Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56628 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 227(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Adelaide shook her head in answer. I could practically feel her struggling to hold in her tears as her nails dug further into my arm, almost drawing blood. I ignored the pain. “Do you know the family history of the father?” Dr. Howard asked her.
Adelaide nodded silently. I drew in a deep breath. She was on the verge of breaking. I could feel it.
“We need to write down any history of diseases on the father’s side. Can you do that for me?” he asked her gently, sensing her sadness.
“If you’re not ready, just say so,” I told her before she could answer him. “You need time to heal. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She audibly swallowed before she whispered, “I can do this.”
My brave girl.
I pressed another kiss to her shoulder as Dr. Howard began asking her questions about Joey’s family history. Fuck, she was so goddamn brave. I didn’t know anyone who could do this so soon after losing someone so close to them. “Is he going to be in the picture?” Dr. Howard asked her after a few minutes of asking her questions about Joey’s family history.
That was all it took. She fell apart. Dr. Howard swung his alarmed gaze to me. I just shook my head at him wordlessly, and he nodded, stepping out of the room to give us some privacy. I wrapped my arms around Addy tightly, dragging her tight against me. “Hey, calm down,” I told her gently. “Stressing yourself out isn’t good for the baby.” I hated seeing her so fucking upset, though I knew it was inevitable.
“S-sorry.” She hiccupped. “It’s—it’s just…”
I pressed my lips to her forehead. “I know, baby girl.” She whimpered, her fingers clenching my cut in her fists. “It’s okay to cry, but I don’t want you to work yourself up too much. You have a little one to take care of,” I reminded her, grabbing her hand and placing it over her still flat belly, pressing my hand on top of hers as she looked up at me.
She sobbed, and the sound was so fucking broken that it tore at my soul.
She leaned up and kissed me softly. I knew she was using it as a distraction, but I took full advantage of the kiss. I groaned, instantly moving to deepen it. It was the first time she’d kissed me on her own, and it fucking drove me insane that she was finally moving forward me with that tiny bit, even if every part of me was telling me that she was just looking for something in that moment to make her feel better.
“Promise me that you’re going to help me get through this?” she softly requested.
“I promise, Adelaide,” I swore, letting my eyes meet hers. “I’m not leaving your side.”
A few minutes later, Dr. Howard stepped into the room, acting as if nothing had ever happened, and for that, I was grateful. “Alright, Adelaide, we’re going to do an ultrasound to check on your little one, okay? Based on the date of your last period, you’re almost six weeks along, so you should be able to hear your little one’s heartbeat if you’d like.” She nodded at him. “Alright. You two follow me,” he instructed.
Addy stood, and I did as well, instantly lacing my fingers through hers as we followed Dr. Howard down a couple of halls to a dark room. A huge TV screen was on the wall, and beside the little cot in the room was a machine with a couple of wands attached to it with a small screen and a tiny printer. He told us that he would see us back in the room we had just come out of once we were finished here before he dipped.
A lady came out from behind a curtain, a smile lighting up her face. “Hi!” she exclaimed, overly chipper. “My name is Alyssa, and I’ll be doing your ultrasound today,” she explained to Addy. “I just need you to lay back on the cot and pull your shirt up and unbutton your jeans. Just slide them down for me a tiny bit, okay?”
Addy nodded and did as she was instructed. I stood beside the cot, holding one of her hands in mine as I slowly ran my fingers through her hair. Alyssa squeezed some gel on Addy’s belly and then pressed one of the wands against her skin. Instantly, a gritty image popped up on the screen. Everything around it was gray, and there was a black-looking… hole? I had no idea how to describe it.
Addy squeezed my hand tightly, and I could feel her rapidly beating pulse through her hand. I gave her hand a gentle squeeze in return, a silent reminder that I was still there with her.
Suddenly, two tiny balls popped up on the screen. Alyssa stopped the screen, taking what seemed to be measurements. “This is your baby,” she said, pointing an arrow to it on the screen and typing the word ‘baby’, “and this is the yolk sac.”