Pregnant with the Paramedic's Baby

by Amy Ruttan

  They might not be together, but they were in this together and she appreciated his support. Even if a part of her was telling her not to trust him and that he’d leave her as soon as it got rough. Just as Alex did.

  “I knew that my eggs were good, but I didn’t think that they were so earth-shattering to bring about tears!” he teased gently, holding her.

  Sandra started to laugh and wiped away the tears. “Yeah, that’s it.”

  Kody smiled at her and then looked up at the window, whistling as the sun came up over the meadows, the foothills a black silhouette. Her favorite time of day, dawn.

  “That’s a beautiful view. I am envious of your land. You got a good piece out here.”

  “Thanks,” she sighed. “I think I need some sleep, though. Do you want to take my car to get home?”

  “I don’t need to go home. Lucy is safe with my in-laws. If you don’t mind me crashing on your couch, I’d like to stay. I want to make sure that you’re okay.”

  She should tell him to go, that she was fine, but she was glad that he was staying after all. She could use a friend tonight, even if a part of her was telling her it was a bad idea.

  That she should run, but she wanted him to be here. She didn’t want to be alone tonight. It was nice to have someone who cared about her for a change.

  “I would like that.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  HER PHONE BUZZING woke her up out of deep sleep.

  Sandra grabbed her phone and answered it.

  “Hello?”

  “Sandra? This is Dr. Ohe.”

  “Jocelyn, thank you for getting back to me.” Sandra tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes so that she could focus and talk to her OB/GYN with a clear head. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept so soundly. After she’d made sure Kody was settled, she’d gone to bed and couldn’t even remember her head touching the pillow.

  “No problem. Burt Murdoch filled me in when I got in this morning about what happened last night. Do you think you can come back here in about an hour? I want to run some tests and check you out myself.”

  “Sure. Sure. I was just sleeping, but I can get there.” Sandra stifled a yawn.

  “Good. With your medical history, I want to make sure that everything is okay and that you’re okay. Does the father know?”

  “Yes...” She sighed. “The father is the paramedic Kody Davis.”

  “Oh! Will he come in too?” Sandra could hear the surprise in Jocelyn’s voice. A lot of people at the hospital were familiar with Kody. He was well liked, where she didn’t have too many friends, but Jocelyn had been sympathetic when her medical file was sent over from San Diego.

  “Yeah, he will. He’s asleep on my couch.”

  There was a small chuckle. “Okay. I’ll see you in an hour.”

  “Thanks, Jocelyn.” Sandra ended the call and then got up, carefully because she was still feeling a bit woozy. She could hear clanging around in the kitchen and knew that Kody was up. She padded to the bathroom and wasn’t sick, which was a bonus. She got dressed and tidied up. Kody was in the kitchen and making what smelled like tea.

  “Good morning!” he said brightly when he saw her.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?” she asked.

  He rubbed the back of his neck and made a face. “Not the best, but I’ve had worse.”

  “I’m sorry. I should’ve offered you my bed, or at the very least finish off the guest bedroom and put a bed in there.”

  “No worries. I heard your phone. Was that your OB/GYN?” he asked.

  She nodded. “She wants to see us in an hour. So I’m hoping that’s okay with you.”

  “Yeah. That’s fine. Do you want to grab some breakfast on the road?”

  “Sure, but I’m going to take some more of that tea in a travel mug if I can.” The tea had calmed down her stomach immensely. It tasted good and kept the nausea away; it was a win-win.

  “Of course.” Kody opened a cupboard and pulled down a travel mug, filling it with the ginger tea that he’d made her last night. The tea that seemed to work miracles and helped ease her morning sickness.

  Once the travel mug was filled, they got their stuff together and headed out in her SUV back toward downtown Austin and Rolling Creek General Hospital. Only this time they weren’t headed to the emergency department, which was unusual for them. They were headed to the main entrance and Kody cursed under his breath when he accidentally took a wrong turn and headed down the ambulance ramp, as he was so used to doing when he was driving his rig.

  It made Sandra chuckle, because she was so used to driving down this way to park in the staff parking that was closer to the emergency department in the large sprawling hospital. Although she never walked through the main emergency room admitting doors before a shift—every ER doctor and nurse knew that was bad luck.

  So it was surreal to walk through the front doors of Rolling Creek as a patient and head up to the OB/GYN floor.

  When she got there, the waiting room was full of pregnant women, some with small kids, and it was a bit much to take in.

  She felt so out of place, as if she didn’t belong, that she took a step back. Kody put his hand on the small of her back. It was reassuring and a comfort.

  Don’t get used to it.

  Still, she couldn’t pull away from his touch. It was comforting and she could definitely use some of that right now.

  She was terrified that everything that’d happened last night was just a dream and she’d go in there to find out she wasn’t pregnant.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered in her ear, as if reading her mind.

  She nodded and took a seat, with Kody sitting next to her. She was trying to be inconspicuous, but she felt as if everyone was looking at her.

  “Dr. Fraser?” the nurse called out.

  Sandra got up and followed the nurse into the exam room. Kody lingered in the door.

  “She’s going to need to do a vaginal ultrasound. How about you wait in the waiting room and I’ll give you a call when the doctor has done her exam?” the nurse suggested to Kody, who looked a bit relieved not to have to stay in the room.

  Sandra was relieved too.

  They might have been intimate, but they weren’t to that level of intimacy.

  Yet.

  And probably never will be.

  She shook that thought away.

  “I’ll be in the waiting room, Sandra.” He left the exam room and the nurse shut the door.

  At least she had a moment to collect her thoughts and prepare herself for the worst and think of what to tell Kody, if what she thought was going to happen happened.

  * * *

  Come on. What’s going on?

  Kody resisted the urge to get up and pace. Logically, he knew that the test would take a while, he was a paramedic and had the basic grasp of how medical tests worked, but still, it felt as if it were going on forever.

  He glanced at the clock. And it seemed as if time hadn’t moved forward at all. He hoped Sandra was okay. He hoped the baby was okay.

  The baby.

  He was still in shock about that. He was happy and he’d love the child just as much as Lucy, but another baby had never been in his plans. He’d never thought it would happen again.

  Of course, a lot of things in his life didn’t exactly go according to plan.

  What was supposed to be a one-time thing with Sandra had now turned into a lifetime.

  Even if they weren’t together, they were both this child’s parents. They both were bonded forever by their child.

  If she wants you around.

  And that thought sobered him. What if Sandra moved on with someone else? What if someone else was raising his child? What if Sandra moved away from Austin and took his child with her?

  The thought of all those things scared him
.

  He glanced at the clock again.

  I think it’s going backward!

  “Mr. Davis, they’re ready for you now,” a nurse said, coming into the waiting room.

  “Thanks.” Kody got up and followed the nurse down to the exam room.

  When he walked into the room, Sandra was lying there with tears in her eyes. His heart sank to the soles of his feet.

  Oh, no.

  “Sandra...” He trailed off. He didn’t know what to say.

  “No, it’s fine,” she said. “It’s still there.”

  He let out a sigh of relief. “Oh. I thought...”

  “Sorry.” She smiled. “I had prepared myself for disappointment. I hadn’t prepared myself for good news.”

  He laughed.

  Dr. Jocelyn Ohe came in then. “Ah, good to see you again, Kody.”

  “How do you two know each other?” Sandra asked.

  “He delivered my baby when I was stuck in the back of a cab.” Jocelyn gave Kody a hug.

  “How is your little boy? What did you call him again?” Kody asked, teasing.

  Jocelyn laughed. “You know I called him Kody, and Kody Jr. is fine, thank you. He’s five now.”

  “Five!” Kody whistled. “He must be getting into trouble.”

  “Hey!” Sandra said quickly. “I’m sorry to interrupt this reunion, but what’s going on, Jocelyn?”

  Jocelyn took a seat and pulled up the imaging. “Dr. Murdoch was right, you’re about eight weeks along, given the dates of your last menstrual cycle and the time of conception.”

  “And everything looks good?” Kody asked as he stared at that tiny little blob on the screen. The little clump of cells that was in the process of forming rudimentary organs. The little person growing limbs, toes and eyelids, if he remembered all those baby books he’d read when Jenny was pregnant.

  His little person.

  His and Sandra’s.

  “So far,” Jocelyn said. “But given your history, Sandra, from your doctor in San Diego, I’m going to tell the chief of surgery that you are officially on maternity leave. You can’t be working. You need to take it easy.”

  “So bed rest?” she asked.

  “No. Not bed rest, but take it easy. No heavy lifting or anything. Until we get through this first trimester, you’re high risk. And really, I want you to get past twenty-nine weeks’ gestation. Any baby can be born prematurely after twenty-nine weeks’ gestation and has a good chance of survival. Twenty-five weeks is pushing it...under twenty-five weeks is touch and go. I won’t lie. I’m worried that you will deliver early.”

  Kody scrubbed a hand over his face. “Is there anything I can do, Dr. Ohe?”

  “Make sure she rests. Do you two live together?” Jocelyn asked.

  “No, we’re not an item,” Sandra said quickly. “It was a one-night thing. It was supposed to be a one-night thing.”

  “Oh,” Jocelyn said, raising her eyebrows.

  “I can take care of her. She doesn’t live that far out of the city and lives close to my late wife’s parents. I can check in on her,” Kody said.

  “I can take care of myself,” Sandra said stubbornly.

  “You fainted and you’ve been sick and dizzy,” Kody said firmly. “Did you tell the doctor about that?”

  “She did,” Jocelyn said, standing. “I want to see you back here in two weeks. If you have any pain, call me and have me paged. Call Kody or an ambulance, just get here, okay?”

  Sandra nodded. “Okay.”

  “Good. I’ll see you in two weeks.” Jocelyn left the room.

  Kody let out the breath he hadn’t realized that he’d been holding in and sat down on the wheelie stool that Dr. Ohe had been occupying.

  “Well, I think you should move in with me and Lucy.”

  Sandra’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  “It’s the only solution to make sure that you’re taken care of.”

  “Kody, you’re not thinking rationally here. We’re not in a relationship, and do you really want to confuse your daughter? What would you tell her?”

  “Right.” Kody ran his hand through his hair. “I was just thinking of that baby. Our baby. I want to take care of you, Sandra. I’m the one that got us in this mess.”

  She smiled at him warmly. “It takes two to tango. I appreciate you wanting to help me, and I’ll gladly accept any and all help, but I’m okay. I can take care of myself. I have been for a while.”

  “I’m going to give you my cell and you’re going to call me whenever you need me. It’s only a twenty-minute drive from my place to yours.”

  “That sounds good and I’ll give you mine. We’re in this together, whether we like it or not.”

  Kody nodded. “Let me take you home and then I can get a cab back to my place.”

  “I can drive, Kody. I feel good. How about we go have some lunch, figure out what we’re going to tell people and how we’re going to do this and how to break it to Lucy? Or, more importantly, when. I would hate to break her heart if we tell her too soon.”

  “When’s the first trimester over officially?” he asked.

  “Twelve weeks is the end of the first trimester.”

  “We’ll tell her then. That’s only a few weeks away.”

  Sandra nodded, but worried her bottom lip as she stood up. “I’ve never made it to twelve weeks. I’ve never even made it this far.”

  “We’ll take it one day at a time. Remember.”

  She nodded. “One day at a time. Right.”

  They walked out of the hospital prenatal clinic together. Kody didn’t know what to say; he was still having a hard time trying to process all the emotions he was feeling and there was no one but Sandra to talk to.

  Lucy was too young to understand, and he didn’t want to tell Myrtle and Rick. Not yet, because he felt so damn guilty about it.

  You shouldn’t feel guilty.

  He shook that thought away, because he did. He really felt guilty.

  As if he was betraying Jenny, because he cared about Sandra and he cared about their baby. He wanted to help her any way he could. He wanted to be there for her, but how could he be there for her when he didn’t even know how he was feeling?

  “You could do me a favor right now,” Sandra said, interrupting his self-deprecating thoughts.

  “What’s that?”

  “How about some lunch? I’m starving and I haven’t felt like eating this much in a long time. It must be your grandmother’s tea.”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you know any good places in Austin? I haven’t been exploring much, so I don’t know many restaurants.”

  “I do. Do you think you can handle some barbecue, or is that too much?”

  She tilted her head to one side. “We can give it a try.”

  * * *

  The barbecue place that he was thinking of was down near Lady Bird Lake. It overlooked a particularly nice vantage point of the lake and today was a calm, warm day, so they opted to enjoy their lunch on the restaurant’s patio, so they could watch the paddleboarders out enjoying a sunny Saturday in Austin.

  “I didn’t know this lake was here,” Sandra said, taking a sip of her iced tea, unsweetened, which Kody found slightly horrifying.

  “Yeah, it’s a pretty nice spot. What I’m more concerned about is how you can drink iced tea that’s not sweetened. Yuck!”

  “You know that iced tea in Canada is always sweetened?”

  “I won’t have a problem in Canada, then,” Kody stated. “Why are we talking about Canada?”

  “I just thought it was an interesting fact and I was trying to change the topic.”

  “I’ve never had anyone try to change a topic by talking about Canada with me.”

  She chuckled softly. “I just prefer my tea this way. I don’
t like overly sweet things.”

  “You like me,” he teased.

  She rolled her eyes but smiled. “You’re a bit of a dork—you know that, don’t you?”

  “I’ve only ever heard my sister call me that.”

  “It must’ve been nice having a sibling growing up,” she said wistfully. “I never did. I may have a biological half sibling or two out there, though.”

  “Why don’t you obtain your adoption records?” he asked, curious.

  “I don’t know. I should, given the fact that I’m pregnant now. Even if I could just find out my medical history.”

  Kody nodded. “You should.”

  “I guess I never have because I loved my adoptive parents so much that it felt like I was cheating on them a bit if I tried to find out who my biological parents were.”

  He understood that, because that was what he was currently feeling about this whole baby situation. It felt as if he were cheating.

  You’re not, though.

  “Well, at least get your DNA tested and see what things you might be at risk for inheriting or what our baby might be at risk for.”

  “You’re right. I’ll make an appointment with my general practitioner and get the blood work done.”

  “Or, you are a doctor, you could do it yourself?”

  “I’m not going to draw my own blood.” She rolled her eyes. “They only pull that kind of stunt on TV. I’ll go to my doctor, thank you very much.” She took another sip of her tea as they both watched the paddleboarders out on the lake. It was sunny and watching people stand and slowly paddle across the calm waters was kind of mesmerizing.

  “So, have you ever tried paddleboarding?”

  “Nah.” He shook his head. “Doesn’t appeal to me. It looks kind of boring.”

  “It’s really fun,” she said.

  “You’ve done it?”

  She nodded. “I’m from California. Of course I have. The best time was paddleboarding on Lake Tahoe—of course, that water is cold. You don’t want to fall in.”

  “Really? It looks so warm.”

  “Well, if you find a shallow bay, but Tahoe is pretty deep and high in altitude, so it never really gets warm. Would you go swimming in some of the lakes in Alaska?” she teased.