He sounded as tense as he looked, and Kinsley laughed as she continued on down the hallway. Rhett had always hated his birthday. He hated any fuss being made over him. But when Kinsley woke up this morning, she knew she’d make a fuss. This year, she had the right to. Just later.
She entered the examination room, and in minutes, she was up on the table, her pants pulled down past her hips, and her top lifted to just below her bra. Maria began measuring Kinsley’s belly, making notes and asking questions.
Rhett stayed off to the side, and out of the way, until Maria asked him, “Would you like to hear the heartbeat?”
He glanced at Kinsley. She nodded. “I’ve heard it. You should too.”
“Then absolutely yes,” Rhett said. He stepped up to the table, placing his hand on Kinsley’s ankle. “Please do.”
While Maria took out the Doppler, Kinsley caught the excitement on Rhett’s face. An expression she couldn’t remember ever seeing on him. Truth was, in all her teenage dreams she’d imagined moments just like this with him, only they also involved walking down the aisle to him, and other wild dreams belonging to a young girl. A small part of her still couldn’t believe she was having his child. But the stronger part of her felt like this was exactly where they were meant to be.
“All right,” Maria said, adding some gel to Kinsley’s belly before turning the Doppler on. “Let’s take a listen.” She moved it along the gel twice and then settled it lower on Kinsley’s belly. Seconds clicked by…and then, there it was…thump…thump…thump. A steady, strong beat that made Kinsley smile.
Maria said, “Aw, baby wanted to let its daddy hear too.”
Kinsley took in what Maria said, but the world faded away to Rhett. His head tilted toward the monitor, and he listened carefully, his eyes on her belly. “That’s the heartbeat there?” he asked roughly.
“Yeah,” Kinsley barely managed. “That’s our baby.”
Her breath caught when he slowly reached out and placed both hands on her belly. And when he lifted his gaze to hers, she couldn’t hold back the tears at the raw happiness there. “You’re happy?” she asked.
“Yes, Kinsley,” he murmured. “I’ve never been as happy as I am right now.”
* * *
Six hours. Three hundred and sixty minutes. That’s all Rhett had to get through before he could end this day. He’d brought donuts to the station for everyone this morning, the one requirement they had at the station for a birthday. He’d endured listening to everyone wish him a Happy Birthday all day. Soon, it would be over. He’d shut his office door the moment he got inside, where most days he left it slightly opened. He’d spent the better part of the day after the midwife appointment learning all he could about the Wild Dogs, but his mind kept drifting to that soft sound. His child…Something changed in him at that sound, something he couldn’t quite put a finger on.
The ringing of his cell phone snapped him out of his thoughts. He saw it was his mom calling on the screen. “Hi, Mom,” he said after he’d raised the phone to his ear.
“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, my dear Rhett. Happy Birthday to you.”
“Thank you,” he said for the hundredth time today.
“How has your birthday been so far?” Mom asked, her voice a sweet comfort. “Anything exciting going on?”
That was the biggest understatement of the year. He’d been putting this off, but now, after today, he didn’t want to anymore. “Listen, is Dad there too?”
“Of course, he’s watching the game.”
Dad loved sports. If he wasn’t working, he was sitting in his recliner, with a bag of chips and a beer, watching whatever game was on. “Could you put me on speaker for a sec?”
Mom paused. “Sure. Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s great.”
“Derek, mute that,” Mom said. Some shuffling came across the phone line before she added, “Okay, you’re on speaker.”
Rhett didn’t know the right way of sharing this news to lessen the shock, so he simply laid it all out there. “Kinsley and I have been seeing each other and she’s pregnant.”
The longest pause of his life filled the phone line.
His father spoke first. “The baby is yours?”
“It is.”
“Okay, wait. Hold on,” his mother said. “Are we talking about Boone’s sister, Kinsley?”
“That’s the one,” Rhett said.