by Shaw Hart
“I like to be prepared.”
She smiles at that. A quick fleeting lift of her lips before she’s back to watching me warily.
“Ok, well if I am pregnant, what do you want to do?”
“I want to keep it.”
I had been grappling with that question the whole way over here. Did I want to have a baby with a virtual stranger? I wasn’t sure, but one meeting with Regan and I am. Even if she isn’t pregnant this time, she will be soon. No one else will have my babies but her.
“Ok. I was planning on keeping it too. I don’t think I have it in me to have an abortion.” She says as she looks down at her knotted fingers. I want to reach over and take her hands in mine but I’m sure she wouldn’t like that.
“If you are, you will move in with me. I’ll take care of everything.”
“That’s ok. I can stay here and work just fine. I just would need help with some expenses once the baby is closer to being here.”
“No, you will move in with me. I will take care of you. I want to.” I say when she looks like she’s going to argue with me.
“Well, we can discuss that once we know if I am or not.”
I notice that she didn’t agree with me and I smile. This girl is going to be a challenge, and I love a challenge.
Chapter Four
Regan
Two Weeks Later…
I sit in the uncomfortable plastic chair in the waiting room, waiting for them to call me back. I’m siting between Mr. and Mrs. McCall and Haiden at the doctor’s office. Normally, I would have just taken a pregnancy test at home to find out if the procedure worked but because of the mix up, they decided to do it here with everyone.
I look to my left to see Mr. and Mrs. McCall holding hands. They see me looking at them and try to give me a hopeful smile. I try to return it but I have a feeling that they’re not going to like the news today. I’ve been feeling nauseous for the past couple of days and my breasts have felt tender.
I peek over at Haiden and see he’s already watching me. He wraps his arm around the back of my chair and rubs my neck, trying to ease out the tension. I just want to get this over with.
A pretty nurse comes out and calls us back and the McCall’s and I both slowly stand, but Haiden jumps to his feet and then offers me his hand. I push it away and walk past him. The nurse leads everyone back to the doctor’s office. The McCall’s and Haiden both take seats but the nurse stops me.
“You’ll need to come with me so we can do the blood work.”
I turn to follow her out but I still see Haiden give me a reassuring smile. I don’t know why I’m still so hard on him. He’s been nothing but sweet to me over the last two weeks. He calls and texts me every day, always asking how I’m feeling, how my day was, or if I need anything. If I am pregnant, then I’m sure that he would make a great father. He’s so attentive and caring and sweet.
He’s been coming out to Ladson to see me almost every day. Some days he has the morning off, so he comes into the diner and eats breakfast, buying me something to eat and staying until he has to get to work. Other days he has work in the morning and so I don’t see him until the afternoon or evening. He brings me food on those days and usually some other treat, like flowers or chocolate. No one has ever given me flowers before.
I can’t figure him out. This seems like more than just about the pregnancy. Heck, we didn’t even know if I was pregnant. I thought that maybe he was just always like this but I googled him and from what I found, that is not the case.
There were articles about his impressive court record and more about him being one of the most eligible bachelors in Charleston. Everything that I read depicted him as a ruthless, arrogant jerk, so why is he being so sweet to me?
The nurse leads me into another room that’s set up to take blood. She leads me over to a chair and another girl steps forward, tying a rubber band around my arm and looking for a vein. She pulls out a needle and a vial and takes the blood they need for the test.
I follow the nurse to another room where she takes my weight and vitals. She asks me how I’ve been feeling and if I’ve had any other symptoms. I tell her about my breasts being sensitive and how I’ve been feeling nauseous. She writes it all down and then leads me back to the doctor’s office.
I walk in and Haiden is the first one on his feet. He raises an eyebrow at me and I can see how anxious everyone is to find out the results. Before I can tell them that I don’t know yet, the nurse interrupts me.
“The doctor will be right in to go over the results.” She says as she backs out of the room.
I walk over to take the remaining chair. As soon as I sit down, the door opens and Doctor Heartstone bustles in.
“Hello, everyone.” He says as he rounds his desk and sits down.
We watch, all of us holding our breath as he pulls up something on his computer.
“Well, it looks like the procedure was successful. Regan is pregnant.”
Haiden
“Regan is pregnant.”
I want to shout with happiness but that probably wouldn’t be appropriate. The other couple is crying and holding each other and I know that this was their chance to have a baby. I tried to talk to them while Regan was gone but they just kept looking at me like I was the enemy.
I turn to Regan who is just sitting there in shock. She doesn’t look happy or sad about the news. She also doesn’t look surprised either. She told me that she had been feeling nauseous the last few days but I hadn’t wanted to get my hopes up. Now, though, now I can.
I wrap my arm around Regan as the Doctor tells us what happens now. He’ll leave this pregnancy up to us and he tells the McCall’s about other options available to them. I help Regan stand from her chair and we walk side by side out of the office and then the building. Regan walks over to her beat up car and I follow along after her.
Now that she’s pregnant with my baby, I’ll be able to get her all of the things she deserves. I’m already picking out a new car in my head, something safe and reliable, when she slides behind the wheel.
“Whoa!” I say as I stop her from closing the door in my face.
“I need to get to work.” She says with her hand still on the door.
“I thought we talked about this. I will take care of you. You will move into my- our house and I will handle everything. You don’t need to work. I make more than enough money. I can support us.”
“I can work. I don’t need to move in. I’m pregnant, not dying.” She snips back.
God, I love when she’s feisty.
“I want you too. I want to take care of you. Of you and our baby.”
She studies me for a minute and I don’t know what she sees but finally she nods her head.
“I need to put in my two weeks’ notice, but then, ok.”
She still seems reluctant about it but, hey, I can work with that.
Chapter Five
Regan
I’m back at the doctor’s office. This time it’s a different doctor. Haiden says she’s the best OBGYN in the state and I’m sure that he’s right. We’re here to have our first checkup on the baby. After this, I’ll be moving into his house.
Haiden has been not so patiently waiting for my two weeks’ notice to be over so that he can move me to Charleston. He still continued to come to work every day and see me and we still talked on the phone and texted every day.
I feel like I should be more nervous. I’m moving in with some guy that I only just met. You’re about to have his baby. I guess I just thought when I moved in with someone that it would be with a boyfriend or my husband. None of this is turning out like I expected.
We follow the nurse back to a room where she takes my vitals and then lays out a hospital gown.
“Just put that on. You’ll need to take off your underwear as well. For this first visit, the doctor will use a wand type device to see the baby. At your next visit it will be the usual ultrasound done on your belly. Go ahead and lay down when you’re done
and the doctor will be with you in just a minute.”
She smiles at us as she closes the door behind us. My palms start to sweat as I realize that I’ll be close to naked in front of Haiden. I’ve never been so much as kissed before and now I’m going to have to strip in front of someone?
I look over to him and see him watching me with a smile on his face. My eyes narrow at him and I cross my arms over my chest. The motion causes my full breasts to push up further and I see his eyes dip down to them. He licks his lips and I feel myself start to get wet as I realize that he’s turned on.
“Do you mind?” I say. I try to be snotty about it but even I can hear the lust in my voice.
“You need a hand?”
“No! Turn around.”
He chuckles lightly before doing as I ask. I waste no time in stripping off my shirt and slipping the hospital gown on. I tie the first tie before I slip my jeans and panties down my legs. I step out of them and then fold everything and put it on a nearby chair. I grab the other tie and quickly tie it in a loose knot. I’m about to climb onto the table when I feel a hand on my elbow.
“Let me help you.” He says quietly.
His hands grip my hips and he lifts me onto the table. I clench my thighs together and I pull at the end of the hospital gown. I look up at him and see him staring down at me. His hands are still gripping my hips and he pulls me closer to him. His legs bracket my own and when he notices me squirming, he steps closer, pressing his legs into mine. I was hoping that the pressure would help relieve the building ache at my center but it only ratchets my desire up further.
I pant into the small space between us as I watch his head dip closer and closer to mine. I can feel his warm breath as it fans across my face and my tongue darts out to wet my lips. So close.
Suddenly, there’s a knock at the door and the doctor walks in, reading a chart. Haiden curses softly under his breath and I can feel my cheeks flush. What the heck was that?
“Good Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Luck. Excited to see your baby?” she asks.
“Oh, I’m not his wife.”
“Yet.” Haiden whispers under his breath.
My head snaps to his and he just grins at me. What does that mean? I won’t deny that I’m attracted to Haiden; anyone would be, and I may have even daydreamed about the two of us ending up together and raising this baby as a family, but guys like him don’t fall for girls like me. Then why has he been acting like he’s already in love with you?
The doctor starts up the ultrasound machine and types in some of my information as my mind races through everything that has happened between us in the last month. Images of him coming to see me every day, bringing me food or sweet treats. Him constantly texting me and calling me, making sure that I have everything that I need and that I’m ok. He’s been acting more like a boyfriend than just someone who accidentally had his sperm used to impregnate some stranger.
He’s done all of those things even though I’ve been such a brat to him. My mind flips back to him push the issue of me moving in with him. How he told me that he wanted to take care of me and then as an afterthought said me and the baby. Whenever he tells me about his day it’s always about seeing me and then going to work. I realize that he’s never mentioned that he’s seeing anyone. Haiden has been trying to show me that he cares about me from the beginning and I was just too blind to see it. This though. Saying he wants to marry me is impossible to miss.
Haiden reaches over and grabs my hand as the doctor tells me to lean back and spread my legs. She pulls out some ultrasound wand and spreads gel over it.
“Ok, now just try to relax for me, Regan.
Haiden
I watch as the doctor prepares the wand before moving down to Regan’s hip. Her hospital gown rides up her pale thighs and my eyes are drawn there, like a moth to a flame. I see her tense as the doctor pushes the wand into her and I lace our fingers together, giving her hand a soft squeeze.
“You ok?” I ask.
She nods her head as her hand squeezes mine. We both look to the monitor as gray static comes over the screen. The doctor moves the wand and suddenly a little white blob is there.
“There’s the baby.” The doctor says and we both grip the others hand at the same time.
We stare at the screen, mesmerized, as the doctor takes some measurements and then takes some pictures for us. She finishes and marks some stuff down in her chart before she hands us the pictures.
“Baby looks great. Everything is on track. You’ll need to come back in one month and we’ll do another ultrasound then and you’ll be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat at that appointment as well.”
We both thank her and then head outside. All of Regan’s belongings are packed into her car. I wanted to just send movers but she told me she didn’t have much and she wasn’t kidding. I went over there this morning to help her pack but she was already done. I carried everything down and placed it in my car. Three boxes and two suitcases are the only things inside.
“You ready to head home?” I ask as I follow her over to her car.
“Yeah, I’m getting kind of tired.” Her stomach growls and I smile. “And hungry.” She finishes.
“Want to stop and grab food on the way home?”
“Sure. Where did you want to go? What are you hungry for?”
“Um,” She thinks about it for a minute. “Pancakes!”
I laugh but anything she wants; I will make sure she gets.
“I can make you pancakes at home.” I say.
“You can cook?” She looks so surprised.
“Not much, but I can make most breakfast foods.”
I hold her door open for her and wait until she slides behind the wheel.
“You have the address, right? You can follow behind me but just in case we get separated.”
“Yeah I have the address. I’ll be fine.” She says when I don’t immediately close the door.
“Ok, I’ll see you at home then.” I close the door and make sure she’s settled behind the wheel before I turn and head to my own car.
I pull out, making sure that Regan is behind me and turn to head home. Our place isn’t that far away. I can’t wait to get home and get her settled in.
Chapter Six
Regan
“I think it might be too early to get all of this stuff.” I say as I try to talk him out of buying a $2,000 stroller.
I’ve been realizing over the last few days just how rich Haiden is. He lives in one of the houses on Rainbow Row. Those places are famous and they’re huge so I know it had to have cost him millions. He drives a nice car and he already told me yesterday that he ordered me a new one. He said my old car wasn’t safe enough. I had tried to talk him out of it but he was kind of right. My old car wasn’t the most reliable.
This morning he woke me up with breakfast in bed and told me that he had taken the rest of the day off and that we were going to go baby shopping. This is the third store that we’ve been to and so far we’ve gotten; gender neutral onesies and pajamas, a crib and mattress, a rocking chair, stuffed animals, a bassinet and a car seat. Now, we’re looking at strollers. This baby is nowhere close to being here and we are already all ready for it.
“You think we should get this one? It has a place for an attachment so when we have the next baby, we’ll just have to get that.”
He’s been saying stuff like this ever since our doctor appointment. He keeps talking about the future and he seems to think that we’re going to build one together. First it was us getting married and me being his wife, now it’s us having more than just this one baby.
“We’re having more than one baby?” I ask.
I want to see how he’ll react if I go along with his plans.
“We’ll have as many as you want, Regan.” He says sincerely.
“You really planning on marrying me and having a family with me? Cause we don’t need to do this just because I’m pregnant.”
“I love you, Regan. I thought that was obv
ious. I know we don’t need to be together to raise this baby but I want to be with you. I want to marry you and call you my wife. I want to have a family with you and grow old with you. I’m used to having girls chase after me because of my wealth or status but you’re not interested in that at all. You work hard for what you have. You’re just as driven as I am. You’re smart and honest and beautiful. I want this with you, Regan. I want everything with you.
“Oh.”
I can’t think of anything else to say.
“You think I let just anyone meet my parents?”
“WHAT?!? Meet your parents?”
He laughs, “Oh, did I not tell you that they’re coming to dinner tonight to meet you.”
“No, you did not.”
I’ve never met anyone’s parents before.
“Do they know that I’m pregnant?” I ask him.
“Yeah. We’re close and I tell them everything. They know that it was a mix up at the clinic but that it led me to the love of my life.”
I think I love him too but I’m not quite ready to tell him yet.
“We don’t need to spend $2,000 on a stroller.” I tell him.
“It’s top of the line. Safe and easy to push. I think we should get it.”
“Whatever you want, Haiden.” I say as I walk over to the highchairs.
I’m starting to think that I really would do whatever he wanted.
Haiden
I finish carrying over the last of the dishes and Regan finishes setting the table. I can tell that she’s nervous about meeting my parents, that was why I didn’t tell her until today. I didn’t want my girl to worry about something that she didn’t need to. My parents will love her because she’s sweet and perfect for me. I’m not worried about them at all but Regan is going to be my wife and I want everyone to meet sooner rather than later. Maybe my mom and her can start planning the wedding tonight.