our baby, Livy,” he said, putting a hand on my knee.
I followed his gaze. On the black-and-white screen was a tiny little blip clinging desperately to a
wall in a cavernous location. The doctor hit a few keys on the keyboard and moved the wand around.
I winced, uncomfortable. This time Hunter didn’t notice. His hand was shaking on my leg as he
watched the screen.
“Can you tell if it’s a girl or boy?” he asked softly.
“Not yet. We won’t be able to determine that until between sixteen and twenty weeks.” Dr. Lund
tapped another few buttons before moving the wand around again.
Hunter’s gaze, dripping with both love and wonder, fell on me. He stroked my knee.
“It’s yours,” I said softly, wanting him to thoroughly connect with this moment. Not wanting his
past to get in the way, as it so often did when he tried to open up. “That’s your little baby in there.”
He rubbed my knee a little harder before looking back at the screen. “Is the baby healthy? Can you
tell?” he asked.
“It looks good so far.” Dr. Lund hit another couple of keys before pulling the wand free. “These
are just the early stages, but the heartbeat looks fine. From what I can tell, the fetus is firmly attached to the uterus wall. I don’t see any warning signs right now.”
She tapped my knee before wheeling closer to her keyboard and started to type.
I wasted no time putting down my legs and securing the drape more firmly around my hips. “Can I
get dressed?”
“Yes, go ahead. I’ll send these results to Dr. Cheung. Is she your OB-GYN?”
“Yes,” Hunter answered. He looked at me. “She’s the best OB-GYN in the city.”
“Yes, she’s very good,” Dr. Lund said, working at the machine.
That was fine by me. I’d had to pick a new doctor when signing up for insurance. I wasn’t
attached to the lady I had randomly picked out of a book, nor her nurse who had seen me a month ago
to confirm I was pregnant and then ushered me quickly from the shabby room.
“Okay.” Dr. Lund gave us a tight smile. “You’ll probably need that pad. You’ll have some light
spotting from this, I’d imagine. It’s nothing to worry about. Congratulations.” She nodded at Hunter and left the room.
“Not great with the bedside manner,” I mumbled as I practically dove into my clothes.
“This isn’t something a doctor generally does, I don’t think. This is more a nurse’s duty. I
requested a doctor to see you, though.” Hunter rubbed my back. “Thanks. For that moment.”
I knew he was talking about calling out that he was the dad. “We all have our issues.”
“I don’t have issues, Olivia. I have past…”
“Issues. That’s what we, politely, call baggage. Or do you prefer I just call a spade a spade and
say baggage?”
“Transgressions.”
I laughed. I sighed hugely, letting the relief mask the niggling fear that something like this could happen again. I thought back to that little blip. Our little blip.
“We’re having a baby,” I said with a smile. “And it’s tiny.”
Hunter threaded his fingers into mine. “Yes. We are.”
We walked out to the street where Bert was waiting with stress lining his face. “Are you okay?”
I leaned into Hunter. “I’m good. Everything is fine. I just have to take it easy.”
Relief washed over his face. “Well that’s a relief. Are you—” His gaze flicked to Hunter. He then
snapped his mouth shut and turned toward the parking garage across the street. “I’ll just run and get the car.”
“I think the secret is out,” I said as we waited.
“He doesn’t know anything for sure. You can still keep it secret if you want.”
“I kind of want to tell everyone, but will just stop with him for now.”
When Bert pulled up, Hunter escorted me into the car.
“Where to, sir?” Bert asked.
“My house,” Hunter said. “We need to drop Olivia off.”
“I have a ton of work still to do, Hunter,” I said. I felt the stress