“Do you have any more questions?”
Mitch shot Tess a look, but she was still staring at the now blank screen. “I’m sure we’ll think of many, many more, but for now, I’d say we’re at information overload.”
“It’s a lot to process. Make yourself a list and bring it back when I see you in four weeks. If you have any problems, you can always call my nurse. She’ll get me if it’s anything worrisome. But all I see are signs of a healthy pregnancy, so I don’t expect you’ll need to.”
“Thank you, Dr. Jenkins.”
If she thought it was weird that he’d done almost all the talking, she didn’t let on. Tess roused herself enough to thank the doctor when she handed over the sonogram. Then they were alone. Tess slid off the table and went behind the curtain to dress.
Not knowing what else to do, he started talking. “That was…amazing. Mind-bogglingly awesome.”
Nothing.
“I know you’ll want to keep this on the down low for a while longer, so I figured we’d run by a pharmacy here to pick up your prenatal vitamins. And we might as well hit up a bookstore to grab some of these books the doc suggested. It’s a minor family sin to buy books anywhere but at Inglenook, but under the circumstances, I think we can make an exception.”
Still, Tess said nothing. Unease began to creep in. Why wasn’t she talking?
The curtain slid back. Tess’s gaze was fixed on the sonogram picture in her hands. When she lifted her face to his, her big brown eyes glimmered with a sheen of tears. Even as she took a step forward, the first one slid down her cheek.
“We’re having a baby.” The words were a raw whisper.
Mitch’s gut clenched. Not tears. Anything but tears. He didn’t know how to fix this for her. Didn’t have a clue how to suppress his own happiness at the very thing she thought ruined her life.
Then she smiled, and it was like a sunrise lighting up her face. All the dark and dread and anxiety that had been haunting her for days faded. And Mitch realized that it hadn’t been upset keeping her quiet. It simply hadn’t been real for her yet. Not until this moment.
“We’re having a baby.” Grinning, he gave in to the jubilation and scooped her into a twirling hug. She was laughing as he set her on her feet, and he was struck, hard and fast, as he had been that night he’d seen her on the little pub stage. She was so beautiful, so perfect, and now, so his.
I love you.
The words hovered at the tip of his tongue. But he stayed them, as he’d stayed them countless times since she’d walked back into his life. He’d told himself it was too much, too soon. She’d bolted from what was between them before. He hadn’t wanted to scare her. But if he told her now, would she think it was only because of the baby? Would she understand that he’d loved her all along? Would she believe him? He didn’t know, and until he did, declarations had to wait.
Wanting to keep that smile on her face, he laced his hands at the small of her back. “How about we go get those vitamins, pick up the books, and then maybe think about checking out furniture for Topenga Marie’s nursery.”
“Topenga Marie?”
“Or Cletus Clyde. I’m flexible.”
“What you are is incorrigible.” But she was still smiling as she leaned in to kiss him. “I was thinking more like Balvenie. Because I’m reasonably sure that distillery tour may be why this baby exists.”
He considered. “You know, that’s not actually half bad. We could do the whole nursery in plaid.”
“With fuzzy sheep and Highland coos.” She giggled at her own terrible Scots accent.
“And a night light made out of a whiskey bottle?”
“That might be taking the theme too far.”
“We can negotiate.” He could think of a whole host of fun ways to settle terms.
“For now, let’s get the vitamins and the books and go home. I want some time to sit with this whole thing and get used to the idea.” She pressed a kiss to his cheek and rose to her toes, so her breath tickled his ear. “And I’d really like to reenact that afternoon after the distillery tour.”
Already hard, Mitch turned toward the door. “Check please!”
“You got me baby-themed washi tape.” Tess had to force the words past the lump in her throat.
“I did. And since we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, I went with both. Do you know how expensive that shit is? I can buy you like eight rolls of 2”, high-quality painter’s tape for the cost of one of those little bitty things!”
Tess clutched both tubes of decorative tape to her chest and thought her heart might just explode for love of this man. She had no idea how he’d managed to sneak that by her when they picked up all the books. “Thank you.”