Cooper

“Would you relax?” she says with a hushed tone.

I lean over so that my lips are right up against her ear. “Sunshine, would you be able to relax if all you could picture was a little alien popping out of one of their bellies? Just like in that damn Spaceballs movie. I swear to God, if that happens, you’re on your own because I’m out of here.”

She starts laughing loudly, drawing the attention of the room—well, the part of the room that wasn’t already undressing me with their eyes.

“Goddammit, I’m in some weird hormone bubble and I feel violated. Oh so violated,” I complain under my breath, earning even more giggles out of Chelcie. I try to scowl at her, but that only causes her to laugh louder.

She holds her hands up in surrender, trying her hardest to calm down. I just shake my head and look back down at the pregnancy magazine she handed me when we sat down. I think I’ve been reading the same article for the last thirty minutes.

What in the fuck is a mucus plug?

I’m so out of my element right now.

“You two are just lovely together. Congratulations on your baby,” the woman next to me says. “I’m here with my daughter. Her husband is overseas—bless his heart. Anyway, I’m here to be support if she needs me. It’s so wonderful to see a couple so in love.”

“Thank you, ma’am. And please tell your son-in-law thank you for his service.”

She looks over at me with a question in her pale eyes before a wide smile takes over her weathered face. “What branch were you, son?”

“Marines, ma’am. One tour.”

She smiles kindly, her hand reaching out to pat mine. “Such a fine young man. I’ll pass that on. And thank you for your bravery, honey. It takes a strong soul to be able to do what y’all do.”

I swallow the uncomfortable lump in my throat and try to think of an appropriate response. I’m saved from replying when an attractive woman wobbles out and walks over. She smiles and asks the older woman if she’s ready. I get one more pat on my hand before she gets up and leaves.

I look back down at my hands holding this stupid magazine and try to get my head together. If only she knew how broken my soul has been.

“She’s right, you know,” Chelcie whispers.

I don’t respond. I just sit there, reach out, and grasp her hand with mine, giving her a tight squeeze. I’ve never felt brave. I’ve felt compelled to give Coop a better life, to fight with him for our freedom in more ways than one. But I always felt like a fraud because I joined the Marines to make sure I was there for Coop, and I’ve always felt incredibly selfish for my motivations.

“Ms. Avery?”

We both look up when Chelcie’s name is called. I can’t help but frown when I hear her last name. She should have my last name. The world should know that she is my woman, and I vow right here and now to make sure that happens sooner than later.

I toss the magazine on the chair next to me and stand to help Chelcie up. She laughs but takes my hand anyway, and we make our way back to the exam room.

She was spot on when she told me what would happen. She got pissed as hell when I acted like I was looking at the scale, and I’ve been laughing about it since the nurse left the room ten minutes ago.

“I told you not to look! Oh, God…I’m going to get fat and you’re going to be so disgusted!”

Well, that sure sobered my amusement real quick. After getting up from my seat, I walk over to her. “Chelcie, I was just joking. Trust me right now, okay? There isn’t anything that could make me find you disgusting. Looking at you, with that sexy belly, those full breasts just begging for my mouth, those hot-as-hell hips begging for my fingers to dig in deep. Baby, there is nothing in the world that could ever make you disgusting.”

“Oh.” She looks up at me, and once again, she bursts into tears.

I just shake my head and pull her into my arms. “We need to work on all this damn crying,” I joke.

A brisk knock on the door has me stepping away, unsure of where I should be. An older Spanish woman walks in with a smile on her face. She introduces herself as Dr. Sosa and starts asking Chelcie a bunch of questions. She doesn’t even bat an eye at my being here. It gives me a warm sense of pride that she just knows that I’m here with my woman.

I am so lost in thought that I miss her doing half of her exam on Chelcie. I look over to see her placing a small drop of gel on her stomach and wonder if this is it. Chelcie, perceptive as always, looks over and shakes her head slowly with a smile on her face. When the doctor pulls some small box with a microphone-looking thing on it out of her lab coat, I can feel my brows turn in. Well, this wasn’t on the list of what would happen.

“Cálmate, Daddy. I’m just listening to your bebé’s heartbeat.”

My eyes widen and shoot to Chelcie when I hear her call me Daddy. We haven’t discussed my role in the baby’s life. Will I be the uncle/boyfriend, the uncle/husband, the uncle/daddy? Because every time I think I should bring it up, I feel even more confused. I know what I want—I want to raise this baby as if it were my own—but I also want him or her to know who their daddy is. I will never let a day go by that this baby doesn’t know how much their daddy wishes he could be here. But yeah—I want to be the daddy in the sense of the word.

I take a chance and look over at Chelcie. She’s looking at me with an expression of love and contentment. I take a deep breath and squeeze her hand. Whatever just happened here, we can talk about later, but right now, all I feel is peace and happiness.

Then it happens.

I look over at Dr. Sosa then down to Chelcie’s belly, where that weird microphone is pressed against her skin. The noise echoing through the room sounds like a million horses running at rapid speed. I widen my eyes when I realize what that noise is.

Holy Lord, that’s the heartbeat!

I stand there in shock, my eyes refusing to move from her stomach even after Dr. Sosa removes the microphone thing and goes to address Chelcie.

“Oh, cariño, the bebé sounds perfect. 142 beats per minute. Nice and healthy.” She smiles and moves to the computer on the desk. “Are you ready for the ultrasound? Such an exciting time, yes?”

“Yes, Dr. Sosa. I’ve been waiting for this appointment since I found out I was pregnant. Do you think that we’ll be able to find out the gender today?” Chelcie asks wistfully.

“I believe that, if you’ve got a cooperative little one, then we should have no troubles.”