by A. M. Myers
“Just put this on. The doctor will be in shortly.”
Piper smiles. “Thank you.”
She closes the door and Piper jumps off the table and pulls her dress over her head before slipping out of her panties and pulling the gown on. When she’s covered again, she grabs her clothes off of the table and folds them, setting them in the chair next to me.
“You gonna ignore me all day, baby?” I ask as she sits up on the table and she shrugs.
“I don’t know. You gonna keep acting weird?”
Leaning forward, I drop my head into my hands. “I don’t know, Pip.”
“I was thinking about going to your parents’ house again this weekend. Tell them the good news, you know?”
“Yeah,” I whisper, meeting her gaze again. “That sounds good.”
“Did it help? When we went last time?”
The memories of last weekend flash through my mind and I scrub my hand over my face, unable to believe that was only a week ago when I feel like it’s been months since then. Being back home did help but I’m not so sure how well it would work a second time. As I look up at my wife, I feel so much love it feels like my heart might bust open but there is also that little voice in my head, screaming all my doubts and suspicions back at me.
I’m at war, with myself, with her, and with this threat shadowing all of our lives. It’s constant, teasing me, tormenting me, and it’s not hard for me to understand how Piper spiraled out of control so easily when I deployed. Most days, I feel like I am one more incident away from losing it but the only thing that holds me together is the knowledge of what could happen to Piper if I’m not here to keep her safe.
“Wyatt,” she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes as she stares at me. “Please talk to me.”
I can’t though.
I can’t tell her all the awful thoughts running through my head because she needs me to be the strong one. She needs me to hold everything together, for her.
I open my mouth to assure her everything is okay when someone knocks on the door and before we can answer, the door swings up and the doctor, a lovely older woman, walks in, flashing me a smiling.
“Hello. I’m Dr. Ward.”
I nod, shaking her hand as she holds it out. “Wyatt.”
“You must be Piper, then,” she says, turning to my wife and glancing down at the chart in her hand. “I see you came in yesterday for the official pregnancy test so we’re just going to run over a few things and take a look at your little one today. That sound good?”
Piper and I both nod as Dr. Ward sits down at the desk and starts flipping through pages, asking Piper questions about how she’s feeling, her last cycle, and her medical history. When she’s finally finished, she turns to us with a smile.
“Okay. Should we take a look at your little peanut? Dad, you go stand up there and hold Mom’s hand.”
I do as I’m instructed, positioning myself near Piper’s head and grabbing her hand as her words crash down on me.
Holy shit.
I’m a dad…
Logically, I knew that and I’ve thought about the baby a bunch but when I think of a dad, I always think of my dad. It hasn’t occurred to me yet that I am the dad now. My heart hammers in my chest and a flutter runs through my stomach as the doctor pulls the ultrasound machine to Piper’s bedside and grabs a long wand. I scowl, watching her as she slips a piece of plastic over it and squirts some lube on the tip. My eyes widen and I glance down at Piper as her teeth sink into bottom lip to keep herself from laughing.
Jesus Christ…
I thought they would just move that little thing on her belly to see the baby.
Piper turns her head to the other side and covers her mouth with her free hand as her chest shakes with laughter. Dr. Ward looks up at us, takes in my expression before glancing down at Piper, and starts laughing, too.
“Oh, I know that look. When the baby is this small, we have to do a transvaginal ultrasound.”
I nod, trying not to think about her shoving that wand up between my wife’s legs. “Uh-huh.”
“The look on your face,” she says, laughing as she turns back to the ultrasound machine and Piper joins her, giving my hand a squeeze. I meet her gaze and she smiles, reaching up to pat my cheek.
“Just look at me if it bugs you.”
“If you’re going to pass out, pull a seat up,” Dr. Ward says, pointing to the chair behind me and I scoff.
“I’m not going to pass out.”
“Famous last words. Let me tell ya, I’ve seen it all.” She turns to Piper. “Let your knees fall to the sides, honey.”
Piper does as instructed and Dr. Ward inserts the wand as I glance up at Piper’s face. She grimaces for a second, her muscles tensing as the probe goes in but then she sighs and smiles up at me. A grainy image appears on the screen and both of us turn to stare at it, trying to decipher the images but it honestly just looks like white noise to me.
What the hell am I supposed to be seeing here?
“Ah, there is the little one,” Dr. Ward says, pointing to a tiny little blob on the screen. She moves the wand, getting a few more angles before taking a few quick measurements. “Now, we may not be able to hear a heartbeat…”
A whooshing sound fills the room and my heart seizes in my chest as I stare at the little blob she pointed out to us and the flickering motion in the center.
“There is your baby.”
Tears sting my eyes as I stare at the little blob, unable to wrap my head around how it will become our son or daughter but filled with so much love that I don’t even know what to do with it. I glance down and meet Piper’s gaze as she smiles up at me with a few tears slipping from her eyes.
“Looks like you are at four weeks and one day,” Dr. Ward says as she takes a few more measurements and hits a couple of buttons on the machine. “Which makes your due date… April twenty-seventh.”
The doctor pulls the probe out and I help Piper sit up and swing her legs over the edge of the bed as Dr. Ward presses a few more buttons and the machine starts printing out pictures of our baby. When they’re finished, she hands them to us with a grin.
“Congrats, you two. You’ll need to head downstairs and get your blood drawn, Piper, and then I want to see you back here in a month, okay?”
Piper nods, cradling the photos in her hand. “Okay.”
Dr. Ward tells us to have a good day before walking out of the room and Piper looks up at me again, fear and sadness in her eyes as a tear slips down her cheek, racing to her trembling lip. My heart seems to stop for a moment as I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer.
“Hey, what’s wrong, baby?”
Her lip trembles. “I don’t want to lose this, Wyatt, and everyday it feels like you’re drifting further and further from me.”
“No, baby,” I whisper, pressing my lips to her forehead as my chest aches and my stomach twists. In my obsession to keep her safe, I’ve been failing her and it has to end now. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
Chapter Thirty
Piper
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Wyatt says as we pull into the driveway after our doctor’s appointment. I pull my gaze away from the ultrasound pictures to peek over at him, arching a brow.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
He grins and I see a tiny little glimpse of my Wyatt looking back at me, which has been rare these days. “Let’s go out on a date to celebrate our new little life changer.”
“Okay.” I flash him a smile as butterflies flutter through my belly. It’s been a while since we went out on a real date and I don’t need any excuse to soak up time with my man - especially when he is actually acting like my man.
He turns to back the truck up again. “What the hell?”
“What?” I ask, glancing behind us as a man with sandy brown hair in a button up shirt and a bow-tie steps out of a little four door sedan. “Do you know him?”
“No.” Wyatt turns off the truck and open
s the door, stepping down before turning back to me with a serious expression on his face. “Stay in the truck.”
He walks away like that is the end of the conversation and I shake my head.
Oh, hell no.
Jumping out of the truck, I set the ultrasound picture on the seat and follow behind Wyatt as he walks up to the man.
“Can I help you?” Wyatt asks as he stops right in front of the man, a little close for the other man’s comfort if the look on his face is any indication, and crosses his arms over his chest. I decide to hang back, just a little, in case this visit isn’t a friendly one. The guy jerks his head back before his gaze snaps to the numbers nailed to the side of the house and back to Wyatt. He scowls, looking down at his phone.
“Uh… I think I might have the wrong address. I’m looking for Piper…”
What?
“Why?” Wyatt snaps, somehow making himself seem more threatening as he stares down at him. Not that he needs it. This guy is almost a foot shorter than him and he looks like he weighs a hundred and fifty pounds on his best day. Honestly, with the clothes he’s wearing, he looks like some kind of door-to-door salesman and the black framed glasses really complete the look. He can’t be more than twenty-one either and with how stressed Wyatt has been, I know it will only take a tiny thing to push him over the edge.
“Is this her house? Are you her roommate?”
My roommate?
Who the hell is this guy?
Enough is enough. I have no freaking clue who this guy is and I really don’t care. I have a date to get to. Walking up beside Wyatt, I put my hand on his back and he glances down at me as the man’s face lights up.
“Piper! Oh, thank God. I was so worried I had the wrong house.”
“I’m sorry… do I know you?”
He nods. “It’s Colin.”
“Who?” I ask, tilting my head to the side and pursing my lips as I study him, trying to place his face but I’ve got nothing.
“We met online,” Colin continues and all the blood rushes to my ears as I shake my head in confusion. “We’re going out tonight, remember?”
I step in front of Wyatt so he doesn’t kill this kid and shake my head. “I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“He’d fucking better,” Wyatt growls in my ear and my heart drops as my pulse starts to race and my belly flips.
“No, I don’t. I’ve seen your photo and we’ve been talking for like two weeks. I know it’s you. We text each other all day long and I sent you your favorite flowers last week. Remember? You said you loved them.”
Oh, fuck.
This is not good.
With how paranoid Wyatt has been lately, he will believe this guy and it won’t matter one bit how much I tell him that I have no idea what he’s talking about or that I’ve never even seen him. I can feel the anger and suspicion rolling off of him without even glancing back at his face and I squeeze my eyes shut as I take a deep breath.
“This guy?” he hisses, grabbing my hips and I shake my head as I spin around and plant my hands on his chest, hoping he can see the desperation in my eyes. Wyatt owns me, every single piece of my heart and soul. There is no one else I want but will he believe that?
“I don’t know who he is, Wyatt.”
His nostrils flare and he releases my hips to clench his fists at his sides as my heart thunders in my ears and my stomach flips.
Please, Wyatt…
He stares down at me, searching my face for a moment before he tries to move me out of the way, but I cling to his shirt. Goddamn it, this is so, so bad. If Wyatt kills this kid, which is a real possibility, he will go to jail and I’ll lose him forever. He narrows his eyes and looks down at me with disgust.
“You’re protecting him? So, it’s true, then? You want this little fucker?”
I shake my head. “No, baby. I’m worried about you going to jail.”
“Baby?” Colin asks and I glance over my shoulder as his gaze bounces between the two of us. Wyatt flashes him a smile that makes a feeling of dread wash over me as he takes a step forward, despite my best efforts to hold him back, and nods.
“Yeah, because I’m her fucking husband, not her roommate, you little fuck.”
He holds his hand up, his face going pale as he takes a step back and I roll my eyes, turning my focus back to my husband. “Uh… Piper?”
“Stop talking to me like I know you,” I snap, not even bothering to glance at him as I look up at Wyatt and pray to God that he can see the truth in my eyes. His anger wavers for just a second and it gives me hope.
“You know what, I think I’m just going to go…”
Wyatt nods, his murderous glare flicking up to Colin. “That’s a great fucking idea.”
Peeking over my shoulder, I watch him run back to his car and climb behind the wheel. The engine squeals, a horrible metal on metal sound filling the air as he tries to start it but it’s already running. As soon as Colin whips out of the driveway and races away from our house, Wyatt’s gaze drops to me, accusations swimming in his eyes.
“Inside. Now.”
He doesn’t even wait for me to respond or follow him as he turns and marches into the house with his fury rolling off of him in waves. Sighing, I drop my forehead into my hand and try to force my brain to work but all I can feel is this overwhelming sense of dread.
How can I make him see the truth?
How can I make him believe me when he’s so certain that there is something going on?
At this point, I don’t even care about finding out who Colin is or where he came from because he doesn’t matter. Wyatt does. Tears sting my eyes and I shake my head as I look up at the house. Wyatt stands in the doorway, watching me but when our eyes meet, he turns and disappears inside. Sucking in a breath, I follow him and press a trembling hand to my stomach as it rolls in protest. As soon as I step inside, he glares at me, ready for a fight and I shake my head again.
“Wyatt…”
“You fucking that clown?” he asks, cutting me off and I shake my head. “Is he what you really want, Piper?”
I shake my head again. “Wyatt, I don’t know who that was.”
“Yeah? Well, he sure as hell seemed to know you, didn’t he? All these things keep adding up and now, it’s all starting to make sense to me.”
“What are you talking about?”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “I’m talking about the flowers, the reservation in Seattle, and now Colin. It’s all coming together so how about you stop lying to me?”
Seattle?
What the hell is he talking about?
“What reservation?” I ask, scowling at him as he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest again.
“The one you made at a hotel in Seattle the morning after we came back from my parents’. The one I fucking cancelled so good luck running off with your new boy toy.”
Dropping my head back, I blow out a breath, trying not to lose my temper, before meeting his gaze again. “Wyatt, I’m going to say this as plainly as I possibly can. I don’t know that man. I’ve never seen or spoken to him before, in my life. I don’t know anything about a hotel reservation in Seattle and I fucking love you with every ounce of my body. I don’t want to leave you but I’m also starting to wonder if I can keep doing this.”
“Doing what? Being with me?” He shakes his head, pain flashing through his eyes before he shuts it down. “Why did you even come back, Piper? Did you feel like breaking my fucking heart one more time for fun?”
Tears spring to my eyes as I shake my head. “Wyatt, I would never. I love you. You know that… we’re Wyatt and Piper and you are the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“You know, for ten years, I knew you were a cold bitch based on the way you left me last time but I’ve got to give you props because this is a new fucking level.” His gaze drops to my belly and that pain is back. “Is the baby even mine?”
A sob rips through me as I stare at him and cover my belly with
my hand like I can somehow protect our child from the hate he is flinging at me right now. Tears stream down my face as I shake my head, staring at him and trying to find a little piece of the man I love.
“How could you say that to me?”
He shrugs. “How could you cheat on me?”
“I’m not cheating on you, Wyatt!” I scream, my heart aching so bad that I don’t know how I’m still standing as heat flushes through my body and I clench my teeth. “You promised you wouldn’t throw my past in my face ever again.”
“This isn’t the past we’re talking about. It’s right now and I have all the evidence I need.” He turns and marches down the hallway to the bedroom as I follow behind him, my heart climbing into my throat.
What is he doing?
When I step into the room, pain splinters through me and more tears slip down my cheeks as I try to take a breath but I’m crying too hard. Wyatt has a duffel bag open on the bed and he’s throwing his clothes inside haphazardly. His hate filled gaze flicks to me and he stops, turning and grabbing the bag from the bed, zipping it up as he walks toward me. “I’ll sign the papers in the morning.”
My brows draw together as I stare up at him, wishing this was a dream or some kind of cruel joke. “The papers?”
“The divorce papers,” he says before brushing past me and storming out of the house. My heart races and my mind spins as I stumble backward into the door frame and reach for the other side to keep my self upright. Another sob tears through me and I fall to the floor as pain swallows me up and spits me back out in the house that used to be my home.
Chapter Thirty-One
Wyatt
Yawning, I run a hand over my tired eyes and shake my head before grabbing my beer off of the table in front of me and taking a sip as Blaze walks into the clubhouse. He arches a brow when he sees me and motions for me to follow him back to his office. I nod and stand up, bringing my beer with me. After I stormed out of the house last night, I knew I needed to, at least, have someone keeping an eye on Piper to make sure she didn’t get hurt so I asked Blaze to sit on our house all night. I would have done it myself but I couldn’t go back there - not yet. My chest burns as I think about the kid that showed up yesterday and the look on Piper’s face when I told her I would be signing the divorce papers in the morning. The heartbreak in her eyes looked real as hell, just like the love in her eyes when she told me she would never cheat on me but she has to be lying. There is too much evidence against her and I’m not going to be made a fool of once again.
