by Maren Lee
“She’s great. Almost too great. I’ve been working overtime in the bedroom.” Justin shook his head. “My woman has needs when she’s pregnant, apparently. I don’t have the heart to tell her I just want a full night's sleep. There are some nights I stay an extra hour at the Sheriff's office just so I can nap before I go home to be accosted by her.”
Jake’s eyes widened, “Shit, really?!” Would Lane be like that? Jake was not going to complain if she was. Nope. His mom taught him a lot of things, but his dad taught him to never look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Yes, really. If you ever tell anyone that I’ll call you a damn liar and beat your ass.” Justin pointed at him.
Jake rolled his eyes, “Shut up, I’m not going to say anything. But there is a work matter that I need to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?” Justin asked as they pulled into the parking lot of Gino’s pizzeria.
“Have you been noticing anything weird about the city cops lately?” Jake put the truck in park.
“If not being around is ‘weird,’ then yes. Word on the street is they aren’t cleared to go on any traffic stops outside of city limits and they’ve been ordered not to call us for assistance.”
Yeah, that sounds about right. “Dirk pulled me over last weekend. Made some comments about Lane. They came across pretty confrontational, and honestly? Kinda threatening. He kept saying, ‘It’d be a damn shame if something happened to her.’”
“That’s pretty odd. Even for a creepy old bastard like him.”
“The Mayor came by her office, too. Told her to throw the Walters case.”
“Are you fuckin’ shitting me? I am not sympathizing with a cop killer, and not that I need to tell you this, but that’s not normal. That asshole has some balls.”
“I smell something funky, so I’m gonna talk to Brenden and look into it. Can you do me a favor? Could you help me keep an eye on City Hall. See if there is anything weird going on? I’m hoping this is just paranoia on my part.”
“Sure, I can do that. I hope so too.” Justin nodded quietly.
“When do you work again?” Jake asked.
“Tomorrow morning. Wanna go check it out then?”
“No, I’ve got to take Lane to the doc first thing. I could get with you in the afternoon, though.” Jake immediately regretted opening his mouth without thinking.
‘The doc? What are you taking Lane for?” Justin took in a huge breath as gasped, “You knocked her up!”
Jake felt his face turn red. Like the time he was caught stealing a Playboy from the gas station when he was eight years old. “What? No-, It’s not-, that’s not-” Jesus man, get your sentences together! But he couldn’t, he was tongue tied. Lane was going to kill him. “Please don’t say anything, man. We still need to get it confirmed. We weren’t planning this. It just kinda happened.”
Justin had a shit eating grin on his face and punched Jake in the bicep. “This is fucking awesome, man! Our kids are going to be best friends. Oh shit! And now Chloe and Lane can go do baby stuff together. We have DDs if we want to go drinking! The possibilities, man! This is the best news ever!”
“Hey! Calm it down and don’t say shit to Chloe! You keep getting this amped up you’re going to blow my cover. If that happens, I’m gonna beat your ass.” Jake was laughing as he threatened Justin.
Justin motioned like he was zipping his lips.
“You gonna marry her?”
“You’re god damned right I’m gonna marry her. Putting a ring on her finger as soon as I can get one. Not letting her have my baby without having my name.”
“She gonna say yes?” Justin asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Fuck you, man. I sure hope so. But thanks for planting that seed of doubt in my mind. Fucking prick.”
Justin laughed. “I’m kidding. Who wouldn’t want to be joined to your nutty ass forever? I’m seriously fucking happy for you, man. Locking Chloe down was the best thing I’ve ever done,” Justin stated, sincerely.
Jake opened his door, “Let’s go in and get these pies now. Then we can go take some diaper money from Smitty and Rook.” The bumped fists in agreement and got out of the truck. Jake was stoked he had someone he could talk to about all this. It was even better that it was his best friend.
➰
Lane kept fidgeting with the crinkly paper on the exam table. Everything in the room made her nervous. She’d been nervous the entire week. What the fuck are you going to do, Lane?
She'd been in the stirrups before, but she'd never had to strip down to her birthday suit and sit with a paper gown covering her while her boyfriend looked up at her with a shit eating grin. Boyfriend. Huh. Is that what Jake is? He impregnated you, Lane. He’s definitely something.
“Quit looking at me like that. It makes me feel like I'm some kind of science experiment.” Lane barked at Jake.
“Will you calm yourself down, Red. I'm not opposed to spanking you right here in this room. Pretty sure that'll fix the chip on your shoulder.” Jake raised his eyebrows at her, waiting for her to challenge him.
“Jake! No. Stop! I'll chill out, okay? Things just got really intense when you insisted on coming in here with me. That's all. I’ve never had to do this ‘couple thing’ at the gynecologist.”
Lane hoped that would get Jake to stop giving her the spanking glare. She wanted it, but didn't want to let herself get all worked up before Dr. Olsen got all up in there. That’d be awkward.
“Obstetrician,” he corrected.
Lane sighed, heavily, shaking her head.
Jake gave her a glance before nodding, “You get a free pass just this once. You can thank me later with that sweet mouth.” He wagged his eyebrows.
“I'm a lucky, lucky, girl,” she stated sarcastically.
“I just want you to know that it's taking everything I have to keep my hands off of you right now. And just knowing that another woman's going to be in here looking at your naughty places? It's temptation at its worst.” Jake let out a low growl.
“I hate to burst the lesbian fantasy bubble you have over there, but Dr. Olsen is a man. And nothing he has ever done to me before is sexy.” Lane giggled as she shifted on the table. The paper crinkled.
Jake's eyes went wide, “What?! She's a he?” Jake stood and put his hands on his hips in protest.
“Shhh! He is a he. Always has been. Jesus, Jake. How long have you lived here? Dr. Olsen is the only gyno in town! Don't make a thing out of it or I'll send you back to the waiting room.” Lane glared up at him, his massive frame settled in his chair and he took a deep breath.
“Fine. But if he tries anything funny-” a knock on the door stopped him from finishing his sentence.
“Keep your mouth shut!” Lane hissed.
The door opened and Dr. Olsen stepped in and closed the door behind him. He walked over to the table and put his hand out to greet Lane.
“Ms. Bennett! So good to see you again and so soon since our last visit.”
“It's good to see you too and please, call me Lane. I know it's soon, but I figured you were the first person I needed to see.” Lane shifted anxiously.
Jake cleared his throat.
“Oh, sorry. Dr. Olsen, this is my boyfriend, Jake Hamilton.” Boyfriend. I guess that’s it.
Jake stuck his hand out and shook firmly, “Boyfriend and father of our unborn child and Sergeant for the Bounty County Sheriff’s Department.” He cleared his throat. He was totally peacocking right now. Lane shot him a ‘ease up’ glare and his grip loosened.
Dr. Olsen smiled at Jake, “Congratulations, dad. Our pregnancy test here has come back positive! I'll have a look at mom right now. Then we can move to ultrasound and everyone can have a look. Sound good?”
Jake eased back toward his seat, “Sure. Yeah. Do what you gotta do, Doc.” Lane rolled her eyes.
Dr. Olsen went through a thousand questions before he, poked, prodded, and pushed everywhere. It seemed to take forever before he finally finished the exam. Jake o
nly let out a couple of disgruntled groans.
“Doctor,” Lane’s voice came out meekly. It didn’t even sound like her own voice. “I didn’t know I was pregnant until last week. I’ve had alcohol since we conceived. Sometimes without any dinner.” She was kicking herself for the last glass of wine she had. Kicking herself for not paying enough attention to her cycle. Straight up kicking herself for being so fucking stupid. The guilt was eating at her.
Dr. Olsen chuckled. “If you knew how many times I’ve heard that in my years of practice, you’d feel much better. Look, Lane. Is it safer to not have a drink? Absolutely. The research isn’t quite there yet. However, before I went to medical school, I researched fetal alcohol syndrome while I was working on a master’s degree. In order to recreate piglets with FAS, I had to keep the sow drunk the entire pregnancy. So unless you’re an alcoholic, I don’t think you have much to worry about.”
Lane sighed a breath of relief. She hadn’t had that much to drink.
“I think I’m good.”
“Excellent!” Dr. Olsen clapped and then rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get you some pictures!”
Jake squeezed her hand and then handed Lane a robe to cover up before they headed across the building to ultrasound. Jake insisted on holding her hand on the walk across the facility. He was reluctant to let go of her when she took her robe off to be seated on the table again.
They waited for the ultrasound tech in an anxious silence. Jake continued to squeeze her hand and rub her knuckles. He was trying to soothe her but nothing seemed to calm her down. Lane was still in shock.
This past week had felt like a out-of-body experience. Jake spent every spare moment he had over at her place. Lane wasn’t used to living with someone else. He was a little overbearing. But it was also nice. He cooked, cleaned, rubbed her back, and sexed her thoroughly pretty much every night...even some mornings when she’d felt up to it. He even did Lane’s laundry and cleaned up the piles of shit all over her bedroom floor. Without asking, he had claimed one of her dresser drawers as his and hung up some work clothes in her closet. Lane pretended it bothered her, but it was nice to have someone looking after her, keeping her company, feeding her, and helping her keep her house nice. Things were moving fast, but Lane figured things were destined to move fast if she really was pregnant.
Shit. I really am pregnant.
Jake’s voice broke the silence and through Lane’s thoughts, “What's with all the TV’s in here? I understand the computer, but are people in here watching Judge Judy or some shit? I just want to see my baby!” He looked baffled by the thought. He was clearly nervous. Lane felt her stomach flutter at how cute he was. Jake was as masculine and smart as they come. He exuded sexiness and confidence. She’d witnessed women swooning at the sight of him. But this sensitive, caring, nervous, concerned father side of him completely melted her. She was hooked.
“Jake, babe, I don't think anyone is watching Judge Judy in here,” she smiled.
“Well, I hope not. You doing all right?” He had sweet concern in his eyes.
“I think so. It's all just kinda surreal right now. Is this really happening?” Lane took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, “I mean, what am I going to do? Seriously? I've never really been around babies. I don't know what I'm doing. I have a hard enough time taking care of myself. How am I supposed to take care of a baby?” Lane felt tears building and she bit her lower lip to fight them.
“Hey hey hey, sweetheart. We're in this together. We’re gonna figure it out together. But you’re a Type A personality, I’m sure you’ll quickly become an expert mother.” He winked and then stood up and moved right by her side. He placed his left hand over hers on her stomach and stroked her left cheek with his other, “Nobody knows what they are doing when they have their first baby. This is normal. I've had some experience with babies and kids. I’ve heard I’m a pretty fuckin’ awesome uncle. We'll be alright, babe.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. Jake is an uncle. Jake has sisters. I have to meet his family. Oh Jesus H. Christ. She started her slow breathing exercise to keep from having a full on panic attack.
Light knocking distracted her from the moment and the ultrasound tech walked in.
“Hi, you guys!” She was too chipper. “I'm Leah!” She shook Lane’s hand first, then Jake's.
“I'm Lane. This is Jake.” Lane felt nervous for what was about to happen.
Leah sat down and adjusted her seat, turned the giant computer toward her and turned on the numerous TVs around them. They all showed the same black screen with sonar markings on them. Lane imagined this might be how a screen on a submarine looked.
Leah spoke, “Okay, so based on Dr. Olson’s calculations, you should be about nine or ten weeks along. That's still pretty early to get a good picture of the baby with the exterior ultrasound, so we're going to use the wand and do a trans-vaginal so we can get a better look, okay?” She held a long, corded, very phallic shaped gray wand and then wrapped it with a plastic glove looking condom.
Lane’s eyes bulged. She looked to Jake. His eyes were watering and he was clearly holding back the laughter. She looked back to the ultrasound tech as she was squirting a bunch of lube on the “wand.” It looked like a science dildo. Who even knew they had anything this advanced in Bounty County?
“Place your feet in the stirrups. please.” Leah instructed.
Lane complied with her request, but she could feel every muscle tensing in her body. Jake must have sensed something because he scooted his chair closer to her and grabbed her hand once again. His touch calmed her. Damn. Something about this man.
He whispered in her ear to further bring down her heart rate, “Just relax, baby. Let's get a look at our little miracle.” Her heart ached at his sweetness. This man. Her man.
The ultrasound tech gave her a heads up before she inserted the wand. Oh. Not that bad. The screen went from black to fuzzy gray. Jake watched with amazement. Lane had no idea what she was looking at. The tech clicked away on knob thing taking measurements and typing. The sound came on and she heard whooshing. Jake squeezed her hand and rubbed her knuckles. He was so excited; it was like watching a kid on Christmas. The whooshing stilled and a throbbing continuous noise filled the silence. Leah hit ‘record,’ left it for 30 seconds, then stopped recording, still allowing the noise to come through. Jake’s eyes became watery.
“The heartbeat sounds strong! 160 beats per minute.” She printed out a few pictures and pulled the wand free. “Would you like the video emailed to you?”
Lane froze. She wanted to tell her to do it over and show her the baby again, but she didn't want her to know that she wasn't able to follow what Leah was doing.
Jake spoke up, “Sure, we'd love that.” Jake wrote down an email for her and passed it over.
Lane heard a few clicks. “Okay. Sent.” She handed Lane some baby wipes to clean up. “We’ll see you guys in a few months. I'll give you two a few minutes.” She handed Lane the pictures of the gray squiggles and blobs as she walked out.
Jake looked at Lane after the door shut, “That was amazing! Our little peanut is growing in here.” He stood, leaned down and kissed her belly. Lane nodded her head, not enthusiastically. “What's wrong? Please tell me you're not having second thoughts?” Jake's eyes filled with worry.
“No, God no. It's just… it's embarrassing okay?” Lane sighed and started cleaning herself up.
“What? Having a baby?” Jake was confused.
“What? No Jake. I'm embarrassed because I… couldn't tell where the baby was. And I thought I heard the heartbeat, but I don't know.” Lane looked away from him.
“Oh babe, come here. I'll show you” He pulled the pictures from her hand. “Do you see this right here?” He pointed at a blob surrounded by what looked like more blobs.
“Yeah?” Lane answered. What the fuck was she even looking at?
“Lane, do you really? Your tone isn't very convincing.” Stop being able to read me perfectly, Jake. Da
mn you.
“Fine, no! It all looks the same.” She covered her eyes with her hands and shook her head.
Jake pulled his phone out of his back pocket, “Here, sweetie. Let me play the video she just emailed us.” He held his phone down in front of her and pressed play. “Do you see this little flicker?” He pointed.
She saw it. “Yes. I see that.”
“That's our baby's heart.” Jake smile reached the peaks of his cheeks.
“Really?” Lane started to weep happy tears. This is really happening. We’re having a baby.
“Yes, babe, really. And this little blob with these tiny bumps on the bottom and side? Little round spot here? That's our baby.”
Lane could see what he was talking about, “Oh, well I saw that before, but I didn't know. It looks like a little gummy bear.” She smiled and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
