“Oh yeah. He keeps looking at you like he’s afraid you’ll disappear. Dan ain’t looked at me like that in years.”
My eyes dart to the door, waiting for Lincoln to walk back through and hoping I can see what she’s talking about. A minute or so later, the waiting room door opens, and Lincoln walks in. His eyes are instantly on mine. They’re warm, inviting, and not once do they stray to the other women in the room.
“You okay?” he asks, taking his seat beside me. He places his hand on my stomach and smiles.
“We’re perfect.” I put my hand on top of his.
“Keeper,” the woman beside me whispers.
“Adley Allen?” a nurse calls as she steps into the waiting room.
“That’s me.” Lincoln and I both stand and follow her back into the office.
“My name is Karen. I’m Dr. Stahl’s nurse today. Let’s start with your weight,” she says, motioning to an alcove.
I kick off my shoes and step on. She records the number and then leads us to exam room two and shuts the door.
“You can set your stuff there and have a seat on the table. Dad, you can have a seat on the chair.”
The smile on Lincoln’s face is priceless. “Dad,” he mouths.
I grin and hold out my arm when the nurse reaches for a blood pressure cuff. “I’m going to get your vitals,” she says.
Lincoln watches intently as she checks my blood pressure, pulse, and temperature, and then he listens as she runs through a series of questions. When she’s done, she sets out a gown.
“Put this on for us, open to the front.”
When she slips from the room, Lincoln stands up. “Want me to step out?”
“No need.” I strip my clothes off, hoping to garner some sort of reaction, but Lincoln is the perfect gentleman. He keeps his eyes down, giving me privacy. I want to shake my tits in his face, just to feel the heat of his gaze on my body, but knowing my luck, the doctor would walk in. That wouldn’t be fun to explain.
I slip my arms into the gown, close it as best as I can, and sit on the table.
Just when I’m about to ask Lincoln about his day, there’s a brisk knock on the door. Dr. Stahl walks in with a welcoming smile and holds out a hand, to me first and then Lincoln.
“It’s nice to see you again, Adley.”
“Thank you. You too, Dr. Stahl. This is my…uh…this is…”
“Lincoln Bennett,” he says, holding out a hand. “I’m the father of the baby.”
Dr. Stahl shakes Lincoln’s hand, and I mentally slap myself for stuttering. I wanted so badly to call him my boyfriend, but I’m not sure where we stand.
We seriously need to talk.
“All right. Let’s get down to business, shall we? Today we’re going to do a viability ultrasound. Based on the date of your last menstrual period, my calculation is that you’re approximately nine weeks along. We’ll know more after the ultrasound.”
Dr. Stahl takes a seat next to the table and starts messing with a giant machine. “Go ahead and lean back for me, Adley. Good. And put your feet in the stirrups. Perfect. Lincoln, if you’d like to move in a little closer, you can.”
I reach out my hand. Lincoln grips it tight and moves around to stand by my head.
Dr. Stahl covers the lower half of my body with a blanket and pulls the bottom up over my knees. She slides a condom over a long wand and squirts lubricant on it.
“Uhh…what’s that?” Lincoln asks.
Smiling Dr. Stahl holds up the wand. “Adley is still early in her pregnancy, so we’re doing a vaginal ultrasound. But don’t worry, this won’t hurt the baby.”
“I wasn’t worried about the baby; I was worried about Adley,” Lincoln says with a horrified look.