For the dreamer who hadn’t had a chance to fulfill his dream yet.
For the woman I was still growing into.
And for the baby who was probably better off raised by monkeys.
I had no idea what to expect or what to do. I’d only ever seen babies in passing on the street, in the mall, and in places like the doctor’s office.
Until then.
Until I saw the little blob of a human being growing inside me on that dark monitor. The tiny thud of his little heart sent shockwaves rippling through me, solidifying and strengthening a bond I didn’t know existed, and bringing tears to my eyes.
I could do this. I would do this.
“Everything looks fine to me. Sometimes these things happen when the body is under a lot of stress.” The young doctor with a ginger beard wrote me a prescription. “When’s your next scan?”
“Tomorrow’s my first one.”
He looked up from his pad, his cloudy moustache shifting. “You’re fourteen weeks, going on fifteen in a few days, Ms. Sandrine.”
I nodded, wiping goo from my stomach with the towel he’d handed me. “I know. Life got in the way.”
“Well, fortunately everything is looking great. But in future, I would recommend getting to those on time.”
Sitting up, I thanked him as he took the towel and tossed it into a trash can beneath his desk, then handed me the small piece of paper. “For any cramping pain. What were you doing before this happened?”
The paper felt cold in my hand. “Helping a friend.” I couldn’t meet his eyes as I explained carefully, “She came home drunk, and it got messy. She needed help.”
The doctor was quiet for a solid minute, and the lie became a corrosive taste filming my tongue.
Was I ashamed? No, but I was worried—riddled with concern over Everett’s actions tonight, and feared things were getting worse. I was about to turn twenty-one. Admitting I had a drunk boyfriend, playing into the young mom stereotypes and raising red flags, wasn’t what I wanted or needed right now.
I’d gotten everything I needed, what mattered, so I thanked the doctor one last time, the door closing with a barely audible snick behind me.
Out in the hall that led to the waiting room, I paused. Aiden’s eyes were closed, his head tilted back over the seat. His long, powerful body was slouched, legs spread, and his hands sitting over his white T-shirt covered stomach.
The searing ache in my eyes worsened, and I bit my lip as he scraped a hand over his thick hair, his whiskered jaw shifting while his eyes remained shut.
A brief glimpse of the room said I wasn’t the only one staring. An elderly woman and a young group of girls sat on the other side, their gazes bouncing over him every chance they could sneak.
The ache blistered as everything I’d kept hidden below the surface began to crest.
He’d come without a second thought, without question, and without judgment.
The towel I’d wrapped around me, in case I’d bled some more, sat on the seat beside him, where I’d waited in terrified silence before getting called in.
He’d held my hand but otherwise stayed quiet, knowing that there really weren’t any words to say. Yet when my name had been called, I’d rushed to the opened door and left him behind. I couldn’t take him in with me. Whether the news had been bad or good, it didn’t seem right.
His eyes opened as my footsteps neared, but he showed no sign of being hurt by any of this. Only concern. He rubbed his face, his lashes sticking to one another. “Are you okay?”
I let the tears tumble free, nodding.
He straightened, frowning as he stood from the seat. “Then why are you crying?”
“Because I saw him, heard his heartbeat.”
A twitch to his lips, then he smiled, reaching out to brush my tears away with his thumbs. “He? You know already?”
I sniffed, unable to contain my smile. “Not for sure, but I just do.”
His smile softened with his chuckle, the harsh edges of his face relaxing, thumbs still feather light over my cheeks. It was wrong but felt too good to put an end to. “Let’s get you home, then.”
“Why are you really here, Aiden?” I asked once we were inside his car. It wasn’t an accusation, but a question that’d been plaguing me.
“You know why.” A sigh escaped, but before I could berate him for potentially ruining his career, he continued, “It’s okay. I’ve been granted