Cowboy Baby Daddy

I had simply wanted to take her out to dinner one night, and that had led to a mind-blowing bout of sex in the back seat of my car on the way home. After that, as we lay there staring up at the stars, we'd been forced to reevaluate things.

“Maybe it would be all right if Emma knew,” I mused.

Olivia raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you think she'd understand at all?”

“Well, I'm not going to explain everything to her,” I said, grinning. “But if I told her that you were my special friend, maybe you could spend the night sometimes. I'd like to wake up with you.”

“Mm,” Olivia said, considering that. “If waking up next to you means you are cooking me breakfast every morning, I am interested in that!”

I laughed. “I don't know about every morning, but I'll see what I can do,” I promised.

“I might just have to reward you for that if you do,” Olivia said teasingly.

“I see,” I said, smiling against her hair. I paused. “You realize that if Emma knows, though, there's the possibility that she might mention it to someone. A couple of the other kids from town go to the same daycare as her. Or she might say something while we're shopping, I don't know.”

“Kids say the darndest things, don't they?” Olivia asked, but she didn't sound worried about it. If anything, I was pretty sure she sounded happy about the whole town knowing.

Come to think of it. I would be happy if the whole town knew as well. Not only would it be a weight off my chest, but I also couldn't help but want to show Olivia off, to make sure that everyone knew that she was mine and that I wasn't about to let anyone interfere with that ever again.

Which I supposed was what that whole night in Chicago was meant to be about. Not that I'd invited the whole town, or a sky-writing airplane, or anything that extreme. But I had plans for the two of us. I smiled to myself just thinking about them.

At this point, I was just happy to see Olivia smile. Even Emma seemed happie

r having Olivia around. I didn't know if it was the woman's calming presence or just the balancing effect of having two 'parents' to come home to at the end of the day. Or maybe it was just that Emma was growing up, or that her time in daycare was making her more mature. Whatever it was, I couldn't believe that everything was working out. They'd been so rocky at first that I had hardly dared to dream that we might get to this point.

At the doctor's office, I watched as they squirted gel on Olivia's stomach. She still wasn't showing, of course, but it was exciting just being here, knowing what was coming. “Only a matter of time now,” Olivia said, echoing my thoughts. I grinned down at her and reached out to take her hand.

“Now, as I'm sure you know, Dr. Jones, we're not going to be able to see much with this ultrasound, given that it's still pretty early in the pregnancy,” the doctor cautioned before she started. “We aren't going to be able to tell the gender of this little one. However, we will be able to give you an estimate of the due date, based on what we're seeing today, as well as let you know if the baby's healthy. Based on those two things, we'll be able to devise a plan for the pregnancy, including prenatal vitamins, birth classes, and everything else. In addition to that, we should be able to hear a heartbeat.”

I squeezed Olivia's hand. I'd gone through all of this before with Emily, of course, but this was just as exciting as the first time around. Or perhaps more exciting, because, despite the fact that I was still nervous, it wasn't the all-consuming worry of a first-time parent that I had to contend with.

“All right, let's get started,” the doctor said, snapping her gloves onto her hands. She smiled at both of us and passed the wand around on Olivia's stomach.

Olivia giggled. “That really tickles,” she said, helplessly squirming a little before doing her best to remain still.

The doctor grinned at her and peered at the grainy image on the monitor, moving the wand a couple more times. “Right there,” she said, pointing. “That's your little one. Looking good, for it being so early in the pregnancy. I'd say you're due for a winter baby. We'll take some measurements and give you a more specific timeframe shortly.”

I bent down to kiss Olivia's hair, unable to contain my emotion and only hoping that I could express it through the kiss.

“We're having a baby,” Olivia said as I broke away. She sounded just as awed as I felt.

“You're having a baby,” the doctor confirmed, smiling at us. “Dr. Jones, why don't you take over with the wand and I'll give the two of you a moment.” Before she left, she switched on the sound, and the distinct thumping sound of the fetus's heartbeat suddenly filled the room.

“It's really in there,” Olivia said, sounding breathless. There were tears in her eyes. She reached up to swipe at them, looking embarrassed.

I brought her hand to my lips, softly kissing the fluttering pulse point at her wrist, thinking of how that heartbeat moved in time with the baby's heartbeat. “It's really in there,” I murmured, feeling just as moved by the moment as she was.

“Thank you,” Olivia said softly.

“For knocking you up?” I teased, grinning crookedly at her.

Olivia burst out laughing. “No!” she giggled. Then, she frowned, looking considering. “Well, maybe,” she said shyly. “We'll see; motherhood could be the best thing that's ever happened to me. But I meant more, thank you for being here with me.”

“Thank you for letting me be,” I said seriously.

Things had been going well between the two of us, but there was no denying that our relationship was still young. I think we were both just relieved that things seemed to be going smoothly for now. I didn't want to say that I had been worried that she wouldn't want me to have any part in the baby's life. But then again, I supposed that went without saying: we both knew exactly where this relationship had come from.

I turned away, finding that I suddenly needed to brush away tears as well. Olivia squeezed my hand but didn't comment.