The Truest Thing - Hart's Boardwalk

“Jack, I don’t need you to hold my hand,” she complained under her breath as they followed Dr. Britt.

“Yeah, but I need you to hold mine,” he teased, throwing her a boyish smile.

She rolled her eyes but that pretty pink stained her cheeks again as she did it.

The doctor led them to a private hospital room. She aimed her gaze at Em. “I’m going to do a breast and pelvic exam. Some women prefer to get those over with first and have their partner”—she gave Jack a benign smile—“wait outside.”

Jack looked down at his girl. She squeezed his hand.

“Can you wait outside?”

“Of course.” He kissed her temple and backed out of the room.

As soon as he was out of there, Jack sensed he would not be asked back in. Emery didn’t want him there, and she’d use this as an excuse to keep him at a distance. He didn’t blame her but he felt useless outside. All he could offer right now was support as she went through this experience. Jack wished she’d lean on him.

It surprised the hell out of him then when Dr. Britt stuck her head outside the door and told him to come back inside.

It was encouraging.

Maybe Em just wanted to include him … or maybe she did need him.

Jack hoped it was both.

He smiled as he came to stand by her side at the bed. She was back in her dress and sitting up. He took her hand and this time, she let him without a word.

“Okay.” Dr. Britt smiled at Jack. “Keeping Dad up to date, the breast and pelvic examinations are done. We’ll get the results on the Pap test soon.”

He knew he looked stunned. And it was because no one had called him Dad yet.

Fuck.

It felt really good.

It felt amazing.

Emery seemed to sense the reason for his expression and gave him a tender, understanding smile. Christ, she was the sweetest woman on the planet. Even when she was disappointed in him, she still found a way to be kind.

“Right, as I explained before you came in, Jack, I’m going to ask Emery questions about her medical history.”

“Okay.”

The doc asked Em if she had any medical or psychosocial problems or had ever had any. That was a no. She took her blood pressure, her height, and her weight, which he was glad to see she had no problem with him knowing. It made him laugh inwardly that she could blush at his mere smile and yet discuss her last menstrual period in front of him without turning even a hint of pink.

“Birth control?”

“Well, clearly none,” Em huffed.

Jack swallowed a snort.

Dr. Britt’s lips twitched. “I meant in the past. The Pill or otherwise?”

“Oh. Just condoms.”

Which reminded Jack that he did and did not really want to know who Emery had been with before him. If she hadn’t been on the Pill, then that suggested she’d never been in a long-term relationship.

“Any hospitalizations?”

“When I was seventeen. Car accident. I broke a few ribs.”

Jack’s chin jerked back in surprise. He hadn’t known about any car accident.

“Have you had any pain or problems with your ribs since?”

“No. Is it an issue?”

“No. But sometimes there can be stress on the ribs during pregnancy and I just want to make sure there are no underlying issues we need to know about.”

“Okay.” Em bit her lip.

Dr. Britt placed a reassuring hand on her arm. “It’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Jack tightened his grip on Em’s hand and she seemed to relax.

“Are you taking any medications?”

“Does copious amounts of caffeine count?” she joked, making Jack chuckle.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Yes. You’ll need to cut the caffeine intake. One cup a day at the very most.”

“I was joking. I knew that.” Em looked up at him solemnly. “I knew about the caffeine thing. I’ve been cutting back.”

Smiling and trying not to laugh at the same time, Jack wrapped an arm around her and pulled him into his chest. His tone was filled with humor. “I believe you, sunrise.”

“Any allergies to medication?”

“None that I know of.”

Dr. Britt asked a few more questions about Em’s family medical history. Whether she’d been experiencing any bleeding or cramping, which thankfully was a no.

“I see from the records your doctor sent over that you’ve already had all the tests for sexually transmitted infections done, so we’ll just take a blood sample and do some screens. I’ll explain what they’re all for as we go along.”

The reminder that Emery had Jess run STI tests was an unwelcome one. They needed to have a real conversation about that. But obviously now wasn’t the right moment.

Just as Em was beginning to look a little pale and tired, the real discussion started about … well, it felt like everything. They talked about what medications Em could take, things like prenatal vitamins and supplements, as well as exercise and expected weight gain. Emery asked questions about her diet, about who she should call if she had questions, what she should do if she did experience bleeding or cramping, what did the doc consider an emergency, what miscarriage precautions she could take, how the doctor felt about natural childbirth, what was the doctor’s policy on labor induction …