I opened a drawer in my desk and fished out an envelope, then tossed it to her. She caught it and opened is cautiously, her brow shooting to her hair line at the contents.
“Those arrived this morning. There is no limit on that credit card and the other is a temporary debit card to our checking account. We’ll get you permanent ones after you change your last name.” I ignored her sputtering and went on, “I expect to see plenty of charges for the wedding and baby.”
“Declan—”
“If tomorrow isn’t good, pick a day this week or I’ll choose one for you, Jules,” I interrupted stubbornly.
She made a frustrated sound and threw her hands in the air. “Fine! Tomorrow,” she growled. And damn, it was cute as fuck. “I’ll be done with work at three.” Then she pivoted and stomped back to the kitchen. I waited as long as I could before I let the laughter burst from my lungs. So fucking adorable.
By the next night, she was almost completely moved in and I was able to heave a partial sigh of relief. After wearing her the fuck out that night, we were lying in bed and I was holding her with my hand resting on her belly when the baby kicked. It was amazing. I couldn’t wait to meet our little peanut.
“Dr. McGowan, I hear congratulations are in order.” Dr. Frazier grinned at me as she entered the examination room.
I beamed back at her. “For the baby or the engagement?” I was standing to the left of Juliette, holing her hand, so I lifted it to show off the ring.
Dr. Frazier laughed and patted my arm as she maneuvered around the equipment and stopped at Juliette’s other side. “Both. Though, I wasn’t actually aware of the engagement.”
Holding out a hand, Dr. Frazier warmly introduced herself to Juliette. “I hear you’re about four months, Ms. Moureaux?”
“Yes. We’re positive about the conception date.” Juliette blushed and I chuckled, earning myself a cute little frown. “You can call me Juliette,” she added.
Dr. Frazier nodded with a smile. “Okay, shall we see if this little one wants to cooperate today?” She pulled up Juliette’s shirt to just under her breasts, exposing her baby bump. After putting some gel on there, she started moving a transducer probe around and a swishing sound emanated from the machine. Then, there was a pulsing, a heartbeat, and my knees weakened a bit.
I stared at the screen and watched the little person inside my girl. I was filled with a million different emotions but when Juliette’s hand tightened around mine, I swung my gaze to face her liquid purple eyes. Lowing my head, I kissed her lips gently, infusing the gesture with love and gratitude. She was my dream come true, and it was almost surreal at that moment to know she and the baby were mine.
“Do you want to know the gender?”
7
Juliette
“Yes.”
“No,” I answered at the same time as Declan.
Dr. Frazier’s gaze darted between the two of us before a startled laugh bubbled up her throat. “I guess I could only tell Dr. McGowan, but I doubt he’ll be able to keep the secret from you for five days, let alone five long months. Why don’t the two of you take a moment to discuss what you’d like to do? I’ll step out to give you some privacy.”
The minute the door closed behind her, Declan leaned over me, setting his hands on the exam table on either side of my head. His eyes practically glowed with happiness, and his smile was the biggest I’d ever seen.
“You think you’re going to get me to agree, don’t you?” I asked suspiciously.
He dropped a brief kiss on my lips before answering. “I hope you will, but that’s not why I’m grinning like a fool. I’m just so damn happy to be able to experience the first decision we’re facing as new parents together.”
“We can’t even agree on something as simple as learning the sex of our baby,” I fretted, twisting the engagement ring around my finger. “We barely know each other and we’re already living together, engaged to be married, and going to have a baby.”
“I can’t wait to learn everything there is to know about you, Juliette,” he whispered against my lips after giving me another sweet kiss. “But I disagree about this being an easy decision. I’m a bit of a planner, which I’m sure isn’t a surprise to you by now, but that’s not why I want to know. This isn't about planning the nursery or buying baby clothes for me. I just feel this deep-seated need to learn as much about him or her as soon as I can. I’m already wondering if our baby will have your gorgeous violet eyes, if he or she will be as graceful as you, if our child will have my love for medicine or yours for dance. We have to wait for the answers to all those questions, but the ultrasound can tell us one thing about our baby—whether it’s a boy or a girl.”
His confession moved me to the point where there was only one possible answer. “Call Dr. Frazier back in, and let’s find out the sex of our baby.”
Declan dropped one last kiss on my lips and walked over to the door. As soon as he cracked it open, Dr. Frazier peeked her head in. “What’s the verdict?”
“We’d like to know, please.”
She beamed a smile my way at my response. “I’m not surprised. Dr. McGowan can be fairly persuasive when he wants to be.” I darted a wary gaze between the two of them, wondering what she meant by that, and relaxed when she continued. “He’s done an excellent job talking donors out of money for the new pediatrics wing. It’s just too bad it won’t be done before your little girl is born since the wing will also be the home to new labor and delivery rooms.”
“Little girl?” I gasped.
“Hot damn!” Declan whooped, scooping me off the exam table and twirling me around. “A baby girl who’s going to be just as beautiful as her mommy.”
“Maybe she’ll look like her daddy instead,” I suggested shyly, gazing up at him when he set me on my feet.
Declan wasn’t the least bit self-conscious about Dr. Frazier watching us in such a personal moment. He cradled my face in his palms and captured my lips, kissing me tenderly. It might not have been the right time or place, considering Declan worked there, but it was exactly what I needed to feel closer to him. Lost in the kiss, neither of us heard the door click shut as we physically expressed all the emotions the ultrasound had evoked inside.
His thumbs swept across my cheeks when he lifted his head and stared down at me. Then he dropped to his knees and whispered against my belly, “Hello in there, baby girl McGowan. This is your daddy. I love you very much and can’t wait to meet you, my little peanut.”
Cue the tears—again. Although this time it was more than just stupid hormones. I was thrilled my baby girl had her daddy’s unconditional love. I just wished I did, too.
“Do you have to go into the studio today?” Declan murmured from the bed.
I stepped out of the walk-in closet, dressed for a day full of dance classes, and let my eyes linger on his naked chest. The sheet hung low on his hips, his eyes were sleepy, and his dark hair was tousled after a night spent making love to celebrate the news about our baby girl. We’d popped into his office after the ultrasound so he could get some work done, but we hadn’t stayed long. After a quick, early dinner, we’d spent the rest of the night in bed. Forget champagne and cake, sex with Declan was the best way to celebrate.
This morning was a return to the real world though, and I had to leave the private bubble we’d created around ourselves. I would have loved to be able to hide in it, particularly that day, but it just wasn’t possible. “I’m meeting with Serena today to talk about the pregnancy.”
His eyes narrowed and he tilted his head to the side. “She doesn’t know yet?”
“It’s only been three days since I found out,” I answered defensively. “Since you were able to get me an ultrasound appointment with Dr. Frazier for the same day as my originally scheduled one, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to wait until afterwards to let her know.”
He rolled out of the bed and stalked towards me, laying his hand gently on my belly when he got close. “You haven’t been pushing your
self too hard, have you? I know how important dance is to you, but you’re dancing for two now.”