Just Getting Started (Fair Lakes 2)

“Okay,” I reluctantly agree. Slowly leaving the bathroom door open, I back out and lay Milo on the bed to change him. “Hoo-wee, no wonder Aunt Gabby got sick,” I tell him. This kid, he’s cute as hell, but the smells that come out of his ass are bad. So very bad. He immediately stops crying once I have a clean diaper on him. “I’d be crying too if I had all that in my pants. Yuck,” I say, making a weird face and he grins. “We have to take this one out to the garage. It’s that potent,” I tell him, lifting him back into my arms. I leave the dirty diaper on the changing pad and peek in on Gabby. She’s in the shower and seems to be okay. “Gabs, I’m going to run this shitty diaper out to the garage.”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Grabbing the foul diaper, I head to the kitchen. I place Milo in the Pack ’n Play so I can wrap the diaper in a bag before tossing it. We’ve learned that helps keep the smell down. Diaper disposed of, I wash my hands and make a bottle. Milo is fussing, but nothing too bad by the time I pick him back up. “Here you go, bud,” I say, settling on the couch and placing the bottle to his lips. He sucks it back like he’s starving. Kid can eat, that’s for sure. My cell rings and I have to shift to dig it out of my pocket.

“Hello,” I say, hitting the speakerphone button and resting the phone on the arm of the couch.

“What’s up?” Harrison asks.

“Just feeding Milo.”

“Sounds like he’s enjoying it.” Harrison laughs.

“He does like to eat.”

“Hey, speaking of eating, Gwen and I wanted to see if the three of you wanted to come over for dinner.”

“Thanks, but Mom called when I left the gym and invited us over. She has some kind of surprise for me.”

“If it’s her chocolate chip cookies, you have to save me one. No, make that three.”

I can’t help but laugh. My mom’s chocolate chip cookies are on point. “I doubt it’s cookies. My guess is she and Dad want to take Milo for the night or maybe a few hours tomorrow to give me and Gabby a break. Although, Gabs isn’t feeling well so I don’t know if we’re even going to go.”

“What’s going on?” he asks. I can hear the concern in his voice for his sister-in-law and my future wife.

She said yes.

“I don’t really know. She was fine and then she wasn’t. She was holding Milo and he shit. It was bad, man. Anyway, she got pale and rushed off to the bathroom to be sick.”

“Chase.”

“Yeah?”

“How is she now?” he inquires.

“Her color is back. She’s in the shower.”

“Huh,” he says as if he’s just discovered something that he’s been trying to figure out for weeks.

“Huh? What’s huh?”

“Is it possible that she’s pregnant? That’s exactly how Gwen was with Sophia and with this pregnancy. Certain smells set her off. She gets sick and then she’s fine. She’s been sicker with this one than the last one. I know it’s super early, and you’ve only been together a hot minute, but from all the reading I did when Gwen was pregnant, these things can show after just a week, which is crazy, but still something to consider. I just hope we can hold the diabetes off. She’s already changed to a strict diet and has been walking on the treadmill here at the house,” he rambles on.

“Harrison, stop. I don’t… I mean, we’ve only been sleeping together a couple of weeks. Can you even tell that early?” I ask.

“Gwen!” he yells for his wife. I hear him relay the information and ask her if it’s too early. “She says it’s possible. Also, that she got sick today when they were having lunch when the waitress brought out their food.”

Pregnant?

Gabby might be pregnant.

With my baby.

I want to be a father.

“Thanks, guys. I gotta go. I’ll check in with you later.” I hit End on the call and finish feeding Milo. Once he’s burped and the bottle is rinsed out, I make my way back to the bedroom to find Gabby.

“Hey, did he eat?” she asks from her seat on the edge of the bed.

“Like a champ,” I say, placing him in the bassinet and turning on the small mobile that hangs overhead to capture his attention. Walking around the bed, I take a seat next to Gabby. Reaching over, I lace her fingers with mine. “How are you feeling?”

“Good. I’m not sure what happened. It just hit me out of nowhere.”

“Gabby, is it possible, I mean, do you think that you could be pregnant?”

Her face pales. “I-I don’t know,” she whispers.

“Gwen told Harrison that you got sick earlier today at lunch.”