by Lyssa Layne
Katy started to panic, but then remembered that she had her period while staying at the Garrity’s and they’d only been together twice since then. She relaxed a little. Okay, good, she wasn’t late…yet.
Tiffany was still talking, but Katy walked off.
“Hey!” Tiffany ran after her.
Katy walked straight to the clinic where there was a bowl of condoms sitting on the receptionist’s desk. Katy filled both pockets of her lab coat and then handed Tiffany the last few. She was going to make sure there wasn’t a baby Garrity born in the next nine months.
***
Katy downed another bottle of water, her fourth since the start of her shift three hours ago. The headache was starting to dull, but the rest of the pain her body felt wasn’t budging. She slowly stood up from the bench in the doctor’s lounge, but was startled when she heard the door slam shut. Before she could turn to see who had done it, she heard the yelling.
“What the hell have you done, Katy Malone? You’re with me for eight years and cancel our wedding the month before, but then you go and fuckin’ marry a firefighter—a God damn firefighter—that you met two months ago!”
Katy cringed as Jeremiah moved to within a foot of her. Her headache spiked back like a nail through her skull. She reached out to grab his arm, knowing her touch usually calmed him, but instead he jerked it away.
“Don’t think you talk your way out of this. Katy, you could’ve had it all with me…status, money, power. Do you know how powerful a pair of successful doctors can be?”
Katy looked up into his eyes, the same set of eyes that she’d stared into time and time again, thinking he was the one for her. She touched his cheek, and this time he let her.
“What about love, Jeremiah? What good is status, money, and power if you don’t have love?”
Jeremiah pulled away from her as she said this. He punched a locker causing Katy to jump again. She’d only seen this physical side of him twice in the near decade that they’d known each other, but the aggression was never meant toward her. Today, though, it was. When he turned around to face her, she saw rage in his eyes. He moved forward, his chest pressed against hers as he glowered down at her.
“So you’re saying you love this firefighter?”
Katy slowly nodded as she answered. “I wouldn’t have married him if I didn’t.”
Katy watched as Jeremiah took in her words. He stepped back, deflated by her comment. Katy shook her head, not intending for him to take it this way. She stepped toward him reaching out to him again.
“Jer, I didn’t mean it like that. You know I care about you!”
Jeremiah held up his hands, shaking his head. “No, Katy, I know exactly what you mean.”
He turned and left the lounge without looking back at her. As he left, she stumbled to a bench. She had thought it impossible to hurt any worse than this morning, but Jeremiah’s words struck her like a dagger to the chest.
11 CHAPTER ELEVEN
Nick felt horrible about New Year’s. He knew he had taken out his grief on Katy and he was ashamed of himself. She hadn’t said anything, but he could tell by the way she moved the day after that he’d been too rough. He didn’t know what had come over him, but he decided that while he was still grieving the loss of his mother, he should stay away from the alcohol.
He hadn’t had a drink since that night, but his sex drive was set on high. He couldn’t help it, any time he saw her he needed her. She never turned him down or pushed him away. He had made sure to be slow and gentle with her and that she was satisfied as well. Katy had brought home condoms on two different occasions and there were only three left. He knew she wasn’t ready for kids just yet, hell, they’d barely known each other four months, but he couldn’t wait to see her pregnant and talk to a baby in her stomach.
Today was his thirtieth birthday and Katy insisted that she’d cook him dinner if they would stay in for the evening. He figured he’d better stop by the drug store on his way home. Nick parked his Yukon in the driveway. He opened the door to the house and tossed the brown paper bag that held the box of condoms onto the console table. The house was dark and silent.
“Katy? Babe?” He walked into the living room and flipped on the light switch.
“SURPRISE!” his closest friends and family shouted at him. He laughed as he looked around the room and saw his crew members, family, and even some old buddies that he and Jesse used to run around with.
His wife’s soft voice whispered in his ear, “Happy birthday.”
Nick wrapped his arms around Katy and kissed her tenderly, his hand finding her neck as he slipped his tongue between her lips. The crowd in their house went wild as the newly married couple kissed. Katy giggled as Nick continued kissing her, not fazed by the crowd at all. He finally pulled away with a grin and said loud enough for everyone to hear, “I have the best wife!”
Katy blushed as he said that and Nick kissed her cheek before he went to welcome the guests. As he moved from person to person, talking to both old and new friends, he watched his wife across the room. She looked amazing in a peach colored dress with cap sleeves and a bodice that sculpted her like a second skin. Throughout the night, they’d catch each other’s eyes and exchange a secret smile. He loved having everyone here, but he couldn’t wait for them to leave so he could be alone with her.
As the party was dying down, he caught up with her again. He kissed her neck. “This was awesome.”
She turned around and smiled, but the dark circles under her eyes showed how exhausted she was. Nick moved his lips to her forehead. “You feel okay?”
She nodded. “Just tired, I worked a double this week and spent all day preparing for all this and it’s finally caught up with me.”
“I can ask everyone to leave.”
She shook her head. “No, no, it’s your birthday! I’ll be fine.”
He kissed her softly and whispered, “Thanks, baby.”
Katy headed to the kitchen to replenish the food while Nick and Jesse stood in the hallway chatting.
“Man, I’m really happy for you. Things have worked out like you always wanted them,” Jesse said.
Nick smiled. “Yeah, they really have.”
“And you were worried you wouldn’t be married before you were thirty!” Nick laughed and Jesse teased, “Now you just need her to start popping out babies!”
Nick nodded, but knew that was going to be easier said than done. Jesse pointed to the table in the front hall.
“You’ll need to ditch the condoms for that though.”
Nick laughed, forgetting that he’d placed them there when he walked in. He walked to the table and grabbed the box, wondering if anyone else noticed them. About that time, Katy walked past them quickly and into the bathroom. Nick followed her and knocked on the door. “Katy, you okay?”
He heard her throw up and went to get her a glass of water. That was weird, he hadn’t seen her drinking. He pushed on the door leaving it open behind him. “Here, drink this. You okay?”
Katy took the water and sipped it, nodding that she was fine. She moved to sit on the edge of the tub, took another drink, and handed him something.
Jesse and Tiffany both stood at the door as Jesse muttered, “Looks like you’ve already started on that baby thing.”
Nick looked at his friend then to his wife. “What’s that…oh…OH!” Nick looked down at the pregnancy test in his hand. A pink plus sign looked back at him.
***
Katy knew that Nick wanted kids, he’d mentioned a whole house full of them before. However, in the short time that they’d grown their relationship, they’d never actually discussed children in their future. Katy was only a third year resident. She still hadn’t decided on her specialty and was applying for a research grant which would start next fall. As things stood now, it looked like she’d be out on maternity leave then.
Tiffany and Jesse quickly ushered everyone out before the pregnancy news was shared. Nick had closed the door to the bat
hroom immediately after he saw the test in his hand. It was twenty minutes later and there hadn’t been a peep from that bathroom.
“Think she’s ripping him a new one or they’re picking out names?” Jesse asked.
Tiffany laughed. “Katy’s not like that. She’s probably internally freaking out and putting on a front because it’s obvious how much your buddy wants to be Mr. Dad.”
Jesse was about to defend his buddy when the two of them walked into the kitchen. Nick had a big, goofy grin on his face as he held Katy’s hand who stood beside him, smiling softly. Tiffany ran over and hugged her tightly before pulling her into the other room.
Jesse held up his beer. “Congrats are in order, Dad.”
Nick grabbed a glass of water to toast a cheer with him, unable to wipe the huge smile off his face.
“So how’s the Mrs. taking it?”
Nick’s smile finally shrank. “Considering everything, pretty good. The timing isn’t great, but she seems to be excited.”
“Excited about the baby or excited because you’re happy?”
Nick looked at him, the thought never crossed his mind.
***
Tiffany closed the door to Nick and Katy’s bedroom.
“What the hell???” Tiffany demanded.
Katy lied down on the bed. “I knew there was a chance, a slight chance, but still a chance. I got everything ready for the party and had a few minutes to spare. I wanted to stop worrying about it so I ran to the store and took the test about ten minutes before everyone arrived.”
Tiffany lied down beside her. “Are you going to keep it?”
Katy looked at her like she had three eyes. “Of course! I’m a doctor, remember that oath I took: ‘do no harm’?”
“Oh so you’re doing it for the oath, not because Nick wants you to pop out four kids in the next four years?”
Katy rolled her eyes as she looked at Tiffany. “Is it an ideal time to have a kid? No. Was I stupid to have sex without a condom? Yes, but it is what it is. We’re both grown-ups, we can handle it.”
“Yeah, but you’re never going to sleep again, your boobs are going to get saggy, and you can just say good-bye to that perfect ass of yours right now.”
Katy laughed, feeling at ease for the first time since she’d peed on that stick. Tiffany put her arm around her best friend. “Nick’s going to be a great dad,” Tiff hesitated, “you….you’re going to need some work.”
Katy threw a pillow at Tiffany and the girls fell into a fit of laughter, giggling like middle schoolers.
12 CHAPTER TWELVE
It was Valentine’s Day. Nick and Katy were spending their first one together at the doctor’s office. Katy sat on the cold exam table wearing one of those horrible paper gowns, her bottom freezing. Nick paced the room back and forth, jabbering about nurseries and names. Katy wasn’t paying a bit of attention to anything coming out of his mouth.
“It’s early!” she blurted out.
Nick looked at the clock. “Well, its nine…” he responded wondering where she was going with her statement.
Katy shook her head. “In the pregnancy. I’m maybe nine weeks along at most, we may not even be able to hear the heartbeat today if I’m not that far.”
She appreciated his excitement, but was afraid he’d be disappointed if something went wrong. She wasn’t trying to scare him, only prepare him for reality. She’d had some spotting last week which is why she’d gone ahead and made the appointment.
He nodded and sat down beside the table. He smiled. “So when do you think I knocked you up?” he asked with a grin.
Katy laughed and stood up. She leaned down to kiss him. “Well, it had to have been Christmas or New Year’s.” He kissed her back and pulled her into his arms, hoping more than anything it wasn’t New Year’s.
Dr. Keller came in about that time and Katy jumped up and pulled the back of her gown together, not wanting to flash her. It was ridiculous since she was about to see a whole lot more of her, especially over the next nine months.
Katy shook her hand and introduced Dr. Keller to her husband. She still wasn’t used to saying that and it sounded so awkward when the word came out of her mouth. Dr. Keller had her lay down on the table so she could do a quick exam.
As she finished, she turned on the sonogram machine, “Everything looks good so far. We’ll take some measurements to see how far along you are.”
Nick leaned up to the table excitedly, taking hold of Katy’s hand. Katy lay back and bit her lip nervously as the screen came on. She shivered a little as the cold jelly touched her stomach. The doctor moved the wand around her stomach for a little bit and Katy saw the baby and heartbeat before Nick had any idea what he was looking at. He stared at the screen in anticipation and Katy relaxed a little as she pointed. “There…that’s our baby.”
Nick’s face lit up and a huge grin took over his face. “When can we find out the sex?”
Dr. Keller and Katy both laughed. Dr. Keller answered, “We’ll do another ultrasound in about thirteen weeks. Judging by measurements, which all look excellent, I’d estimate your due date to be September 24.”
Katy leaned up on her elbows. “So I’m seven weeks along?”
Dr. Keller nodded. Katy glanced over at Nick who deflated as he realized their child had been conceived on New Year’s. A night of drunken debauchery where he’d been rough and hard with Katy was the night he’d gotten her pregnant. Dr. Keller printed off some images and handed them to Katy. “I’ll see you in about five weeks.”
Katy thanked Dr. Keller as she left the room. She sat up, wiping off her stomach and lifted Nick’s chin up. “What is it? Out with it.”
He shook his head. “It was New Year’s. I was horrible to you that night and that’s the night we made a baby.” He shook his head and looked away.
“You weren’t horrible to me. If I remember correctly, both of us had raging hormones and I wanted it just as bad as you did.”
Nick didn’t move, just stared out the window.
“Why does it matter? We’re having a baby,” she smiled. “We’re making our own family.”
He looked over at her. “Do you want this baby? I mean really want this baby or are you just doing it for me?”
Katy was surprised by the question. “If you’re asking if I got pregnant on purpose to make you happy—”
He shook his head and cut her off. “No, that’s not what I mean. I know we were both drunk, turned on, and not even thinking about what could happen. I mean, do you honestly want this baby or are you just acting happy because you know I do?”
Katy stood up from the exam table and walked over to him. “Nicholas Garrity, I love you with my whole heart. I would do anything in the world to make you happy. This baby,” she took his hand putting it on her stomach, “is just the start of the huge family we’re going to make.”
His lips turned into a smile and he asked, “Honestly?”
She nodded.
“Huge, huh? How many are you thinking?”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know…eight? Ten?”
He let out a low laugh. “Ten? Well, we’d better start practicing.” And with that he pulled his wife into his lap and started kissing her.
***
Now that it was confirmed that Katy was knocked up, Nick began to frequently stop by the hospital to check on his family—his wife and their baby. He liked the sound of that, his family. Even more than that though, he loved coming home to his wife, even if on average they only spent two nights a week together. On the nights that he worked and she didn’t, he’d leave her notes throughout the house so that she knew he was thinking of her.
Katy had convinced Nick to wait until she had started her second trimester before they started telling people. It was driving him nuts, he hated keeping secrets, but he understood there were times when one had to. He knew that Katy was the expert in this area so if she said to wait until twelve weeks to tell, then they’d wait until twelve weeks.
He walked through the emergency room double doors at St. Luke’s holding a bag of sour gummy worms. Since they’d met, he’d never seen Katy eat any sort of candy, but in the past three weeks, she’d been inhaling a bag of these a day. He began to smile at the thought of seeing her, although he wasn’t sure if she’d be more excited to see him or the sweets.
As he turned the corner, he ran into Dr. Jeremiah Thomas. Jeremiah bounced off Nick’s muscular torso knocking the doctor back a few steps. Their eyes locked and neither of them looked away so the stare down began.
Finally, Jeremiah spoke, “Watch where you’re going, brute.”
Nick balled his fist, smashing the bag of treats for Katy. He stepped to Jeremiah so they were chest to chest.
“Excuse me?”
Jeremiah shook his head. “I knew you were dumb but I didn’t realize you were deaf, too.”
Nick could feel his blood boiling and was about to react to Jeremiah’s comment when he stopped himself. He opened his mouth to reply when the light, sweet voice he woke up to each morning called out, “Nick!”
Katy walked up to the men. Nick noticed the way Katy glanced at Jeremiah and didn’t like the uneasy look that came over her face. Jeremiah stepped around them and sauntered away. Nick pulled her into his arms and held her tightly. When he let go of her, she gave him a puzzled look and asked, “Everything okay?”
He held up the now mashed, and probably slightly gooey, gummy worms. Katy quickly snatched them away and tore into the bag. She ate the first one and let out an approving mmm. Nick smiled as he kissed her forehead. He had the girl, he had nothing to prove.
***
The last few weeks had flown by for Katy, despite the constant morning sickness. However, it had crept along for Nick. The appointment with Dr. Keller was scheduled over Katy’s lunch at the hospital. Nick was working a twenty-four hour tour, so the crew all headed to the hospital with him. He didn’t want to miss this appointment. The Peanut, as Nick had nicknamed the baby, had gotten a good report and Katy gave him the go-ahead to start telling people. He gave a whoop of excitement and a quick kiss before he ran to the waiting room to “officially” tell the crew even though they’d all had a good idea what was going on due to his sudden interest in parenting magazines.
