Dr. Monroe looked down at me and waited for confirmation.

“No, actually I don’t want to know.”

“What? Em…” Finn stopped talking when I turned my head back in his direction.

“I don’t want to know Finn. Not knowing what you’re having can be one of the great mysteries in life, and it’s just something that I’d rather be surprised about.”

He searched my face, trying to understand. “But what about planning and decorating the baby’s room? If we know, we can add pink or blue to go with the new yellow walls.”

I shrugged my shoulder, the paper beneath me creasing. “I’m fine with neutral colors.”

His brow furrowed, eventually looking away from me to the doctor. “I guess we don’t want to know.”

Dr Monroe gave me a kind smile. When he was done wiping the gel off my stomach, he went over to turn the lights on. I pulled my shirt back over my rounded tummy and Finn put a hand behind me to help me sit up. Dr. Monroe came over to the opposite side of the bed from Finn. Placing a handing on my shoulder he leaned in slightly.

“I love a good surprise! Here,” and he handed me a photo he had taken of the baby’s profile. “Just stop on the way out at the desk to schedule your next appointment and I’ll see you in another four weeks.” And with that he walked out of the door.

Left in the room with just Finn, it was silent. For some reason I couldn’t look at him. I expected him to be angry with me for not wanting to know the sex of the baby, but I also wanted to stand my ground. This was my child, and I hated to make it sound like I was being territorial but Finn wasn’t the father. If he wanted to be in our lives, I was more than okay with that, but as far as I was concerned I was the parent and I made the decisions, and this was something I didn’t want to know.

“Hey.” He was trying to get my attention. “Are you upset?”

I finally met his eye. “No, I’m fine. Are… are you upset with me?”

He was confused. “Why would I be upset?”

“Because, you wanted to find out and I didn’t.”

He shook his head, “Tiny Girl, if you didn’t want to know, then that was your choice. It would have been fun going out and buying pink or blue things, but I’ll just take this as a challenge. Bring on the neutral!” He smiled a sweet smile at me. I gave him a grin in return.

“Thanks… you know… for being here with me for this.”

He leaned in and touched his forehead to mine. “Always Em, always!”

I’d never been a big baby person, but holy shit that was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen. There was an actual human being growing inside Emilyn. Standing there looking at that screen, it was hard to wrap my mind around the whole thing. I’d be forever grateful that she let me be in there with her. What’s more, Em had always been one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever laid eyes on, but after that experience I didn’t think I’d ever find anyone more beautiful than her. She was an incredible woman.

The rest of the day passed quickly and before long we were back in the car on our way to her parent’s house. She was quietly humming to herself from the passenger seat. I felt myself growing anxious about seeing her parents again after so long. Especially knowing that they’d witnessed first-hand what I’d put her through. I didn’t know if they would be angry with me? Had they held a grudge? We were around the corner when Em looked at me and gave me a dazzling smile that lit up her whole face.

“My Mom is making ribs and potato salad, I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

She looked at me as if she expected more of an answer.

“Oh my gosh!” She was smiling now. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. She was staring at me. I was white knuckling the steering wheel.

“What?”

“Holy shit!” Okay, now she was flat out laughing.

“Really Emilyn, you shouldn’t curse. It’s bad for the baby.” I said, keeping my eyes on the road.

That made her laugh even more. She was doubled over holding on to her stomach and wiping tears from her eyes.

“You’re scared to see my parents again, aren’t you?”

I didn’t find this very amusing. “No, why would I be?”

“How about you tell me!” I watched her take deep breaths, and it looked like she was trying to make an honest attempt to stop laughing.

“I really don’t know why you’re laughing, but if you keep it up you’ll be paying for it later.”

That shut her up really quick. Now I was the one chuckling.

“So in all seriousness, are you worried about seeing them again? You look like you’re about to take a chunk out of the steering wheel Finn.”

She was right. I loosened my grip and decided to out my pansy ass.

“Yes, okay? I’m nervous to see them again. I loved your parents, but they were the ones that were here with you after… well you know. I’d understand if they didn’t ever want to see me again. Hell, I wouldn’t want to see me again either. If I could, I’d kick my own ass for what I did to you!”

Rolling her eyes she said, “Finn, enough! They’re fine with it. I’ve seen them both since you’ve come back and they obviously know that I’m living with you now. Really, truly, it’s all going to be fine. They know that we’ve talked quite a bit about everything that happened, and as long as I’m fine and moving on then so are they, okay?”

I wasn’t so certain, but I’d accept her answer for now. Who knew what Richard and Tessa would do or say to me when Em wasn’t in the room. Either way, I’d man up and deal with whatever they wanted to dish out to me because I deserved it. We pulled up to her parents’ driveway. Harper and Kyler weren’t there yet, which sucked because they would have acted as a great buffer for any potential awkwardness. Parking the car I turned to face her.

“What?” She cocked her head to the side.

“That laughing fit? Totally unacceptable. You should be worried.”

And with that I got out of the car, closing the door while she yelled my name. I walked around to her side and helped her out.

When she got out we made our way to the front door.

“What do you mean I should be worried?” She was chewing on her bottom lip. Holy shit that was turning me on. Simmer down boy. Let’s not give her Dad more ammo to fire at me.

“We’ll talk about it later.” I kissed the tip of her nose, and used my thumb to pull her lip out of her teeth.

We made our way inside and Em called out to her parents.

We found them standing in the kitchen talking. Emilyn’s Mom came and greeted her with a hug, and then her Dad did the same, kissing her cheek, when they pulled away and saw me still standing in the doorway.

“Finley Morgan, how are you honey?” Tessa came over to me with open arms. This was so not the greeting I had expected. She gave me a tight hug and pulled back to give me a once over. “Oh my word, have you gotten bigger since the last time I saw you? In fact, I think you’re even cuter now too.”

“Mom!”

I chuckled. “It’s fine Em. Thanks for the compliment.” She was still holding on to my arms. “Yes Tessa, I hit another growth spurt just after high school. I didn’t realize boys kept growing for another few years. Pretty certain I’m done now though.”

Looking down at Tessa it was like seeing what Em would look like in twenty years. She was a very beautiful woman. Richard cleared his throat.

“Finn, it’s nice to see you son. I hear you’ve been doing well.” He reached his hand out for me to shake.

I gladly took it, and let the warmth of his greeting wash over me. I hadn’t heard him call me son in ages. Now that I was hearing it again, I realized that I’d actually missed it. Just like Kyler’s Dad, Richard was a man that I looked up to and respected. After my Father died, he had stepped in and made me feel like I was a part of this family and started calling me ‘son’. Not wanting to get emotional, I greeted Richard with a hello.