no idea what I make, nor does she care. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” I smile at the receptionist, who makes sure she does it the same day as the next appointment. When I walk out of the doctor’s office, I turn to talk to her, but my phone rings with a FaceTime from my father. “It’s my dad,” I say, and she smiles.
“Well, answer it,” she urges, and I press the button, his face finally comes on the screen, and I can tell he’s been crying.
“Hi,” I say, getting my own tears in my eyes. “Did you hear?”
“Did I hear,” he confirms, laughing while he wipes the tears from the corner of his eyes.
“He sobbed like a baby,” my sister,, Alex says from somewhere in the room. I put my arm around Jillian and pull her into the screen with me so she can see.
“Jillian.” He says her name, and his voice cracks.
“Oh, good God,” Alex says from behind him. “What else did the doctor say?”
“Where is Mom?” I ask her, and Alex just shakes her head.
“In the bathroom sobbing,” Alex says. “She threw a spoon at Dad and blamed him for coming home early.” She snickers, and my father grabs the phone from her.
“She’s right here,” he says, walking in the house. I look over at Jillian, who has her own tears running down her face. I lean in and kiss the side of her head. “Angel,” my father says, and I can see that he’s in their bedroom. “Jillian and Michael are on the phone.”
He gets on the bed with her, and I can tell that she was crying. “Hi, guys.” She tries to smile, but she sobs out. “I heard the audio.”
“Mom,” I say, and Jillian punches me in the side to shut me up.
“It’s beautiful,” she says. My father kisses her lips as she looks up at him. “We wish we could have been there.”
“Oh, good God,” Alex says, coming into the room pushing my mother over. “What else did the doctor say?”
“That it’s going to be a big baby,” Jillian says.
“Michael was close to eleven pounds,” my mother says proudly as Alex cringes and pretends to throw up.
“Bet you regret sleeping with his fat head right about now.” Alex pushes her face into the phone.
“Alex,” my parents hiss out at the same time as Jillian’s stomach growls.
“Okay, I’ll call you guys back after we eat,” I say, hanging up the phone. “You hungry?”
“I’m carrying a human. I’m always hungry,” she says. “This is me getting hangry.”
“What do you want to eat?” I ask her, and I want to touch her. I want to hold her hand. I want to hug her because I just want to fucking be able to do all of that, and it kills me that I can’t just do it.
“Greasy food.” She smiles at me. “Like running-down-your-arm greasy.”
“There is this burger place,” I start to tell her.
“I like where this is going,” she tells me, her eyes lighting up.
“I can get the food and meet you at your house so you can relax a bit,” I suggest, and she smiles so big and wide.
“You did check Google.” She laughs. “Smart man.”
“What do you take on your burger?” I ask her as I walk her to her car.
“Everything,” she says. “Oh, and get fries.” She opens her car door. “And onion rings.” I laugh at her.
“I’ll order one of everything,” I say, and she nods her head.
“I’m assuming you aren’t going to let me pay.” I glare at her question.
“We have things to talk about, Jillian,” I share, and I’m not joking. “Lots of things.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Bring me food, and we can talk.” She starts the car, and I watch her drive off.
I get into the SUV, calling my father right away. “Hey, how do I get Jillian added to my insurance?” I ask him, totally unaware of how any of this works. “Or how do I get her and the baby their own insurance.”
“I’ll call my guy tomorrow and get them their own,” he says without skipping a beat. “I should have asked her for her information when I was there.”
“She didn’t want to get an ultrasound because her insurance wouldn’t cover it,” I say, the burning coming back in my stomach. “Dad, I felt like a deadbeat,” I finally admit. “Like I couldn’t take care of my family.”
“One,” he clarifies. “A deadbeat father is someone who knows about their kid and chooses not to take care of them. Two, from the minute you found out, you have taken care of your family.” Even though he says the words, nothing reassures me. “Three,” he huffs out. “I really think you and Jillian need to sit down and discuss this.”
“No shit,” I say. “Okay, I’ll send you all her information tonight when I get it.”
“Okay,” he says. “She really has no idea how much money you make?” he questions, shocked.
“Even if she did, it’s up to me to make sure they have everything that they need.”
“She’s one of the good ones,” he finally says, and I nod my head. “Call me if you need anything.” He hangs up. I pull up to the little diner that my uncle Evan showed me once when we came to visit. He brought my aunt Zara here on a date, and they have the best burgers you will ever have.
Walking in, I take a seat at the counter and wait for the waitress to come over. I order two of everything on the menu. “Someone is hungry,” she says, and twenty minutes later, I’m walking out with three bags full of food. By the time I get to Jillian’s, the oil has seeped through the bags, my SUV smells like a drenched french fry.
She opens the door when my hand is mid-knock. Her hair is pinned on top of her head. “I was wondering if you were okay?” She lets me in, and I can smell the soap on her. She stands there in shorts and a sweater, her face free of makeup as she glows, looking at the food. “You were not kidding about greasy,” she says, grabbing one of the bags, and it’s like my tongue is stuck. “It smells so good,” she praises, walking over to the counter and getting on a stool. “Oh, did you want plates?”
I laugh at her, shaking my head. “God, no.”
I put the two bags in my hand on the counter, and she just looks over at me. “What did you order?” she asks.
“I got two of everything.” I sit next to her and take off my baseball hat, putting it on the counter.
“You know I already have a collection of your hats.” She sticks her head in one of the bags and grabs a fry.
I pull my track jacket off when she holds out a fry for me. Instead of taking it in my hand, I bend and take it with my mouth. My cock springs to action as I look up and see the same look she gave me that night when we first met.
She pulls out one of the burgers and hands it to me, then grabs one for herself. I open the two bags beside me and pull out the food for her. “Are those fried pickles?” she asks, clapping her hands.
I pass her the container as she takes one. “Thank you,” she says to me with a huge smile. “For today.”
“You are more than welcome,” I say, looking at her as she takes a bite of her burger. “Now that you are eating, we need to discuss things.”
Chapter 28
Jillian
“You are more than welcome,” he says as I take a bite of the greasy burger, and it does not disappoint. “Now that you are eating, we need to discuss things.” I stop mid-chew and look over at him.
“I think we should discuss a couple of things,” I suggest as I swallow the bite that I have in my mouth. My stomach automatically gets sick, and for the first time, I know it’s not the baby this time.
“Good,” he says, taking a bite of his own burger. “I called my father and asked him to add you to my insurance.” I’m about to argue with him. “The baby will go under me as soon as he or she is born.” I can’t really say anything to him about that, so I’ll leave him with that one. “How much have you spent on the baby since you found out you were pregnant?” he asks, looking over at me.
I shrug my shoulder. “I’m not sure.” It’s an honest answer.
“I’m going to write you a check for forty thousand dollars,” he says, and all I can do is look at him, my mouth hanging open a bit.
“One,” I say, putting up my finger. “I haven’t come close to spending forty thousand dollars.” I take another bite of the burger. “Two, are you out of your mind?”
He laughs, and I have the need to lean over and rub my nose along his jawline while I kiss him. “Completely out of my mind.” Putting down his burger, he gets up to get himself a glass of water. “Today when she asked you about the ultrasound.”
I raise my hand to stop him from talking. “It’s not that big of a deal.” His eyes go dark, and I can see him fighting off tears.
“It was a big deal to me.” His voice is cracking. “My job is to make sure that you and the baby never want for anything.” He comes back over to the stool beside me. “And I was not doing my job.”
“Michael.” My hand goes to his arm. “I never felt you weren’t taking care of the baby. Not once.” My thumb rubs his big arm. I want to get off my chair and hug him. I want to get lost in his arms.
“Then let me pay you back,” he whispers. “I can never repay you for taking care of the baby alone.” He looks back at his burger and picks it up. “There is no monetary price I can put on it.”
My heart breaks that he had this thought at the doctor’s office. “How about I check my papers, and then we can decide on an amount?” I try to meet him in the middle. “I have a question.”
“Okay.” He takes a bite of his burger.
“It might sound stupid.” I take a bite of my own burger as he waits for me to ask him the question. “But how does your job work?” He chuckles. “Like do you go to work every day?”
He shakes his head. “So when we don’t play, that day we have practice and then off-ice training. When we play, we usually have to be at the rink about four hours before. Some of us even go in the morning and skate and then nap before the game at night. There is always off-ice training the day of the game.”
“So today, you were at the rink all day long?” I ask, and he nods, taking another bite of his burger.
“Tomorrow is a game day,” he informs me. “So I will go and get a skate in the morning and then come home at noon. I’ll take a nap for a couple of hours and then head in for the game.” I’m so intrigued by all of this, and I’ve never ever been interested in anything that has to do with hockey. “I got Julia tickets for tomorrow’s game.” He looks over. “You want to come with her?”
“You got Julia tickets?” I ask, shocked.
“Well, she was talking with my dad yesterday, and she sounds like she really misses it.” He shrugs. “So I got her tickets. They are lodge tickets.”
“I don’t know what that means.” I take a fried pickle. “But it sounds expensive.”
He shakes his head. “It’s the perks of playing with the team.”
“Okay, but what happens when you leave?” I ask. “The games away.”
“It depends,” he says, taking his phone out and showing me his calendar. “We play tomorrow, and then the next day, we leave for six days.”
“Six days?” I try not to think about how it’s going to be not seeing him.
“Some road trips are two days,” he points out. “We just got back from two weeks on the road.”
“Oh my gosh,” I say, not even imagining what it would be like for him to be gone for two weeks. “That’s so long.”
“It gets old very fast.” He shrugs. “But it’s a job right now.” I nod. “I’m going to buy a house,” he finally says, and my stomach sinks once again. “That’s why I was late.” He takes a sip of water. “My aunt called me, and we were going over a couple of things.”
I nod, not able to say anything. Four days ago, it was just me and the bean, and now, it’s the three of us. “How is this all going to…” My finger goes into a circle.
“I have no idea,” he answers, blowing out a breath. “I don’t think there is a playbook for this kind of thing.” He laughs nervously. “And even if there was one, I think we need to make our own rule book. My main focus is you and the baby.” My heart does a pitter-patter when he includes me and not just the baby. “It’s you and the baby and helping in whatever I can do to help.”
I nod at him. “That sounds like a good plan.” I avoid his eyes. “I mean, people have babies all the time when they aren’t with each other anymore.” I get up to get away from him, the sting of tears itching to come out. Going to the fridge, I take a bottle of juice out and drink it, leaning on the counter looking at him. “I think that as long as we put the baby first, everything is going to fall into place.” I wait for him to say something, anything but all he does is watch me. I want to know what is really going on in his head. I want to know how he expects us to raise a baby. I want to know how it’s going to be if he meets someone or if I meet someone. I put my hand to my stomach as my stomach does the wave.
“Are you going to be sick?” he asks, pushing away from the stool.
“No,” I reply. “Just a little bit of a flutter.”
“Today,” he says, scratching his head. “It was insane.” The smile fills his face, and all I want to do is sit next to him. But I have to remind myself that he’s here for the baby.
“What part?” My curiosity is piqued. Everything is piqued when it comes to him. My body wakes up in ways I can’t even put into words.
“Hearing the baby’s heartbeat.” His eyes light up from the smile that is on his face. “Then seeing him flip and flop in your stomach.”
“Or her.” I tilt my head to the side. “It could be a girl.”
“Do you think it’s a girl?” he asks. “Like do you feel it’s a girl?”
“Honestly, I think it’s a boy.” I shrug. “I have no idea why.”
“Honestly…” He leans back a bit. “I don’t give a shit as long as the baby is healthy.”
