Page 130 of Call You Mine
“Joke's on you,” Emerson says, and I swear I hear her voice crack. The girl shows the least amount of emotion possible, and I feel the need to pat myself on the back for pulling so much out of her these last few months. “I knew you were going to ask us, so it wasn’t a surprise.”
I roll my eyes, holding her tighter.
Of course, it wasn’t a surprise.
There are no other two people I want in my baby’s life.
CHAPTER 47
ANDERSON
“Are you sure about this?”
I hold the door open to her therapist’s office, but she’s hesitant to walk through. She’s in the last week of her second trimester, and it’s crazy how much her belly has grown in these last few weeks.
I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there’s a baby growing in there—a little girl who is half of me and half of Ava.
If I think about it too hard, my chest goes tight, and my eyes start to water, and if I do that now, Ava will for sure not walk through these doors.
“I’m sure,” I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the office with me, ignoring the small groan she lets escape.
We have some time this afternoon before we’re picking up Georgie from school, so she can come with us to our doctor’s appointment.
She came with us a couple of weeks ago to the anatomy scan, but with Ava doing her glucose test today, there’s some downtime during her appointment. Georgie and I figure we can keep her company before we all have to head to Georgie’s piano recital.
Ava has been feeling kicks and flutters these last couple of weeks, but there’s yet to be a kick big enough for me to feel on the outside, especially with her anterior placenta—the doctor said it might be a little harder to feel the baby’s movement.
I know it’ll come, though. And soon.
We give the receptionist a small wave before Ava leads me to the waiting area, and we take a seat.
“I still don’t know if this is a good idea,” Ava says, keeping her voice low, crossing her arms over her chest, and letting them settle on her bump. She’s in a light yellow sundress that somehow makes her auburn hair look even redder. Her freckles are more prominent from the June sun, her cheeks and the tip of her nose still a little red from the sunburn she got over the weekend at Georgie’s soccer tournament.
I lean on the armrest so my shoulder touches her, my hand coming to her thigh. “I don’t have to go in if you don’t want me to. I don’t mind waiting out here.” My thumb aimlessly draws circles on the soft skin of her leg. “I can come back another day.”
Ava lays her head on my shoulder, and my stomach flips. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to these tiny displays of affection from her, especially after pleading and praying for them for so long. “No,” she says on a sigh. “I’m happy you’re here.”
It’s been over a year since our drive-in date, and I don’t know what I did to end up here.
I spent nights lying awake in my bed, picturing what my life with Ava could look like if I just told her how I felt—and she wanted to hear it.
And even though things didn’t go as planned, there’s nothing I would change about the way it all worked out.
My phone buzzes in my pocket. Pulling it out, I quickly check the text, causing Ava to lift her head, her attention going to her own phone while we wait for Dr. Abbie.
It’s another message from Auggie—he’s been reaching out more and more these last couple of weeks, and I can’t say I’m not surprised. He’s been checking in on me, seeing how Ava’s doing, even asking about updates on the pregnancy.
When he first texted me a few weeks ago, asking how my weekend was, I couldn’t deny my confusion. I convinced myself that he had to need something. But when we just went back and forth a few times, filling each other in on what we’ve been up to, the conversation naturally ended without him needing my help or asking me to do anything.
My phone buzzes again.
Are you coming home anytime soon? We miss you around here
Miss you guys too. Things are a little busy right now, but maybe after the baby comes?
How’s everything at home? How’s mom?
No worries.
