“Are we talking about the same guy Em? The guy has no filter.”

I laughed. “Umm…hello, pot, I’ll introduce you to kettle later.”

“Bitch, shut up.” I could hear her smile.

“Awwww… that hurts. Is that any way to talk to your baby Momma?” Harper was full on laughing now. Finn smirked at the one sided conversation he was hearing. Looking down at his phone, his grin melted away.

“Okay enough small talk, I have to email out some information to a new client. What time do you want me to be there? And you’re not expecting me to bring Kyler, are you?”

“You don’t have to but it would be nice if you could bring him with you. Maybe put the fear of god in him so he doesn’t embarrass himself too much.” I was hopeful but it likely wouldn’t happen. The good news was, my parents were not only used to Harper’s mouth, they knew how Kyler was too. “Dinner starts at six.”

She groaned. “Okay, but can you call him and let him know? I don’t want to call him myself in case he starts accusing me of wanting him.”

“Don’t you?”

“You’re pushing your limits preggo. I’m not afraid to slap you around a bit.”

“Just stating the facts.”

“Uh huh,” she said. “I’ll be there, just call him for me and let him know he better be ready or I’ll leave his ass to walk.”

We said our goodbyes and I was left wondering when Harper would realize that she might actually have feelings for Ky. He genuinely was a good guy and frankly, a great match for my feisty best friend. They dished shit back and forth on equal grounds. I resolved to talk to Harper about it. She was certainly stubborn enough to ignore any feelings she might have for him.

I grabbed my slip on shoes that were under the table and put them on, and looked up to see Finn still messing around with his phone. His brows were down and his mouth was in a straight line. Whatever he was doing, he was serious about it.

“Hey, you ready to go?” I said to him.

He didn’t hear me. What on earth? I walked over to him, putting my hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly and put his phone down to where I couldn’t see the screen.

“Did you hear me?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” His face was etched with something I couldn’t put my finger on, but it made something in my stomach flip.

“I asked if you were ready to go?” I repeated myself.

“Oh… yeah sure. I’m sorry.” He got up and grabbed his car keys. He led me out of the house with his hand on the small of my back.

When we got in the car, I looked over at him.

“Everything okay Finn?”

He didn’t answer right away which made me feel uneasy. “Everything is fine. I’m sorry for not answering you in there. Just some shit in California that needed my attention.”

He gave me a tight smile. I wanted to believe him, but my gut was telling me there was more to the story. Not wanting to talk about it, I decided to drop it and we drove to the doctor’s office.

After sitting in the waiting room for twenty minutes, I was called back to the exam room. I’d been in here with Harper, but having Finn here felt funny. Not funny in a bad way, just… different. I sat down on the table and the paper crinkled beneath me. Finn was walking around the small room, taking inventory of everything there was to see. He stopped in front of all the posters, picked up the lids on a couple of jars sitting on the counter, and even opened a few drawers. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have said he was nervous.

“Everything to your liking?” I teased.

His eyes were still searching the room. “Very funny Em. I just want to see what they have in here.”

“It’s a pretty standard room Finn, you can sit down and relax.”

“I am relaxed.”

“You could have fooled me. You’re pacing around, checking everything out like it’s some foreign environment.” He looked over at me, and I grinned at him. He rolled his eyes.

“I hate this place. Needles give me the heebie jeebies.” He actually shivered, which made me laugh.

“You don’t have to be in here with me you know. I am a big girl.”

He turned to face me, and his eyes held a solid promise. “I will be in here with you for every appointment Em. I’ve already told you, you’re not doing this alone anymore.”

“But I’ve never been alone. Harper can always still come with me.”

“No.”

His no was obviously the end of discussion. Which was actually good because Dr Monroe came in, rolling in with him a computer-looking thing with a large screen and keyboard.

“Hello Emilyn. Have you been feeling okay?” He looked over at Finn, who was now standing over the top of me in a protective manner.

“I’ve been feeling great, thanks for asking. This is Finley Morgan by the way. He will be with me for the rest of my appointments.”

Dr. Monroe reached out and offered his hand. Finn took it and they shook hands.

“Nice to meet you Finley. I’m glad Emilyn has another friend to come with her.”

Finn visibly bristled at the word ‘friend’, but that one didn’t need to be explained. In fact I wasn’t sure I could explain it even if I wanted to. I had no idea what Finn and I were right now. I don’t think we could exactly be called boyfriend and girlfriend. We seemed a bit more than such a cliché classification. Except, were we really? That was something I’d have to think about another time because I was about to see my baby on the ultrasound screen.

“Alright, let’s get started. I need you to lie back and lift your shirt. I’m going to put some of this jelly on your stomach again. It’s going to feel a bit cold again, I apologize for that.”

Finn stood up by my head while I did what Dr. Monroe asked.

Dr. Monroe squirted some blue gel on me and then ran the wand over my rounded stomach. He began moving it around in slow motion and an image appeared on the screen. I immediately recognized the fluttering as my baby’s heart.

“So here is the baby’s spine right here,” he pointed at a long boney looking image. He tapped the keyboard a couple of times, taking some measurements. “Here’s a little foot kicking around, which I’m sure you can feel fairly well by now.”

I smiled bigger than I already was and nodded my head.

“Right here is where the placenta is, and the cord coming out of it to your baby. It looks like everything is flowing properly.” More tapping on the keyboard. “Do you see the profile? What a perfect little face,” he practically cooed at the screen.

The baby really was perfect. I watched in awe as the image of my child moved around the screen. I’d never seen something more perfect. It was then that I remembered that Finn was standing by me. I was so consumed that I’d forgotten he was in the room too. Looking up at him he was watching the monitor and his eyes looked a bit glassy. Was he tearing up?

Not sure if I was making the right move, I reached up and laced my fingers through his hand that was resting by my head. He looked down at me then. He gave me one of the most loving and glorious smiles I’d ever seen. And if I wasn’t mistaken, I thought I’d seen love in them. Whether it was love for me, or for my child, I didn’t know. But at that very moment, Finn and I connected in a deeper way than we ever had before. He was here for me and my child. The look on his face was a look I’d expect to see on a father seeing his baby for the first time. This obviously wasn’t Finn’s child but looking at him now, you would never know the difference.

After some more tapping on the keyboard, Dr Monroe asked, “Would you like to know the sex of the baby?”

Looking away from Finn, I turned back to the doctor. I had thought about this for the past few months. Just as I opened my mouth to respond, Finn piped up.

“Yes. We definitely want to know!” He wasn’t even looking at me.