I opened my mouth to say something more but then I was up and in Murphy’s arms, and I was gasping in surprise instead of telling him off like I’d planned.
“Where are you headed?” he asked as he jerked his head at Fran.
Fran pointed at the front doors. “Doctor appointment. We get to see the baby today.”
Murphy’s eyes came to meet mine, then quickly looked away.
“Regular elevators, or the ones on the east side?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to reply when Fran beat me to it. “These. Fourth floor. Dorado.”
We entered into the elevators, Murphy pushing straight in without waiting for the people to get off, and then glared at them when they had the nerve to tell him he was rude.
“You are rude,” I said as the elevators closed.
Murphy shrugged, which caused my entire body to shift with him.
“Do you want me to help?”
I looked at my sister from my taller vantage point.
“Yes,” I told her.
I was in a very unladylike position.
The way I had to hold my knees practically had me spreading my thighs wider just so I could reach them, thanks to my large belly.
Fran took the rags from me, looked at them, then said, “I sure hope these were clean.”
“Just got them out of the package today,” he said. “Had an appointment to get to.”
Oh, boy.
That was the perfect opening. “For you? Or for someone else?”
He didn’t answer because the baby chose that moment to all but roll, flip, and kick at the same time.
Right against where my belly was pressed against Murphy’s.
“Was that…” he paused.
“The baby? Duh, Alessio. I don’t have that bad of gas,” I teased.
His eyes narrowed. “Why do you only call me Alessio when you’re trying to piss me off?”
I had no answer for that.
I didn’t know.
It was just a defense mechanism, I guessed.
“I do no such thing, Alessio,” I corrected him.
He rolled his eyes right as my sister pressed hard on my knees.
“Oww!” I cried. “You did that on purpose.”
“You’re being mean to the man that literally swept you off your feet. And, just sayin’, Mavis, but your ass ain’t light.” She sniffed.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. I’ve literally gained eight pounds. I am too light.”
“Then why is he sweating?” Fran challenged.
I looked up, and sure enough, Murphy was sweating. He was also breathing a little heavy.
“You can put me down,” I urged. “You know, so you don’t drop me.”
He grumbled underneath his breath but kept a hold of me.
Luckily, the elevator doors slid open in the next instant, leaving us without time to argue.
When we arrived in the suite that housed the doctors I was using, the nurse behind the glass took one look at my state and hurried to open the door for me.
“You can place her in the exam room,” the nurse said as she pointed the way.
Fifteen minutes later, I was as cleaned up as I was going to get, and pronounced to have scraped knees and hands, and good to go.
It still stung like a bitch, but I could manage.
“You can go now,” I grumbled under my breath once the nurse left to go find the chick that would be doing the sonogram for me.
“I could,” Murphy agreed. “But I don’t like being told what to do.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that it didn’t matter what he liked but was interrupted.
“Is this dad?”
My thoughts were interrupted by a woman coming into the room. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Perfect timing to come to the ultrasound today. You’ll get to see a lot of great photos. This is about the time where they’re not too big, making there room enough to see everything. But not too small that they look alienlike anymore.”
I opened my mouth to say he wasn’t the baby’s father, but Murphy beat me to the punch and said, “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I didn’t think I should find out but…if daddy wants to know.”
He narrowed his eyes as the woman laughed. “Lie back on that table and let’s get a good look.”
I started to, but when I put my hand back to keep myself from falling—there was surprisingly little core strength available when you had a big basketball attached to your front—I almost collapsed all the way backward.
I would have had Murphy not caught me.
I glared at him. “Thanks.”
His eyes sparkled with mirth, and I wanted to throat punch him.
“You’re welcome.”
I sighed and turned away, my eyes going to the screen where there was nothing as of yet.
But then she put her wand against my belly, and there my baby was.
“Oh, first thing you get is a foot,” she teased. “Right in the face.”
Murphy leaned his hip against the side of the table I was leaning on, and I could feel the heat pouring off of him.