I close my eyes, my face breaking into a grin as Jace kisses me hard on the cheek. When I open my eyes, he has his phone up, and I smile, thinking he’s taking a picture. “I’m recording. That’s our baby.”
I laugh as he turns off his phone, kissing me once more. Leaning his nose to my temple, he whispers, “I’m so happy.”
Tears burn my eyes as I nod. “Me too.”
“Me too,” Dr. Vernon says. “It sounds good, strong. You are doing great, so we are done. Let me know if there are any questions, and I will see you in four weeks.”
He takes the Doppler off my stomach, and the room goes silent except for the crackling of the paper I sit on. But one thing is for sure, you couldn’t wipe the grins off our faces. Or erase the fact that I’ll never forget the sound of my baby’s heartbeat.
“It could be a badass beat, for a rap or something,” I say as we walk out of the office and toward our car.
Jace laughs. “Yeah, I want to hear that.” Smiling back, I lean into him, wanting not only his warmth but his love. “That was so awesome.”
“It was.”
“I want to post it, but I know you don’t want people knowing about the little bun in your oven.”
I nod. “Even though everyone already suspects it. Because why would hotshot, star hockey player Jace Sinclair marry someone like Avery Rose without knocking her up?”
He makes a face. “Who the hell thinks that?”
“Everyone, Jace,” I say with a shrug. “I don’t care, though. They’re just jealous.”
“True that,” he says with a nod. “So I still can’t post it?”
“No,” I laugh, leaning into him.
“Why?”
“’Cause I’m only nine weeks. Wait till after twelve.”
“That’s boring.”
“It’s smart,” I say simply. “I could still miscarry according to the baby book.”
He shakes his head. “Um, no. My baby is coming into the world to dominate. He’s sticking around.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re crazy.”
“Crazy for you,” he says, nuzzling his nose in my ear, causing me to giggle as I try to get away. Reaching out, he pulls me back into his side as we reach the car. While I’m excited and elated about hearing the baby’s heartbeat, our conversation from earlier is still bothering me, and I know I have to settle this with him.
When he goes to start the car, I stop him. “Jace.”
He looks over at me, smiling. “Yeah?”
I smile. “I love you—”
“I love you too,” he says, leaning over and kissing me softly on the lips, but before he can get away, I stop him.
“But you have to let me help here. I have money saved up. Let’s use that and get an apartment, or we can go move in with your mom.”
His face twists in disgust. “No way in hell are we moving in with my mom. And no, we are good. It’s fine. If anything, we’ll just sleep apart until something opens up.”
I nod, but I don’t want that and neither does he. “That sucks.”
“Yeah, but I’m not gonna financially fuck us, and I’m not asking for help. We got this.”
He’s right, especially when we don’t know what could come up. He’s being smart and I understand that, but I want to sleep together. I want to be a married couple.