Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 15704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 79(@200wpm)___ 63(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 79(@200wpm)___ 63(@250wpm)___ 52(@300wpm)
“Still no nausea?” Elliot quietly asked me. That was the part that was bothering him the most—I didn’t have nausea, stomach cramps, or a fever. Just random bouts of vomit when I smelled certain things.
I had a feeling I knew what was wrong, but I was doing my best to not focus on it. I was on birth control, but I wasn’t stupid. Birth control wasn’t one hundred percent effective, and I could very well be pregnant from the first time we fucked when Elliot didn’t have a condom. It would be a hell of a chance, but it was the only likely scenario that made sense.
“Harbor Latimer?” a nurse called as soon as she opened the door. I stood to my feet with Elliot on my heels. She smiled at both of us. “Follow me.”
After I pissed in a cup and she took my vitals, we were led to a small room—even smaller than the ER rooms I was used to working in. I grimaced at the tininess of it, and Elliot quietly chuckled at my reaction.
“Smaller than what you’re used to?” he teased.
“Definitely. The rooms in the ER at Piedmont are at least a little bigger than this.”
He carded his fingers through my long, reddish-brown hair. “Well, hopefully, they won’t have us in here too long,” he tried assuring me. He pressed a kiss to my lips. “Still feeling okay?”
I sighed and cupped his cheek, brushing my thumb over his prickly skin from where he hadn’t shaved yet today. “I promise I feel fine right now, El.”
A light knock sounded on the door before he could respond, and a female doctor stepped into the room, her hair pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, her makeup done flawlessly. She smiled at us and held her hand out to me. “I’m Dr. Lively, but you can call me Beverly. You’re Harbor, correct?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “This is my boyfriend, Elliot.”
She grinned at him. “Everyone knows the Storm Hogs boys,” she teased, making him quietly laugh. “I hear you’ve been a bit sick,” she said as she slid onto her rolling stool. “No nausea. No pain. Just random bouts of throwing up?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I told her. “Pretty sure I know what’s wrong. I see it often enough in the ER.”
She smiled softly. “Well, I’m probably going to confirm what you’re already thinking, Harbor.” I grasped Elliot’s hand, somewhat for support but also because I was terrified he would walk away from me. I was already head over heels in love with him, and I wasn’t sure if my heart would survive him deciding a baby was too much to deal with, especially since we’d barely been together. “Harbor, according to the date of your last menstrual cycle, you’re seven weeks pregnant. Are your cycles normally spotty with your birth control?”
I laughed a little. “Like most patients on the depo shot, my periods are all over the place, but not enough to disturb me enough to come off of it.”
Dr. Lively nodded in understanding. “Well, you’re definitely pregnant, Harbor.” I looked up at Elliot, who was staring at me, a little fear in his eyes, but he hadn’t pulled away yet. In fact, he had tightened his hand around mine. I forced myself to look back at Dr. Lively when she spoke again, but I did squeeze Elliot’s hand, too, giving him support the best I could. “I’m going to start you on prenatals today, and next month when you come in, we’ll do an ultrasound. Sound good?”
“Sounds good,” I assured her.
She nodded once and then stood, grabbing an all-too-familiar paper sheet, handing it to me. I groaned, and she chuckled. “Go ahead and strip out of your bottoms for me. I need to do a pelvic exam. I’ll step out for just a minute.”
Never understood why that was a thing—like she wasn’t about to get all up and personal with my vagina and feel up my breasts.
When she left the room, I eased off the bed before grabbing Elliot’s face in my hands. “El?” I asked softly, worry constricting around my heart.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and crushed me to him, burying his face in my hair. “We’re going to have a baby,” he rasped.
I nodded, my fingers twisting in his cut. “We are,” I said softly. “Are you okay?”
He drew in a deep, shaky breath. “I need a little bit of time to wrap my head around it, but I know I’m in, Harbor.” He pressed his lips to my trembling ones. A tear ran down my cheek. He wasn’t leaving me. “I promise I’m always all in with you, baby.”
8
Elliot
I wasn’t sure what to make of the news we received at the doctor’s office. For me, it still didn’t feel all that real yet. It’d been a month since Harbor’s pregnancy was sort of dropped into my life, and I was still feeling a little out of sorts with the news.