The Billionaire Op - Lori Ryan Page 0,53

and tired all the time, instead of being in her own bed. Being pregnant with his baby when she probably wished with all her heart it was Kyle’s baby.

A door opened on the far side of the room and a woman in scrubs held the door open.

“Nancy?”

Chad had to squeeze Jennie’s hand to get her to respond to the fake name. She stood and crossed to the door, but paused when she got there, turning back to him.

“Come with me?”

He felt his heart kick into high gear and he wondered for a second if he’d heard her right. Maybe he’d imagined it? He couldn’t believe she asked him to be with her for the exam. Chad had planned to ask if he could be there for one of her ultrasounds down the road, but he never thought she’d want him to come in with her this time.

He rose and went through the door with Jennie, taking her hand in his again. The nurse stopped off at a bathroom and asked Jennie to leave a urine sample. He saw the flush in her cheeks and wondered if she was sorry she had brought him back there.

When she emerged from the bathroom, they were shown to a small room. They didn’t ask Jennie to undress so he wasn’t sure whether she would be given a full exam or not.

An older woman walked in the room and introduced herself as Dr. Breckman. She listened as Jennie filled her in on how far along she was, her exhaustion and nausea and inability to eat anything other than pudding and pastries.

“Well, let’s take a listen to the baby and make sure things sound good, then we can talk about getting more food in you,” Dr. Breckman said with a kind smile.

The woman didn’t seem overly concerned, which made Chad alternate between feeling relieved and wondering if he should shake the woman and yell until her level of concern matched his.

The doctor pulled out a small handheld machine and helped Jennie lay back on the exam table. She lifted Jennie’s shirt and tucked the top of Jennie’s jeans under a bit to get to her lower abdomen. She squirted clear gel on her stomach. This is when it dawned on Chad that the doctor had said they’d be listening to the baby’s heartbeat.

He was going to hear his baby’s heartbeat for the first time. He felt his own heartbeat kick into high gear with anticipation. Somehow, the baby had seemed almost theoretical before. Now, it was about to be very real.

“Have you lost weight this trimester?” The doctor asked as she began to skim a T-shaped wand over Jennie’s stomach. The machine made noise but nothing that sounded like a heartbeat. Just a sort of echoey white noise.

The doctor looked unconcerned but Chad was holding his breath. He leaned forward, listening intently, but hearing nothing close to a heartbeat. He was suddenly more afraid than ever that something was wrong.

Please, no. Please don’t let anything be wrong.

“A few pounds,” said Jennie. “I’ve been throwing up so much.”

As she and the doctor talked, Chad wondered how they could remain so calm. He clenched his hands into fists and fought the rising panic as his heart slammed around in his chest.

Where is the heartbeat? They should have heard it by now, right?

In reality, he had no idea if the doctor should have been able to find the heartbeat more quickly or not. And, not knowing, not being in control of things, left him feeling more frightened than he was comfortable with. How would he make it through six more months of this?

“That’s all right. Many women either don’t gain any weight or even lose a few pounds in the first trimester. As long as it doesn’t keep up, it’s okay. We’ll want to see you start to gain a little as you get into your second trimester.”

Chad sat upright as he heard the quick flutters of a heartbeat. It sounded too fast. It made him think of a bird not a baby.

Is it supposed to sound that fast?

He eyed the doctor as his mind flipped through the pages of the book he’d been reading, but he couldn’t remember reading anything about the baby’s heart rate.

He caught Jennie’s eyes and she smiled at him, making him melt. For a split second, he was able to pretend that she loved him as much as he loved her. That she wanted this baby to be his. That she was happy to