I lifted my chin in acknowledgment and stood. “Let me know when you hear from Marcus.”
He got up from his chair and we walked into the hall. “Will do,” he said before slapping me on the back and going in the direction of Lilah’s room. I stood and watched him go, irritated that he was the one checking on her and not me.
I talked myself into going to work for a while, though my thoughts never strayed far from Lilah. At some point I started digging into local obstetricians, looking for the best. I called in a favor with a friend and got an appointment for the next morning. Then I shot off a text to Lilah, letting her know I’d taken care of it. She responded by calling me bossy again and I grinned at my phone, planning all the ways I’d show that I was the boss, both in and out of the bedroom.
Chapter 10
Delilah
Leaving my father’s home the next morning was harder than I expected. It wasn’t as though I was even going far since Ethan’s house was only a twenty-minute drive. But I’d only had a few days with Samuel and Lola, and much to my surprise, the idea of having a dad and a step-mom was quickly growing on me. I was having a hard time reconciling the man I was getting to know with the one who’d broken my mom’s heart, though. He seemed to be everything Ethan had said he was, and nothing like the man my mom had described to me before she died.
I struggled with the conflicting stories, unsure what to think and afraid to trust what my heart was telling me about my father. But it wasn’t something I could deal with at the moment because I had more pressing concerns on my mind, more specifically my possible pregnancy.
Even though I was tempted to hide my head in the sand about the tiny life that was most likely growing in my belly, Ethan wouldn’t let me get away with it. He’d played it cool when he came to pick me up under the guise of helping me move into my imaginary friend’s house—with the exception of his minor freak-out when I’d tried to carry anything out to his car—but the façade dropped the moment we’d pulled out of the driveway.
“Drink this,” he ordered, pulling a bottle of orange juice out of the cup holder and shoving it into my hand. “It’s a good source of folic acid. I was reading about your pregnancy last night, and it’s important to get enough folic acid in the first month to help prevent birth defects.”
“We don’t even know if I’m pregnant yet,” I reminded him, more than a little disturbed by the way he was talking and acting, as if it was already a definite thing. He was reading pregnancy books already, for goodness sakes! That was not normal guy behavior—unless you were an overly protective, alpha caveman like Ethan.
“Lilah,” he sighed in exasperation. “You’re not on birth control, and I’ve filled you with a bucket-full of come over the last couple of weeks. You’ve been more tired than usual, and the smell of bacon had you running into the bathroom to puke. Having the doctor confirm it is a mere formality. You’re pregnant.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled, lifting the bottle to my lips to take a sip.
“Whatever I want? Sounds good to me,” he quipped.
My startled laughter quickly died in my throat when he handed a cereal bar to me next. Followed by a banana.
“You do know that Lola fed me breakfast when I woke up this morning, right?”
His narrowed eyes slid to me for a moment before returning to the road. “You’re eating for two now.”
“Bossy,” I grumbled under my breath. My exasperation didn’t stop me from eating both items during our drive, though. What could I say? I was hungrier than I was irritated.
When we arrived at the doctor’s office, we were quickly ushered to an examination room in the back, even though there were several people in the waiting room already. I’d barely put on the gown I’d been instructed to change into when a nurse came in.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Parker,” she greeted us. “I understand you’re here today because you think Mrs. Parker may be pregnant?”
“I thought we’d be seeing Dr. Reynolds during this appointment?” Ethan barked.
“Ms. Brooks,” I corrected.
We’d spoken at the same time, but the nurse took it in stride. Ethan, however, had not since he was clearly unhappy, considering the way he was glaring at me.
“Yes, Dr. Reynolds will be in with you shortly,” she explained, answering Ethan’s question. “But first”—she handed me a little plastic container—“we need Ms. Brooks to provide a urine sample so we can run a pregnancy test.”
Ethan growled when she said my name, but it only earned him a raised eyebrow from the nurse and a dirty look from me. I followed her out of the room and down the hall to a bathroom. Providing a sample was no problem since I’d drunk all the juice Ethan had brought me. The nurse smiled at me when I handed the container over to her and let me know the doctor would be in to see me shortly, just as soon as they had the results from the test.