I didn't miss the wide-eyed look Dr Meera greeted Nicholas and me with as she walked into the examination room. I requested that all my appointments be in the mornings, so I could get it out of the way and focus on my work. That arrangement clashed with Nicholas's schedule because he had a meeting scheduled an hour from now. Ever since he arrived, he'd been glancing down at his wristwatch every chance he got.

"Good morning, Amanda and... Nicholas?" Dr Meera looked between us. She gave me a lopsided smile as her forehead creased and her brows knitted at our unlikely partnership.

"Dr Meera" Nicholas squared out his shoulder and gave her a subtle nod as he placed his phone into the pocket in his trousers.

"You know each other?" I pushed myself further up on the examination table.

"Oh yes. I'm his sister's doctor," she walked further into the room and pushed the ultrasound monitor cart back a little and settled at my right side. "How is she, by the way?"

"She's doing great," he glanced down at his wristwatch and then up at Dr Meera. "Can we get on with this?" he waved his finger in a rotational motion.

"Oh yes, Uhm . . . before we begin, I just want to be clear. Is he the father?"

"Yes," I said as I ran my hands through the creases at the corner of my scrubs.

"And we'd like that information to remain within these walls" Nicholas said and I nodded.

"Of course" Dr Meera nodded as she clasped her hands together then she looked down at me. "How are we doing? Any developments you're concerned about?"

I glanced down at my bump. "Uh, no. We are doing well"

"Wonderful" she gave me a little smile. "So before we take a look at the baby, I'm going to need your urine sample and we'll check your weight and blood pressure. You know the drill"

"Yeah" I nodded and began to pull myself off the table.

Nicholas placed a firm hand on my arm and helped me to stand steady on my feet. He retrieved the sample cup from Dr Meera across the table and handed it to me. His eyes didn't leave me and his hand hung out as if waiting to catch me if I fell. The toilet was a couple of feet away, there was no need for this overprotective act.

I released a short breath and brushed a strand of my shoulder-length brown wig off my face. "I can walk, you know"

There was a tick in his jaw as he stuffed his hands into his pockets and stepped back.

Twelve minutes later and I was back on the table, Dr. Meera moved the wand over the gel on my belly. With every movement of the wand, followed a loud, screeching noise with a subtle liquid gurgle. I fixed my eyes on the white ceiling of the room and tapped my fingers against each other, over my chest.

I spared Nicholas a glance and his eyes hyper-fixated on my bare belly, I returned my eyes to the ceiling. How much longer till this is over? I moistened my lips, released a short shaky breath and twiddled my fingers over the other.

It's not like the man hasn't seen far more than your bare bump, relax.

"Okay, this is the baby and this—" Dr Meera pointed to the screen. With a few taps on the monitor, a clear soft thudding filled the room. "—is the heartbeat. Very strong, that's good. Everything looks fine here"

Nicholas leaned closer to get a good look at the monitor and our eyes met for a millisecond, I turned my head to the side. The heat of his body and the strong scent of his cologne invaded my sense. I blinked back and tried to focus on the screen.

"Do you still not want to know the gender?" Dr Meera glanced between us.

"No"

"Yes"

I turned to Nicholas and he lifted an eyebrow at me.

"You don't want to know what we're having?" he said

"You do?... I mean, I wanted it to be a surprise." Not really. For some unknown reason, I was hesitant to find out the gender. "But if you –"

"No, it's fine" he waved a hand in front of his face.

It wasn't fine, I couldn't see it on his face. He was eager to find out. I'd eventually find out one day, why not now? I released a deep breath as I turned to face Dr Meera and nodded. "Tell us"

Dr Meera lifted her brows as her eyes pointedly sought a solid confirmation and in return, I gave her a firm nod.

"Okay," she piped up in a chirper tone as she looked at the monitor and then back at us. "It's a boy, congratulations"

A breathy chuckle escaped my lips as I let my head fall back against the cushioned table and shut my eyes. I just knew it. Wow, I'm having a boy. I'm getting a son who'd love me no matter what. One that I'd adore and protect till the last iota of strength in my bones. I can't believe it took me this long to accept him. Does that make me a bad mother? Am I a terrible person?

A picture of a little boy, running with his back turned flashed in my mind. My lashes moistened up with tears and against my will, one lone tear escaped the corner of my eye. I wiped it away in a swift motion and blinked back the rest of the trespassing tears but as soon as the tear trail was gone another took over.

"Ugh" I groaned as more tears escaped my lids and threw an arm over my eyes. God, this is so embarrassing. For someone who was particularly keen on not finding out the gender, I'm such an emotional mess.

I felt the brush of a finger on my shoulder before the rest of the hand materialized. Nicholas's grey soft orbs watched me as his hand patted and rubbed my shoulder. He lifted his eyes to Dr Meera and I followed his gaze. She had her crossed at the forearms, with a wide smile that crinkled the outer corners of her eyes. Wonderful, she's seen me cry twice now.

"Sorry" I ran the pads of my fingers under my eyes and over my cheeks as I pulled in a shaky breath.

Dr Meera waved a hand in the air. "Oh no, don't be. Many women have this exact reaction, if not more. It's perfectly fine." She handed me some wipes for the gel on my belly. "I'll just leave you two," she lifted her eyes to Nicholas. "I hope to see you at the next appointment"

He gave her a nod.

"Thank you," I said before she exited the room.

I sat up on the table, my legs dangling from the side of the table as I wiped the gel off my belly. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Nicholas's arm lift up to his face. "You can leave now, you said you had a meeting, right?"

He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Oh, yeah. I had it moved so I'm not in any hurry"

"Okay," I made a last swipe over my belly, scrunched up the wipes in my fist and pulled down my black inner tee and scrubs over my bump. "Well, I have to get back to work so..."

"Of course, but before you do that, I need you to prepare yourself for dinner at my parent's house. I told my family about the baby and they want to meet you"

My hands halted over the creases at the hem of my scrub top. I lifted my eyes to his face and his jaw and countenance were set, leaving no room for a refusal. It was granted that his family would want to meet me but I was still easing myself into the concept. I had neither gotten used to his presence in my space nor the role he would play in my life, for the rest of its duration.

I nodded and moistened my lips. "Okay . . . when?"

"Tomorrow evening"

I blinked hard. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Tomo—"

I held out my palm to his face. "I heard you the first time. It's too soon, I can't meet your parents tomorrow evening. I—I need like a week's notice or something. When was this decided?" I waved my hands in front of me. "Nah, it's too soon. Lai-lai, I can't. I'm not prepared for that, right now. We've not even had the chance to talk properly and you want me to meet your family. I'm sorry bu—"

He placed both hands on my upper arm. "Relax. Calm down, it's not a big deal"

"Are you crazy? It's not a big deal?" I let out a dry chuckle as I clapped my hands, stupefied.

"It's just my parents and sisters. What are you so afraid of? They just want to meet you, that's all" he trained his eyes on mine and drew circular patterns on my arm, through my sleeves with his thumb. "Don't fret. It's going to be fine, okay?"

I shook my head. "No"

"Where's that feisty attitude of yours? When you were setting me straight in the car a few days ago, where'd that attitude go" he jested with a smirk playing on his lips.

"It's on vacation," The corners of my lips began to pull up. I shrugged off his hands and got down from the table. I took in a deep breath then gently exhaled as I glanced up at the ceiling. I dropped my eyes down to his face with my shoulders slumped down, as if sandbags hung on them. "Okay, I'll go"

"Okay, good" he shot me a small smile.

My pager beeped in my pocket. I pulled it out, took a glimpse at the screen then clicked off the sound. "And, now I have to go" I raised and shook the device before stuffing it back into my pocket.

"Yeah"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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