“Good morning, Daisy. I’m Dr. Summers. How are you feeling today?”
“Do you want the real answer or the fake answer?”
The doctor grins. “The real answer, always.”
“Well, I’ve been better.” Daisy shrugs. “Morning sickness has been kicking my ass the past few weeks.”
She’s not joking. Every morning, like clockwork, I wake up to Daisy in the bathroom with her face in the toilet.
“I can imagine, Daisy, but I will tell you that, generally, once you’re well into the second trimester, those symptoms will start to dissipate.”
“I have everything crossed that’s the case,” Daisy answers and looks over at me. “I’m sure my husband feels the same. My morning puking now serves as his alarm clock.”
Dr. Summers laughs and meets my eyes. “And I take it you’re that husband?”
I nod and smile. I’m proud as hell to be Daisy’s husband, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to get chatty with everyone now.
“Well, are you two ready to see your baby today?” the doctor asks as she puts two latex gloves over her hands.
“I think so.” Daisy flashes a nervous smile in my direction.
“Of course, we’re ready,” I reassure, but I glance over my shoulder to the door. “But we should have two more people who want to be here for the ultrasound. They should be arriving any minute.”
Daisy looks at me quizzically, but I don’t offer any explanation.
“I always say, the more, the merrier,” Dr. Summers comments and begins to set up her ultrasound equipment. “A baby is something to celebrate.”
“Flynn, who else—” Daisy starts to ask, but three knocks ringing against the door interrupt her midsentence.
Slowly, two heads peek inside.
“Did we make it in time, darling?”
Daisy’s jaw nearly hits her chest. “Gwen?”
“And Damien!” a jovial male voice exclaims as he steps into the room.
“What?” My wife’s smile is infectious, and she glances between Gwen, Damien, and me. “Did you do this?”
I shrug. “I might’ve had a part in it.”
“Had a part in it?” Gwen teases. “He was the mastermind behind it all.”
“Plus, there was no way Gwen and I were going to miss this for anything,” Damien chimes in. “It’s not every day that your best girl gets knocked up.”
Daisy snorts, but when more knocks sound against the door, she’s looking back at me.
“Flynn! How many people did you invite?”
“Technically, he didn’t invite us,” my sister Winnie answers as she steps inside the exam room. “But there was no way in hell we weren’t going to be here.”
And right behind her, Lexi, Wes, my mom, Aunt Paula, Uncle Brad, Jude, Sophie, and Remy file inside. To say it’s getting tight in the room is an understatement.
Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Remy notices my scowl, though, and steps up to whisper in my ear. “It’s the first baby in the family since Lexi, dude. We couldn’t fucking help it.”
When he pulls back, a shiny pool of a tear glistens in the corner of his eye. Just like that, any remark I might have made is silenced immediately.
“Well, this is quite the crowd we have here,” Dr. Summers comments with surprised eyes. “I guess…well…everyone just try to find a spot?”
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll manage because there is no way in hell we’re missing this,” Sophie responds with a smile. “Love you, Daisy!”
“Okay, well, I guess we’ll get started,” the doctor says as she squirts gel on Daisy’s belly.
“Wait! Don’t start without me!” An all-too-familiar voice fills my ears, and I look back toward the door to see my brother Ty sliding inside the exam room.
Daisy looks at me with shocked eyes, and I raise both hands in the air. “I only invited Gwen and Damien. I don’t know how everyone else managed to get here.”
“You should’ve invited us, you bastard,” Ty comments, and Remy reaches out to slap a hand to the back of his head.
“What? He should have. That’s our niece or nephew in there.”
“Um…can someone…turn the lights down?” Dr. Summers questions, and Uncle Brad starts to hit every damn switch he can find, causing all the lights in the room to go on and off erratically.
“Wait! Not that one!”
“This one?”
“No, the one by the door, sir,” she directs, and after we’ve all experienced the kind of light show that would be labeled as an epilepsy risk, Uncle Brad finds the one damn switch the doctor meant.
“Okay, that’s great. Thank you.”
“Not a problem, Doc!”
“Don’t be so proud of yourself, Bradley. You nearly gave us all a seizure,” my mom chastises, but thankfully, Dr. Summers ignores the peanut gallery and focuses on the ultrasound.
“Okay, Daisy, let’s see your baby.”
“Yes! Let’s do it!” Jude cheers. “I got fifty bucks that it’s a girl!”
“I’ll take that bet, brother. I say it’s a boy!” Ty joins in, and Jude scoffs.
“No way God will let another Winslow brother enter this world!”
“Boys, I brought you into this world, and I will take you right out of it if you don’t shut up.”