“As much as I would love to do that, babe, I really have to go. Ellie and Heather are waiting for me at Emma and Garrett’s place. ”
“Let me grab my hat, and I’ll ride with you. I have to meet Gunner and Josh at the house anyway. ”
***
One the way over to the ranch house, Ari barely spoke two words to me. When she did talk, she was a nervous wreck. I really hated that she wouldn’t let me go with her.
I watched as Ari drove off with Ellie and Heather. The moment she saw Ellie, I could see her relax. Emma hugged her and whispered something into her ear while Gunner just stood there and stared at me. I felt like the fucking black sheep of the herd. I was part of it, yet I was also an outcast because I was trying to do the right thing by Rebecca.
The rest of the morning, all I could do was think about Ari. I kept checking my phone to see if I might have missed a call. I silently said a prayer for her tests results that she wasn’t a carrier of the Fragile X gene. Ari was so stressed over it. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t love any child we had together because I would. I adored Matthew with all my heart.
I walked over to the Jeep and pulled out a bottle water from of the ice cooler. I took a long drink, pulled out my cell again and hit dial.
It was time for me to make plans with my little buddy to go fishing. The moment Susan put Matt on the phone, my heart swelled up with love.
Yeah, it really didn’t matter. I just wanted kids with Ari, I just wanted our home to filled with laughter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
ARI
Sitting on the table in Dr. Wyatt’s office, I just stared at all the pictures of pregnant women, babies, and big tummies. The whole bulletin board was covered in pictures. I smiled when I saw a picture of my mother holding Matt from nine years ago. I was standing in the picture next to them, holding up rabbit ears behind my mother.
Dr. Wyatt came and sat down on the stool. He smiled at me, and I smiled back, but I felt like I wanted to throw up.
“Well, Ari, we drew all the blood we needed, and I should get the genetic tests back in two weeks. Your urine test came back positive for pregnancy. The next thing I would like to do is a transvaginal sonogram, so that way we can take a look and maybe see how far along you are. From our earlier conversation and the date of your last period, I’m guessing that you’re about nine weeks. That would put us at a due date of January thirtieth. ”
My head was spinning. Nine weeks! Oh. My. God. I have a little baby in me…growing inside of me. . . holy hell.
“Um, when do you think I’ll start showing?” I asked as I pulled at the gown I was wearing.
Dr. Wyatt reached up, taking my hands in his.
“Ari, I know you’re scared for a number of reasons. Let’s just take this one step at a time, okay? There’s nothing we can do about Fragile X until we get the results back. Don’t stress yourself out. Now, to answer your question, you’ll probably start showing around the first week of October. Keep in mind though that everyone is different though. ”
I shook my head. Dr. Wyatt asked me to lie back on the table. He stuck his head out and called for a nurse.
As a nurse joined us, Dr. Wyatt said,
“I need you to relax now, Ari. ”
I kept my eyes on the monitor while I started to take deep breaths. Then, I saw it. It looked like a little peanut. I could hear it’s heart beating like crazy. My eyes started to tear up, and I looked away.
“Ari, honey, are you okay?” The nurse asked me.
I looked back at her and smiled.
“He should be here. I should have told him,” I said while tears poured down my cheeks.
The nurse took a hold of my hand and gave it a little squeeze.
“Honey, there are tons of women who come in here and get the first sonogram alone. You’re not always one-hundred percent sure that you’re pregnant. Some women like to wait until they know for sure before they tell the fathers. ”
I tried to smile at her. When I looked back at my peanut, my smile grew bigger as I saw her little arms moving back and forth.
“She’s waving to you,” Dr. Wyatt said with a laugh.
“She?” I asked as I looked at him. There’s no way they can tell this early.