Expect Me (Rivers Edge Book 3)

by Lacey Black

  “What do you say we attack those boxes and find some room to put some of your stuff? Then you can take a nap if you want.”

  “Sounds good. Do you mind if I put on some music?” she asks as she opens up the box marked MUSIC.

  “Not at all. As long as you’re not putting on some twangy old country crap.”

  “You don’t like country music?” she asks as she pulls out the CD she was looking for.

  “Not the old stuff. Too twangy. The newer country I don’t mind though.”

  A few moments later, the opening of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” comes through the speakers.

  “Journey? Really?” I ask, surprised by her music choice.

  “Journey is one of my favorites. Bob Seger is another. I could listen to that man sing all day long and never get tired of it.” It’s nice to know that our taste in music is similar.

  Thirty minutes later, the boxes are unpacked and all of Josselyn’s clothes - what little she owns - are placed in their new homes in my closet and in my drawers. It’s a tight fit with all of her stuff and mine in my little one bedroom apartment, but I think we made due just fine with the space we have.

  Josselyn heads into the bedroom to take a nap, and I decide to call Avery at work and ask her a few questions.

  “Andrews and Levine Law Offices, how can I help you?” Avery answers after the second ring.

  “Hey, Avery, it’s Travis. Are you busy?”

  “Not at all. What’s up, Trav?”

  “Well…okay…so, I was wondering…”

  “Travis, just spit it out. I don’t have all day,” she chides me with a hint of humor in her voice.

  “Okay, so I was wondering, when you were pregnant with Bean, how long did your sickness last for?”

  “Why? Who’s pregnant?” she asks, instantly on alert and ready to get the goods on a little local gossip.

  “No one. I’m just curious,” I mumble. I hate lying to my sister - to anyone - but, we’re not quite ready to tell everyone yet.

  “Well, I guess it lasted until about fifteen or sixteen weeks. That’s about the middle of the fourth month.”

  “Okay, and when did you start feeling your energy return?”

  “That was about the same time. Once you hit the second trimester, your energy seems to return quickly. It’s like someone flips the switch and you stop barfing and have all this crazy energy.”

  “How often did you have to go to the doctor?”

  “Every month until closer to the end, then it was every two weeks, then every week. Why? What’s going on, Trav?”

  I exhale and close my eyes. “Can I plead the fifth until another time, Ave?”

  “Is…is Josselyn pregnant?” Avery whispers into the phone.

  I know there’s no beating around the bush now. “Yeah, she is,” I tell my little sister.

  Avery squeals into the phone and then I hear a low bang. I pull the phone from my ear and look down at my cell phone in my hand. “Avery?”

  “Sorry, sorry. I was so excited, I dropped the phone! When is she due?”

  “We’re going to get into the doctor soon to find out. We still have a lot to figure out.”

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so freaking excited! I’m going to be an aunt! Wait until I tell Maddox. He’s going to be so excited, too.”

  “Ave, can you hold off a bit before you tell everyone? We just found this out and we want to see the doctor first before we tell everyone.”

  “Okay, I understand. I won’t say a word,” she assures me. Right. Avery isn’t exactly good at keeping secrets. Well, if you don’t count the time she was seeing Maddox behind everyone’s back and not telling anyone. Then she was flipping golden.

  “Thanks, Ave. I’ll call you soon, okay?”

  “Okay. Oh, and Travis? Congratulations,” she says and I can hear the smile in her voice.

  “Thanks,” I say with a smile in my own.

  When Josselyn wakes up from her nap, she grabs the phonebook and calls Dr. Freeman’s office to schedule an appointment. I try to give her privacy while she’s on the phone, but it’s a small apartment and there are only so many places I can go. When she’s finally off the phone, she tells me that they are squeezing her in on Friday afternoon.

  “What time is it? I’ll go with you,” I tell her.

  “Four o’clock.”

  “Okay, we’re usually finishing up around that time so I’ll just cut the guys loose a few minutes early and pick you up here. We’ll go together.” Josselyn gives me an appreciative smile.

  And just like that we’re all set to see a doctor this Friday.

  *****

  The rest of the week seems to fly by. Every morning I get up for work and start the coffee, take a hot shower to work out the kinks in my neck and back from sleeping on the floor, Josselyn gets up and pukes, we eat breakfast together, and then I head to work. The foundation is coming along nicely at the new house and hasn’t required too much of my free time yet which I’m grateful for.

  Josselyn found a part time job as a waitress at the diner downtown. I tried to convince her that she didn’t need to work as long as she was staying with me, that I would take care of her, but she wouldn’t listen. In fact, she’s pretty much told me off on multiple occasions. It’s something I’m not too thrilled about - her working in the diner and on her feet all day long - but she seems content to work and wants to contribute as much as possible. So for now, I’ll step back and let her work. But the first sign of trouble? She’s out of there and home on the couch.

  On Friday afternoon, I leave work a little early, swing by the apartment to get Josselyn, and head to the doctor’s office uptown. Inside the comfortable, clean office, Josselyn heads up to the front counter to register. The receptionist gives her a bunch of forms to fill out and asks about payment. I’m pretty sure Josselyn doesn’t have insurance since she’s worked a bunch of part time jobs and had to leave her apartment, so I inform the plump lady that we’re private pay.

  “I’ll need information on a payment plan,” Josselyn tells the receptionist.

  “No, I’ll be paying,” I inform them both.

  “No,” Josselyn tells me firmly.

  “Joss, it’s the least I can do. You’re doing all the work until that baby is born. Let me carry this burden. Let me pay for the doctor’s appointments.” I plead with my eyes. I don’t want her to make a scene and I don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but I do want her to know that I’m here for her - even if it’s financially.

  Josselyn shakes her head slightly and turns to sit down and fill out the stack of papers attached to the clipboard. Twenty minutes later, Josselyn’s name is called by the nurse at the open door at the front of the room.

  “Hi, Josselyn. I’m Kathy. We’ll get started with a weight, blood pressure check, and urine sample at the start of each appointment, okay? Step up on the scale and we’ll check your weight.” After Josselyn’s weight is registered and her blood pressure’s taken, she’s handed a small plastic cup and instructed to head inside the small bathroom behind her. I’m lead into Room Number Four where I wait a few minutes for her to join me.

  “First day of your last period?” the nurse asks after she sits down and starts writing in the chart.

  “Around February sixteenth.”

  The nurse pulls out this little spinny wheel thingy and plugs in the date. “That’s the date we start counting your weeks so that date signifies week one. Looks like your due date is November twenty-fourth. Just in time for Thanksgiving,” she adds with a smile. “And how have you been feeling? Nausea, vomiting, dizziness?”

  “A lot of vomiting and nausea,” she responds.

  “How often?”

  “I vomit after most meals and usually the moment I wake up in the morning.”

  “That’s normal, dear,” the nurse says as she continues to write in the chart. Once all of her questions have been asked and answered, she pulls a paper gown out of the cabinet and hands it to Josselyn. Then sh
e informs us that the doctor will be with us shortly and steps out of the room.

  Josselyn stands up and gives me a questioning look. “I’ll turn my head,” I tell her to try to make her feel a little more comfortable about undressing in front of me. A few minutes later, she’s sitting on top of the paper covered exam table with her legs crossed.

  We make small talk as I try to avoid the graphic posters and models spread out all over the room. Seriously, they’re making me completely uncomfortable. Staring at the detailed pictures of a woman’s pregnant vagina isn’t exactly on my fun list. Neither is seeing the exact path a baby takes to come into the world. I shudder as I try to avoid the pictures of the baby crowning. Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long for Dr. Freeman to knock and step inside the room.

  “Hi, Josselyn. I’m Dr. Freeman. It’s nice to meet you,” she says as she extends her hand towards Josselyn.

  “And you must be the father?” she asks me with a polite smile.

  “Yeah,” I respond as I shift in my chair.

  “Well, let’s take a look,” Dr. Freeman says as she grabs a small tape measure from her pocket. “Go ahead and lie back.”

  I watch as the doctor measures Josselyn’s flat abdomen. “According to your last period, you’re approximately thirteen weeks. Today I want to do an exam and an ultrasound. Since this is your first appointment, we’ll use the transvaginal machine. Daddy, if you want to step up along Josselyn’s head, I’ll grab the machine and we’ll take a look at your baby.”

  I immediately stand up and walk towards the head of the table. Dr. Freeman wheels a small cart over and pulls out the stirrups. Once Josselyn is in position, she squirts some goo stuff on the end of a long wand and gets ready.

  “Just a little pressure,” she says as she does whatever she’s doing down below. Dr. Freeman turns the monitor so that we can see the small screen. “See this? This is the amniotic sac that the baby is swimming in. And this here? Let me get a better image,” she says as she pushes a few buttons and makes the image larger. “That right there is your baby.”

  I look down at the fuzzy little image on the screen. That’s my baby. Our baby. Without even realizing it, I reach down and grab a hold of Josselyn’s hand. We’re both mesmerized by the sight before us. The most beautiful sight in the world.

  Dr. Freeman presses a button on the keyboard and a swishy, fast beating noise fills the room. “And that is your baby’s heartbeat. One hundred thirty-six which is strong. Baby’s heartbeats are always much faster than ours while they’re in uterine.”

  I listen to the sounds of my baby’s heartbeat for a few more moments. When I look down, I see Josselyn wiping the tears from her eyes. After the doctor takes a few measurements, she shuts down the machine and does a quick exam. Then she offers Josselyn a paper towel to clean up with. “Next time, we’ll use the external monitor to hear the heartbeat. So, you’ve been pretty sick, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Josselyn replies as she sits up on the table.

  “Well, you’re almost to the fourth month so that should taper off soon. If it doesn’t by your next appointment, we’ll discuss ways to help that. Now, I want to see you back in four weeks. I’m going to prescribe prenatal vitamins for you to take daily. We’ll also order your first round of blood work for you to do before your next appointment. Do you have any questions for me?”

  “Is there anything I shouldn’t do? You know, to make sure the baby remains safe.”

  “You can do all the things you normally do, Josselyn. If you exercise, then it should be fine to continue. Just remember that your body is fueling and feeding for two so make sure you get plenty of rest, eat nutritious meals, and don’t overdo it. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded from any activity, you should stop immediately. If the dizziness continues after you’ve stopped, then call our office. Anything else?” she asks as she hands Josselyn the prescription and a small Frequently Asked Questions pamphlet. Then she stands to leave the room. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She hands me a couple of images from the ultrasound. “Baby’s first pictures,” she says with a smile. “I’ll see you in four weeks.” And then she’s gone.

  I stare down at the grainy images in my hand as Josselyn gets dressed back in her street clothes. When we exit the room, I stop and write the receptionist a check before we head out of the office.

  Inside the cab of the truck, we both stare down at the ultrasound images. Neither of us can contain the smiles spread widely across our faces as the joy takes over. I’m elated. Ecstatic. Happy. We drive back to the apartment with goofy grins on our faces. Going to the doctor and seeing the baby on that little screen, finally makes it all real. This is actually happening, and I have so much to do to prepare for the arrival.

  Later that night, after another bout of vomiting in the bathroom, Josselyn and I both relax in the living room. She found some chick-flick movie on television and I’m studying the blueprints again while making a list of this week’s to-do list.

  “So, when do you think we should tell your family about the baby?” she asks, drawing my attention away from the designs in front of me.

  “Probably soon. Mom obviously knows, and so does Avery,” I mumble hoping she doesn’t catch that last part.

  “Avery knows? When? How?”

  “Well, when you were napping on Monday, I called her and asked her a few questions about when she was pregnant. I tried to ask hypothetically, but she knew. She asked if you were pregnant, and I wasn’t able to lie to her. So, I told her.”

  “That’s okay. I wouldn’t want you to lie to anyone. Now that we know everything is okay and we have a due date, you can probably tell them whenever you want.”

  “Why don’t we tell them at dinner on Sunday night? Oh, wait. Half of them won’t be there this week. Maybe I should just call them all sometime this weekend.”

  “However you want to do it,” she adds.

  “What about you? Have you told your family yet?” I ask.

  She stares at the television and I start to wonder if she heard me. I’m about to ask again when she finally says, “No, not yet. Matty and Rico obviously know. But my parents and my sister don’t. I guess I should call them this weekend, too.” Josselyn sounds sad, hesitant. I can tell she’s dreading the phone call.

  “You can tell them when you are ready, Joss.”

  “I know. It’s just I know what’s coming. I’ll get the ‘What the hell are you thinking? You don’t even know him. You’ve ruined any chance you had at going to college and getting your degree.’ speech. I just hate disappointing them,” she says quietly. So quietly that I almost don’t hear her.

  “Joss, look at me,” I say as I drop the blueprints on the floor at my feet and reach for her hands. I gently tug her towards me and she comes willingly. As I tuck her forehead under my chin and wrap my arms around her, I inhale the scent of my shampoo in her hair. Just the scent of her mixed with my scent does things to me - or does things to certain parts of me. “It doesn’t matter what they think. You can tell them whatever you want about me, about us. Tell them we’ve been seeing each other for awhile. Tell them we’re discussing marriage or whatever. However you want to handle this and them, I’m in your corner. Okay?”

  “Okay. Thank you. I don’t exactly know what I’m going to say to them but I think I’ll avoid the part about the one night stand resulting in pregnancy,” she says with a hint of laughter in her voice.

  I kiss the top of her head, and because I can’t help myself, I laugh. “Yeah, you could probably leave that part out.”

  Later that night, I can’t sleep. The clock on the wall reads just after one o’clock and my back is aching so fucking bad, I wonder if I’ll ever be the same. Every day this week, I wake after a long, painful night of sleep and head into work where it’s sometimes hard to grab a stack of two by fours and walk across the jobsite.

  I get up and stretch, trying anything to relieve the ache in my back and neck. I long for my big, comfortable bed. Hell, I long to strip off these boxers and s
leep naked again. Ever since Josselyn moved in, I haven’t slept nude once for fear that I’ll scare her away, or worse, walk around aroused more than I already am.

  I walk into the kitchen to grab a drink of water, and am standing at the sink with my back to the living room, stretching my neck from side to side. I can smell Josselyn before I hear her walk into the room. She smells amazing. A combination of her lotion and my shampoo that makes my dick hard and my fingers twitchy.

  “Hey,” she says as she walks up behind me.

  “Hey. What are you doing awake?”

  “I couldn’t sleep. My leg keeps cramping,” she says as she walks up behind me. “Your back is killing you, isn’t it?”

  “It’s fine,” I tell her but not very convincingly.

  Before I even know what’s happening, Josselyn has her hands on my bare back and is rubbing. Her hands touching my skin is like a jolt of electricity coursing recklessly through my bloodstream. Her nimble fingers rub and dig into my back and neck as she works over the kinks and tight muscles. My back isn’t the only thing tight though. As soon as she touched me, my cock hardened so damn tight, I’m afraid it might explode.

  After a few minutes of Josselyn giving me a backrub, she finally speaks again. “Why don’t you come to bed, Travis. I’m sure you won’t let me trade you, even for one night, so why don’t you join me. The bed is big enough for the both of us to sleep in.”

  Josselyn and I both sleeping together in my bed? This has disaster written all over it with thick permanent marker. Actually, I’d prefer if this entire situation had hot sex written all over it. But, honestly, I’d kill for a good night’s sleep right now. It’s been a long, tiring week and the thought of curling up in my bed again sounds damn fabulous.

  “Okay. Let’s go to bed,” I tell her as I turn around. Josselyn’s eyes drop to my bare chest and linger there for several seconds. Her lush mouth that I crave to kiss is slightly open forming that perfect little ‘o’. I smile down at her while she ogles my chest. She eventually looks up at me and the cutest blush creeps up her neck and takes over her face.