Chapter Twenty Five

CONNOR*

Today is our last day off from work, and also the day we get to see and hear a heartbeat. Initially, I wasn't going to go with Taylor and Wade, but they insisted I go with them. Taylor emphasized that we would all be raising the baby together, so we needed to go through this experience together, and Wade agreed with her. So, in the end, I had decided to make them both happy.

"Hey babe, it's time to wake up, love. I have omelets waiting in the dining room; they will get cold. Can you wake Wade up for me? Im going to go get some toast and juice ready," I said as I kissed Taylor on the nose and ran my fingers through her hair. Taylor grinned and went to work to get Wade up as I went back to the kitchen.

As usual, I had been the first to crawl out of bed this morning. Her appointment was set for ten o'clock, so we didn't have much time before we needed to get ready to leave, but I wanted to make sure Taylor ate before we left. She is growing a human being inside of her; I couldn't let her go around starving, could I.

Taylor and Wade walked into the dining room just as I was setting the last glass of juice on the table, perfect timing, I must say.

"We need to hurry, we don't have much time before we'll have to leave, and you two still need to get dressed," I said as I sat down to eat. Taylor glanced up at the wall clock.

"Oh crud, you're right, why didn't my alarm go off? I had it set to go off at eight this morning," Taylor said as she dug into her omelet, took a bite, and grabbed her phone. "Silly me, I set it for PM instead of AM. Dang pregnancy hormones," she said and giggled, her cheeks turning pink from embarrassment.

"These omelets are excellent, Connor; thank you for taking some time to make breakfast for us, man," Wade said as he devoured his food.

I helped Taylor put her hair up in a ponytail as she worked to apply her makeup in the hopes of saving a little bit of time as Wade worked to get himself ready. It's funny how I'm the one with the concussion but had still managed to wake up just before eight. I had gotten ready quickly, taken my Advil, and cooked breakfast with only one functional hand. 'What would these two do without me?' I thought to myself as I smiled at my handy work.

Taylor is so damn beautiful it hurts; the love I have for her is maddening. I would go to the ends of the earth for her and do everything in my power to keep her happy and safe.

"Thank you, Connor, I love you," Taylor said as she beamed at me in the mirror and went back to applying the last of her makeup. I smiled at her in the mirror and walked off to the living room, where Wade was pulling on his boots.

"Is she almost ready? We need to get going,"

"Yeah, she's finishing up her make up,"

"I don't know why she feels like she needs to wear that stuff; she's naturally beautiful all on her own," Wade said, and I shrugged my shoulders.

"It's a woman thing; I dont think we're supposed to understand,"

"What's a woman thing," Taylor said as she walked into the living room, and I jumped in surprise.

"We were discussing how naturally beautiful you are without wearing makeup," I said as I walked up to Taylor and bent down to kiss her on the forehead.

***

We somehow managed to get to Taylor's appointment with ten minutes to spare. Other couples were in the waiting room looking at us strangely as Taylor was in between Wade and me, my arm on her shoulders and Wade holding her hand. I eyed one couple who had been pointing and staring at us for the last five minutes, turned my head, and kissed Taylor on the cheek. I looked back to see that they were no longer looking our way. 'Mind your own damn business, people,' I thought to myself.

Finally, the time came, and we were called into a room. Wade and Taylor held hands as I lagged behind them and placed my hand at the small of her back. I looked back to see that couple watching us again and squinted my eyes at them in annoyance, and they averted their gaze.

Once the nurse got us all into a room, she took Taylor to get some blood drawn for a pregnancy test since she needed a full bladder for the ultrasound. The nurse hadn't acted differently towards us. It was as if she had seen things like this before. She was nice and friendly and talked non-stop until she had left with Taylor.

"Well, that was interesting. It's not like this sort of thing never happens," Wade said as he pulled a chair over and sat next to me.

"Yeah, I was about to tell them to mind their own business. They are lucky the nurse called on us when she did," I said as I ran a hand down my face. My head was starting to pound; I would need to go home and rest after this was all said and done.

"You ok, man?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to get a migraine; the Advil I took isn't helping much,"

"Maybe we can ask Taylor's doctor for some help. Maybe she could prescribe something for you?"

"Yeah, we'll see," I said, and at that time, Taylor walked back into the room. She took one look at me, and her smile faltered. She walked over and put her hands through my hair.

"You aren't feeling well, are you. I'm so sorry for all that has happened; I wish there were something I could do," Taylor said as a tear slid down her cheek. I put my head to her belly, and Taylor massaged my head until the doctor walked in.

"Hi Taylor, it's nice to have you back. I heard you recently got married. I am Dr. Slaughter, and you must be the father," Dr. Slaughter said as she held her hand out for me to shake it.

"Actually, Kimberly Wade is the father, but we will all be raising the baby together. Wade and I got married on Saturday, but we are all together. Connor has a concussion which is causing him to have a migraine; is there anything you could give him to help?" Taylor rambled off as she didn't have a care in the world what this woman thought.

"What caused your concussion? Let me check you out. I may have some samples I could give you, but I need to make sure you don't have any allergies," Kimberly said as she began to check me over.

I told her what had happened on Saturday and answered all of her questions, and she didn't seem to care that Taylor was with both Wade and me.

"Ok, give me one moment. I'll be right back," Kimberly said as she left the room.

Wade and I looked at Taylor with a questioning look. Taylor smiled and rambled off how she and Kimberly had been good friends since college, and she was there with her dula when she had had Mark. Kimberly walked back in a few minutes later with two boxes.

"There are eight pills in each box. They dissolve on your tongue. Take one every other day, and it will prevent you from getting migraines. Go ahead and take one now. It will most likely take an hour or so before the pain starts to subside, but you will feel better soon," Kimberly said as she handed the boxes to me. Taylor took one box from me and retrieved one of the pills for me to take.

"Thank you, Dr. Slaughter. This is a lifesaver. I thought I was going to have to go back to the ER and Taylor loathes hospitals," I said, and Taylor stuck the pill in my mouth. It tasted sweet like a sugar pill and dissolved quickly in my mouth.

"Call me Kimberly; Taylor and I are friends, so you'll be seeing me quite often. Sorry I wasn't able to make it to your wedding Taylor. I had to go in for an emergency C-section. You're the luckiest woman in the city to have two of the most sought-after men in the city. Care to share," Kimberly said, and we all chuckled.

Taylor looked back and forth between Wade and me, then to Kimberly, "with us; you never know what could happen," Taylor said and climbed up on the bed.

"Alright, crazy girl, lay down for me, and we'll get your ultrasound started. You should be around eight weeks so that we will try your belly first,"

Kimberly squirted some gel on Taylor's belly and started moving the wand over her abdomen. It wasn't long before we all could see a slight flicker on the screen. Kimberly turned the sound up on the machine so we could all hear the baby's heartbeat. It was music to my ears. Wade and I both beamed with pride. I can't wait until my seed takes root inside her womb. This was the most amazing feeling I had ever felt in my life. I could only imagine what Wade was feeling right now.

"Alright, you know the drill; I need you back here soon for your pap and then once a month after that," Kimberly said as she handed Taylor a towel to clean off. "If you would like to get in contact with your dula, we can have your monthly checkups at her place if you would like; it's up to you."

"Ok, thank you. I'll see if I can reach her, and I'll let you know when I come back for my pap,"

"Sounds good to me; here is your prescription for your prenatal. Connor, I gave you two months' worth of migraine medicine. Remember to take one every other day; ok, I hope you get to feeling better soon," Kimberly said and then turned and left the room.

"Well, she is certainly something else," Wade said as we all left the room.

"Don't freak out, but she and I kind of had a thing back in college. Just before I got into an actual relationship and lost my virginity. We have been pretty close ever since, but we figured out pretty quickly that we were both into guys," Taylor said and laughed when she turned to see Wade and me with bug eyes, and our mouths dropped open.

"Alright, loves, let's get Connor home so he can rest. Don't act so surprised; we were both just experimenting; we are just friends now, of course," Taylor said, and Wade nodded our heads, and we left the clinic.

"So about this weekend, I think maybe we should hold off on telling everyone about us. The reactions we were getting from couples in the waiting room makes me hesitant to tell everyone," Wade said as he started the truck.

"But my parents already know something is up. What are we going to tell them?" Taylor asked from beside him?

"Maybe talk to your mom first. That always seems to do the trick," I said from the back seat as I closed my eyes. I was thankful that the pill I had taken was starting to kick in.

"I'll talk to my mom tonight when we go to pick up Mark. But regardless, I'm tired of hiding what we have. I'm not good with lying, and I'm not ashamed of what we have. I'm ready for everyone to know,

" Ok, babe, whatever you want and will make you happy," I mumbled from the backseat.

***

I had slept through most of the day, Taylor came in to wake me when it was time to get Mark, and I was surprised that the migraine was gone completely. The closer we got to Samantha and Luke's house, the more nervous I became. I didn't feel like this was going to end well. I couldn't help the dreaded feeling I had that Luke would most likely demand an annulment.

Wade parked the truck in the driveway, and I helped Taylor climb out, then we made our way towards the door.