“True, but it’s still a lame-ass excuse.” Ugly Beast saluted him and got on his bike.
Smokey watched him go, and he settled in to watch his woman. He’d sleep for a few hours during the day if he had to.
Chapter Fourteen
The cast was finally off. Her hand was healed, but she’d been advised to still take it easy. Ava agreed with the doctor, however, when she’d asked him to give her a physical and told him her symptoms, he’d gotten this strange look across his face. She was vomiting in the mornings, and some foods were making her feel sick. She was experiencing tiredness all the time.
He’d taken her blood and promised to have the results back as soon as possible. It was why the following day, she sat in his office.
“How are you feeling today?” the doctor asked.
“I’m okay. A little nauseous, but I’m getting used to it. Did my blood tests reveal anything?”
The doctor ran a hand down his face. “Ava, the tests show that you’re pregnant.”
Ava froze. “What?”
“Yes. I was supposed to ask you several questions yesterday, but we’ve been rushed off our feet with this sickness bug. I did think it was the same, and I didn’t suspect anything else. Your symptoms were minor, but … anyway. You’re pregnant.”
“You’re sure?”
“Blood results don’t lie. Do you think there is a reason you shouldn’t be pregnant? Have you had unprotected sex recently?”
She wanted to lie. She wanted to tell the doctor there was no way she could be pregnant. She hadn’t had sex for a couple of months, but before her … accident, she had unprotected sex multiple times with Smokey. He hadn’t wanted to use a condom and neither had she.
This was her fuck-up.
She pressed her lips together, wanting to fight the inevitable, but it was a complete waste of time. There was nothing to fight.
“I can do a quick ultrasound if you’d like?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, please, yes.”
Maybe then the blood work was wrong, or perhaps they mixed it up with another woman who wanted to get pregnant but couldn’t.
She climbed up on the table and rolled up her shirt.
The doctor had left to get an ultrasound machine.
Do I want to be pregnant?
Happiness rushed through her body at the very thought of carrying life, but with it, the harsh reality that the same life was attached to Smokey. He’d helped her to create it, and because of that, she’d have to tell him.
“I’m not pregnant,” she said.
The doctor came into the room and set everything up. There was also a nurse present.
“Now, Ava, this will be a little cold.”
She nodded, and the gel was cold.
He pressed the device against her stomach. Then he moved it around and she stared at the screen, not seeing anything until he got it in the right position, and there was her little baby. “Still early. I reckon you’re three months along, roughly. We can get a definite estimation for when you’re due when you come back. I want to do a follow-up check as my notes state you had an X-ray and at the time, you said you weren’t pregnant.”
“Will that hurt the baby?” she asked.
“I don’t want you to worry too much right now. Let’s take it one day at a time.” He smiled at her.
The rest of the appointment went by in a blur. She went back to the reception to organize another visit. In her hand, she held the photo that showed she was indeed pregnant.
She was going to have Smokey’s baby.
The same man she’d been trying to avoid.
They were going to have a child together.
There was a cab waiting for her outside of the hospital. She sat in the back in a bit of a daze. Arriving at home, she closed and locked the door. She went straight to the kitchen and opened the fridge. She hadn’t drunk any beer or wine since her accident, but she’d purchased a couple of bottles of each a few days ago. Staring at the alcohol, she put a hand to her stomach.
She was going to have a baby. All she’d ever wanted was a child.
Now she was going to get her dream and the father was a man she couldn’t trust.
Tears filled her eyes, but she reached into the fridge, and one by one, she pulled the alcohol out and threw it in the trash. She wasn’t going to drink anything that would harm her baby.
Once her fridge was empty, she put both hands on her stomach. She’d noticed a slight thickening of her waistline but had figured that was all the chocolate ice cream. “I’m going to take care of you, sweetheart. Just you and me. One day, we’ll figure everything out.”
Leaving town was now out of the question. She didn’t want to talk to Smokey, but he was the dad and he needed to know she was pregnant. Sitting down at the dining room table, she stared at the ultrasound picture. She’d get another one on her next visit.