Lucas (Cold Fury Hockey 8)

I let out a frustrated sigh and scrub my hands over my face. "Okay, fine. Let's leave that for a moment and move to number three. What do you want to do with your life?"

Simone blinks at me a few times and shrugs. "I've got ideas. Lots of ideas."

Great. Just fucking great. I need to settle in for a long night.

Chapter 12

Stephanie

There's a knock at the exam room door and before I can answer, it's pushing open and Lucas is walking through. I feel incredibly naked and vulnerable in nothing but this paper gown and my socks as I sit on the examination table with stirrups to the side, waiting for the doctor to come in. I honestly didn't think Lucas was coming since he wasn't here when I was called back from the waiting room. My mind raced as to what that could mean while the nurse was instructing me to disrobe while handing me the gown.

It took me no more than two minutes to strip, put the gown on, and hop onto the table, but in that time I'd talked myself into believing that Lucas wasn't going to be a part of this. We've hardly talked in the last week and he canceled our date--well, our hookup--the other night. I knew he was going to be pulling back after his talk about the play-offs, but I didn't think it would include pulling back from the pregnancy stuff.

"What are you doing here?" I ask dumbly.

He just shakes his head at me as he shuts the door. "You knew I was going to be here."

"But you weren't," I say somewhat petulantly, and I hate that tone coming out of my mouth, but it doesn't stop me from saying, "You're late."

"Have you seen the doctor yet?" he asks me, and I want to punch him.

"No," I mutter.

"Then I'm not late," he says with a smirk.

He's right and I give up on discussing it further. "I guess you're not."

I drop my head and study my hands for lack of anything better to do. Another knock on the door and its opening again, this time an older man with silver hair and black framed glasses comes in. He looks first to me and sticks his hand out. "Hi, I'm Dr. Woods and I'll be your primary obstetrician throughout your pregnancy."

"Stephanie Frazier," I say as I shake his hand.

He turns to Lucas and then his mouth drops open. "You're...you're..."

"Lucas Fournier," he finishes for the doctor as he shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you."

The doctor gives a little laugh and shakes his head in amusement at himself. "Sorry, that just caught me off guard for a minute."

"No worries," Lucas assures the doctor, and then shoots me a wink. He's in an awfully good mood for some reason and that makes me grumpier.

"I didn't realize you were married, Mr. Fournier," Dr. Woods says pleasantly, and it's an honest guess I suppose. I mean, you don't have to be married in this day and age to have a baby, but Dr. Woods is from a different generation and he probably just thinks differently.

"We're not married," I explain, and Dr. Woods looks to me. "We're just friends."

"Oh, I see," he says with a hesitant smile, but I can tell by the confused tone he doesn't understand anything about our relationship.

Join the club, Dr. Woods. Join the club.

Dr. Woods sits on a low stool and rolls it to a desk. He opens up a laptop that he'd been carrying, and after a few moments of reviewing whatever information he has on me already, turns and says, "You estimate that you're around eight weeks pregnant according to your history."

"It's not an estimate," I tell him.

"Well, sometimes you can't always pinpoint the exact date you got pregnant--"

"I know the exact date I got pregnant," I interrupt him so we can just get on with this. "It was a one-night stand and there's no one else in the picture near that time."

"Oh," Dr. Woods says as his eyebrows rise. He glances to Lucas, who's come to stand beside me as I sit at the end of the examination table. "Oh, I see. Well, then...it doesn't appear that you have any major complicating factors according to the history form you filled out. Here's what we're going to do today. I'm going to do a physical examination of you, including a pelvic exam. We'll also get some blood and urine samples. And then after that we'll let you get dressed and then go over into my office where it's a little more relaxed and we can talk about what lies ahead for you."

I can only nod, suddenly feeling overwhelmed. I'm not sure if I'm giving that vibe off or not, because Lucas's hand comes to the back of my neck and he gives me a reassuring squeeze. I have to force myself not grab his hand like it's a lifeboat.

"Good," Dr. Woods says with an encouraging smile, and stands from his stool. He washes his hands and dries them, and proceeds to give me a regular examination by checking my eyes, ears, throat, and heart. He pushes around on the lymph nodes on my neck and then has me lie down to press on my stomach while asking me if anything hurts.

Dr. Woods then helps me to sit up. "Have you been having any issues so far, Stephanie?"

"Morning sickness," I reply, as that's the worst symptom.

With a chuckle, Dr. Woods nods and says, "That should be gone by week sixteen. Anything else?"

"Spotting," I tell him, and from my peripheral vision I can see Lucas tense up. "Yesterday morning, and it was just a little when I peed. Nothing else since and I'd read that can be normal."

"You were spotting?" Lucas asks, his voice rough with annoyance. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal since it didn't happen anymore and I feel fine," I tell him with my eyes narrowed.

Dr. Woods decides to intervene, so he says a little loudly, "Tell you what, while spotting can indicate something wrong, it can be perfectly normal too. So after the pelvic exam, we'll do a vaginal ultrasound and check that little baby out."

"You can see the baby this early?" Lucas asks with wonder.

"And hear the heartbeat," Dr. Woods says with a grin. "But I'm guessing Stephanie might feel a little more comfortable if you step out during this part of the exam."

"I'm not going anywhere," Lucas says indignantly, and I have to suppress a giggle.

I jerk my head toward Lucas and tell Dr. Woods, "He's the one that knocked me up."

"Oh," Dr. Woods says with wide eyes. "Oh, okay. I see. That's um...well, okay. Got it. I just thought you were friends."

"With benefits," Lucas adds, and this time I can't stop the laugh. Lucas shoots me a grin.

"Okay, that was too much information," Dr. Woods chastises us with an easygoing laugh. "So, Lucas, you're the father and you're going through this pregnancy with Stephanie?"

Lucas nods. "That's the gist of it."

"All right," Dr. Woods says with a clap of his hands as he grabs some latex gloves. "Now I'm caught up on everything. Let's do the pelvic exam and then we'll do the ultrasound."

"And one other thing," I say hesitantly, and slide an unsure look to Lucas briefly before I turn back to the doctor. "Can you do a paternity test?"

Dr. Woods's eyebrows furrow deep with question. "I don't understand."

At the same time, Lucas growls, "I don't want a paternity test."

"You said you did," I snap in reminder, although inside I want to dance with joy that he doesn't.

"Well, yeah...that was back when I didn't know you any better than I know Dr. Woods here. In fact, I've probably had more conversation with Dr. Woods than I did with you that night I knocked you up."

My face heats up and I glare at Lucas. "Oh grow up, will you?"

Lucas merely turns to Dr. Woods and calmly says, "I do not need a paternity test. I know I'm the father."

"You could have mentioned that before now," I grumble, and I can tell Lucas finds me hilarious as his eyes dance with humor.

Dr. Woods's eyes go back and forth between us a few times before he just shrugs, seemingly to accept our very weird relationship. I'm sure he's seen it all, though.

Next I suffer the indignity of putting socked feet in the stirrups. When a woman is essentially naked with her legs spread, she shouldn't be sporting fuzzy socks, and yet here I am doing just th

at. Then he inserts the speculum, which is perhaps my least favorite thing in the world. I wince a few times as he takes a culture, then probes after removing the speculum.

"Everything feels just fine," he says reassuringly as he removes his gloves, discards them, and then grabs a new pair. He goes to the machine I'd noticed in the corner of the room and wheels it to the side of the table. He turns it on, adjusts a few knobs, and then picks up a thin wand that's connected to it. "I'm just going to insert this into your vagina, Stephanie. It won't hurt, but it might be slightly uncomfortable as I move it around so I can find the baby."

"Okay," I say, but my voice sounds small and terrified. I didn't mean to sound that way but in a nanosecond, Lucas has my hand engulfed in his.