Despite being freaked-the-hell-out right now, I wasn't that kind of guy.
"Hey," I said, getting Brynn's attention.
Startled, she looked up with the gentle eyes I hadn't forgotten and greeted me with a weak smile. "Did you find it okay?" she asked.
There was a seat beside her and one across from her, which I decided to take instead. "I didn't have any trouble."
She nodded and shifted in her seat, crossing her legs. When she nodded and looked back down at her magazine, I got the hint; she was still upset and didn't really feel like talking to me, but that was cool. It relieved me of the pressure of having to find something to talk about.
With her actively ignoring me, I took in her appearance again. The last time we met up, at the restaurant, I was in a fog of confusion as my head reeled over the news she dropped on me. But even then, I was attracted to her. Like I said, I have my preferences just like any other man and she happened to be the type of woman I liked.
Wearing a pair of tight, black pants, she showed off her curves. Then and now, she seemed confident in her size, comfortable in her skin, and that was even more of a turn-on. My eyes ran the length of her thick legs, stopping momentarily at the spread of her hips, more pronounced with her legs crossed like they were.
"Brynn Palmer."
When her name was called we both stood. Brynn set her magazine back on the table beside her and then her eyes met mine. I gestured for her to go ahead of me and she did. For a fraction of a second, I was hypnotized by the rhythmic dip and sway of her full hips as she walked, but I made myself look away.
Lusting after her was what got us here in the first damn place.
We stopped at a scale in the hallway and Brynn was weighed. I looked away, of course, knowing most women like privacy when it comes to that type of thing.
"The doctor will be right in with you," the nurse said, leaving Brynn and I alone in the room she just escorted us to after the weigh-in. Brynn settled on the edge of the exam table while I took the chair beside the door. It was quiet as hell in there, the two of us confined in that small space. If I had to guess, Brynn probably regretted leaving that magazine in the waiting room.
There was so much awkward tension in the room we didn't have any choice but to talk.
"You feeling all right today?" I asked. I honestly did care and would've asked her earlier if I hadn't gotten the impression that she wished I wasn't here.
Her eyes looked everywhere but at me. "Not really, but that's just the way it goes," she answered.
She picked off a piece of lint from her shirt and then let out a breath.
This was stupid. We were two grown people, facing a very grown up situation; it didn't make sense to behave like children. If apologizing would help get us over this hump, I'd do that even if I didn't think it was warranted.
"About the other day, requesting the paternity test; I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I just thought we both needed to be sure. I apologize if I hurt you."
She was quiet, swinging her dangling feet while she thought. The vacancy behind her eyes was telling of how deeply.
"There was a lot more going on than just you bringing up the test," she started. "That day was just … it was bad all around. Plus, I was never really mad at you; I was mad at me."
Confused, I didn't respond.
Her eyes lifted to the ceiling and I watched her, seeing the disappointment in her expression, but not understanding it fully.
"I know you have absolutely no reason to believe this, but … I'm not the girl who sleeps with random strangers she meets in bars. Hell, if it hadn't been for the drinking, we wouldn't even be here today," she added. "Despite how I know this situation makes me look to you, this isn't who I am," she said, gesturing around the room with her hand. "I don't have strange men accompanying me to the doctor's office to see if I'm pregnant with their children. This isn't routine for me." That disappointment on her face shifted to sadness.
Deep, steady breaths made her chest rise and fall slowly as she did her best to stay calm. However, the tears started almost immediately after she finished speaking and she fanned her face as if that'd make it stop. I didn't know what to do. Typically, I would console a crying woman, but I was pretty sure she didn't want me to touch her.
"Brynn, I-"
"You don't have to say anything," she cut in. "We don't know each other, so I would've done the same thing if I was in your position. You don't owe me an apology. Doing this, getting the test … it makes sense," she admitted. "I just hate that it was even necessary."
I understood that. And as much as I wanted to believe she'd been with multiple guys who could've gotten her in this predicament … I was beginning to believe her. I was beginning to believe it was only me.
Damn.
The door unlatched and Brynn quickly wiped the remaining traces of tears from her face when a tall, thin woman with short, brown hair entered the room, smiling at both Brynn and I. She had a stethoscope draped around the collar of her white lab coat and a chart cradled in the bend of her arm.
"Hello, hello, hello!" She said in a chipper tone, completely missing the emotionally charged energy in the room.
"Hi, Dr. Rubino," Brynn said, forcing the sadness from her voice as she shook the physician's hand.
"And you must be Mr. Rios," the woman said, extending her hand toward me next. At first, I wasn't sure how she knew my name, but then I remembered that our test results were right there attached to her clipboard.
"Marco is fine," I replied, letting her know it was okay to drop the formalities.
"Marco it is then."
She took a seat on the stool adjacent to Brynn and I, and then opened her folder. It felt like it took her forever to speak, but when she did, she met our gazes with a smile.
"Brynn, Marco," she started. "Congratulations! Later this year you two will be welcoming a new, little bundle of joy into the world!" The smile the doctor wore on her face faded, I think because of the look on mine.
And there you have it …
Brynn didn't seem shocked at all when she turned to me. It became clear that this was only news to one of us and no matter how much I tried to prepare myself, I wasn't ready to hear those words.
"How have you been feeling, Brynn? Still battling the morning-sickness?"
"Daily," Brynn answered. "But I've also been getting headaches and some lightheadedness off and on. Is that normal?"
"Hmm … could be your blood pressure. Let's get you checked out," Dr. Rubino responded, securing the cuff around Brynn's arm right after as they got down to business as usual.
The two went back and forth about Brynn's inquiry, and then about dry heaving, nipple tenderness, and a whole bunch of other stuff that became nothing but white-noise inside my head. Having a kid didn't fit into my life, but apparently I now needed to figure out how to make that work because … this was happening.
This was definitely happening.
Chapter Six
Marco
Logan checked out my work in the mirror, flexing and relaxing his bicep to see it from all angles. When he gave a nod, I took that as a ‘thank you'. He didn't speak unless he had to, even now.
"You're satisfied with it?" I asked, observing the clean lines I'd just etched into his skin.
"Nailed it," he grumbled to confirm.
"Cool. Next time, we'll add the color and you'll be good to go."
Having his seal of approval, I went back to my station and started cleaning. Carlos was next. Me working here made it easy for the guys to feed their ink addiction and I didn't mind it. No, I wasn't making money, but we all had our ‘thing' we brought to the table and this was my thing. Logan's brother owned the gym we were members of, so we got a pretty hefty discount. Carlos got us a hook up on costumes with some chick he used to bang a couple years back-apparently, she still had a thing for him. And Justin was our go-to guy for advice. Kind of like our own personal Dr. Phil.
I disposed of the old needle and set out a new one to load, hearing the doctor's words from the day before echoing inside my head. ‘Congratulations! Later this year, you two will be welcoming a new, little bundle of joy into the world!' She was the only one in the room who seemed happy about the news.
The rest of the appointment was pretty much routine, I guess-she took Brynn's blood pressure and asked her a bunch of questions. After that, I left the room so she could examine her further. The whole thing only took about half an hour, but that half hour reshaped my entire future.
Brynn was a stranger to me and yet, here we were having a kid together and I didn't know anything about her. Like … at all. I had no idea who she really was, what she was capable of, and I never envied guys who had baby mama drama.