I know Dane is worried about some threat, but to me this is the most relaxed I’ve ever felt. My life is stable at the moment to some degree. I’m also about to get to see my little jelly bean.
Dane pulls into a parking lot a few minutes later. When we enter the clinic there is no one else in the waiting room. He leads me up to the front, letting the woman behind the counter know we’re here. She stands immediately, seeing us back into a room.
“When you go to a restaurant and it’s dead inside it’s a bit of a clue that the food might suck,” I point out. “No one is here.”
“That’s because I booked all the time slots.” I snort a laugh. When he doesn't join me, I realize he’s serious. “I want all the doctor's attention on you.”
“You’re nuts.” I shake my head, getting changed into the gown they left for me. Dane’s eyes never leave me as I change in front of him. My body starts to heat thinking about the orgasm he gave me this morning. My body wants more. I know Dane is holding back, but it’s not his nature. I know that deep down. He’s pushy and demanding, and there is something about that I love.
A knock on the door has me getting up onto the table and pushing the dirty thoughts out of my head. This is so not the time. It’s not my fault. I swear I have no control over my body anymore.
“Mr. and Mrs. Osborne,” the doctor says as she enters the room. I should probably tell her we’re not married, but I find I don’t want to. “I’m Doctor Morandi.” She holds her hand out, taking mine and then Dane’s. “I’ve been going over your records this morning.”
“My records?” I ask.
“Yes.” She flicks her gaze to Dane and then back to me. “Your husband had them sent over.” She flips through a few pages. “I have the one from your hospital visit from a few months ago and then your primary doctor from back home.”
“Oh” is all I can say.
“You’re still not remembering anything?” she asks.
“Not really. I have dreams. I’m not sure if they’re real or not. I also seem to know or sense things about the people that were in my life before. When I saw Dane for the first time after the accident, I had a rush of emotions.”
“That can often happen. The brain often hides things from us thinking it’s protecting us. I’m sure when you saw your husband your brain must have known he was a safe place, and it let you know that. Head trauma can be tricky. The brain is a powerful thing.”
I nod in agreement, thinking over her words. Why did I so badly want to forget what happened to me?
She asks me a bunch of standard questions and starts her exam before she has me lie back on the table and starts setting up for the sonogram. Dane stands, coming to my side. His hand takes mine as he leans down and gives me a kiss on my forehead. My gentle giant.
I jerk my eyes away from Dane when the sound of the baby's heartbeat fills the room.
“It’s so fast.”
“That’s normal,” Dane answers me before the doctor can. I give him a look of surprise. He shrugs. “I might have thumbed through a baby book last night.” My eyes start to fill with tears. “None of that.” He narrows his eyes on me like his hard gaze will get me to stop crying. It actually does work because I laugh. I’m sure others would jump. But that face doesn't work on me.
“Everything is looking great so far.” She keeps moving the little wand around, taking pictures. I stare at the screen watching. “Do you want to know the sex?” A rush of excitement fills me.
“You can tell already? I thought twenty weeks.”
“Years ago, sure. Not these days. We have better equipment,” she says.
“What do you think? Do we want to know?” I ask Dane.
“That’s up to you, sweetheart. Whichever you want is fine with me.” I only think about it for a few seconds.
“I want to know. We’ve had enough surprises lately.”
“Well, I hope you like the color blue,” she tells us. My chest fills with warmth.
“We’re having a baby boy.” This time I can’t stop the tears. Dane leans down and kisses me.
“Thank you,” he says softly.
“He’s a little on the big side size-wise, but judging from his father, that’s to be expected.” She hands us a bunch of sonogram pictures.
A tiny Dane. How will I ever handle two of them? I sit back up as she goes over more stuff with us before setting up our next appointment.
“I’m not sure we’ll be here then but let's set the appointment to be safe,” Dane tells her. A reminder that New Hope isn't my home.