Til Debt Do Us Part (Married At Midnight #4)

Chapter 26

Twenty-Six

Talia

M y heart races as the doctor wheels over the ultrasound machine. This fourth checkup looms in front of me, but instead of feeling nervous, I'm buzzing with excitement. The doctor helps me into the padded leather chair and I recline nervously.

Dare stands right behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. I am glad of his steady presence. Without him here, I think I would float away somehow. But his touch anchors me.

I reach up and thread my fingers through his. He gives me a quick smile.

"You're okay," he reminds me.

I can only nod.

The white-coated doctor sits on a low stool. I pull my shirt up to expose my distended abdomen and the doctor squirts KY jelly on my belly. It's icy. The doctor smiles as I wriggle in my seat.

"Sorry."

"No problem," I murmur.

She begins scanning with the wand. I squeeze Dare's fingers and stare at the blank screen before me. The whirring of the machine and the beep of the heart monitor fill the small exam room.

The jelly is warm on my stomach, and cold on my skin. The sensations are at odds with each other and create an uncomfortable, nauseous stirring in my gut.

"Let's see..." the doctor says, squinting at the screen. "Come on, baby."

Dare and I share a glance - this is the moment we've been waiting for. Our baby appears on screen in all its glory, limbs stretching and curling, tiny head bobbing up and down.

"There we go." The doctor presses the wand into my stomach, massaging tiny circles into my flesh. "Can you see?"

She angles the screen towards us more. I nod, astounded. I can't stop staring at the little person I'm growing inside my body.

Seeing the baby on the screen, it just seems more real now somehow. The sight of its little heart beating sends a jolt of pleasure straight through my heart.

"Oh my god." I look up at Dare, whose eyes are fixed on the screen, his brows furrowed in concentration. "What do you think?"

His jaw is clenched tight and he swallows.

"I don't know," he says. But it's clear that he is having a visceral emotional reaction.

"It looks like your baby is in great shape," the doctor says, reassuring me after a few more scans. “We made it to the six-month mark!” I exclaim excitedly. "Our little one is developing exactly as they should be."

The doctor nods with approval. "Let's take a closer look," she says, gesturing towards the advanced 4D machine.

It takes a minute to set up the wand over my belly again. But when it’s in place, my mind is blown. My jaw drops at the clarity of the images. I can make out each crease in the baby's lips and count every single finger and toe.

"Dare!" I gasp in awe, reaching for his hand. I tug on his hand. "That's amazing!"

The room is silent except for the beating of my heart and the low hum of the machine. Tears sting my eyes as I stare at our baby, finally becoming real before my very eyes.

I grip Dare’s hand tightly as a new wave of emotions wash over me. His grip tightens in return and he looks up at me with a mixture of joy and awe.

We stay like that for a few moments before the doctor interrupts our reverie. "Well, everything looks good," she says gently. "Your baby's growing right on track with my projections."

I reach out and gently stroke the screen. "Hi, baby."

The doctor smiles and looks between Dare and me. "Do you want to know the gender of your baby?"

My heartbeat quickens in anticipation. But before I can answer either way, Dare blurts out, "Of course we want to know. Information is power."

His voice is strangely urgent and it catches me off guard. He glances at me before quickly looking away, a flush creeping up his cheeks.

I smile in surprise. I had been expecting Dare to be more ambivalent about the whole thing, but it seems like he's just as invested into having this baby as I am. I kiss his palm and he drops his hand to cup the back of my head.

The doctor smiles gently at our dynamic before going over the sonogram again with us. Finally, she pauses at a particular spot on the screen and points out a vague blob that looks like a hamburger patty.

"It looks like you're having a baby girl," she announces calmly.

"Really?" My pulse skyrockets at the news. Every little scrap of information, every moment I look at my baby on the screen, she becomes more real.

My heart swells with joy and tears of happiness prick my eyes. Dare squeezes my hand tightly in support as we both look up at each other with wide-eyed gazes. Dare seems as out of sorts as I am and nearly as emotional to boot.

The doctor smiles and prints out several screen grabs before switching gears to nutrition.

"I'm going to recommend that you cut salt from your diet, Talia," she says. "Too much sodium can cause complications such as dehydration during labor or preterm delivery."

She goes on to explain cord blood banking services, in case we decide to do so for our baby. Then she wipes the jelly from my stomach and pulls my shirt back down.

"Thank you," Dare says. I'm a little surprised. He's been reserved with the doctor for months. Now he is suddenly showing gratitude, which in itself is unusual for him.

The doctor gives a curt smile. "Of course. I'm available at any time for questions you may have."

I dress quickly, feeling a little uncomfortable with Dare’s silence. He’s staring at the ultrasound photo of our daughter like he’s in a trance. I reach out to touch his arm and his head snaps up, meeting my gaze with a questioning look.

“Are you okay?” I ask softly.

He takes a deep breath and looks away, averting his eyes from mine. “I was just thinking… it feels real now, you know? This is someone else’s baby. I don’t know what that makes me… Am I responsible for this child now? Is it wise to claim her as my own even though she isn’t biologically mine? It won’t ever feel like she really belongs to me, will it?”

His voice is soft and painful and my heart aches for him. I take both of his hands in mine and squeeze gently. “It doesn’t matter whose baby she is biologically, Dare. She is ours now—yours and mine—and no matter what happens we will love her just as much as if she were our own flesh and blood."

"You think?"

I touch his hand. "I know it for a fact. There will be a lot of things in the future that we will need to shield our little girl from. But I feel that having you on my team will make that much easier."

He looks up at me sharply, his face full of surprise before softening into gratefulness. He squeezes my hand back before turning away to wipe some moisture from his eyes without me seeing. His chest expands in a deep inhale before he turns back towards me with a smile on his face, albeit slightly forced still.

Dare takes my hand in his and brings it to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss into the top of my knuckles. I watch his face closely as he does this, marveling at the transformation that has taken place over the past few days. It has been an incredible journey, with countless moments of learning about each other and ourselves that have led us here.

"Talia," he says softly. "I want you to know that your vulnerability unlocked something inside me—something I didn't know was there until now." He pauses for a moment and closes his eyes before continuing. "When you told me you needed me, something in me… stretched open. A part of myself I had kept hidden away for so long."

He looks down at our joined hands before meeting my gaze again and smiling sadly. "Having this photo makes everything so real now—it's like it reached deep into my chest and opened something up inside of me." His voice is low and filled with emotion.

We sit there, looking at each other in silence for a few moments as we try to process everything that had been said. Dare eventually moves closer to me and wraps his arms around my waist. I lay my head against his chest and he leans down to kiss the top of my head.

The kiss slowly deepens from tenderness to something more intimate. I feel myself melting into him. His lips brush softly against mine, coaxing my own open with gentle pressure. For a few minutes we get lost in each other, lost in the moment until Dare pulls away with an embarrassed laugh.

"I'm not sure that the doctor's office is the place for what I want to do with you right now," he murmurs, gently brushing a strand of hair out of my face while his eyes remain locked on mine.

Letting out a laugh, I roll my eyes. "We'll save it for later." I smile up at him before standing up and taking his hand in mine.

On the way to the car, a store's display window catches my eye. It's full of gorgeous baby furniture, cute baby clothes, and squeezable plush toys. I touch Dare's arm and point to the store.

"Can we go look around?"

He screws up his face and checks out the display.

"Yeah, I guess..." he says, but he doesn't sound the least bit convincing.

I take Dare's hand in mine, squeezing it gently as we make our way into the store. The store is decorated in shades of baby beige, ivory, and cream. There are plush toys, rocking chairs, carriages, and cribs, all lined up for the taking.

The store is full of items—blankets, clothes, toys, cribs and car seats. There are items that range from the simplest, the plainest, to the most extravagant and expensive. Dare fingers a price tag on one of the fancier strollers and then gives a low whistle.

"Damn." He turns the price tag so I can see it. It says fifteen hundred dollars. My eyes go wide with shock.

"What?" I exclaim. "Does it also vacuum and dust your house for you?"

Dare chuckles. We haven't been shopping for baby items yet, and it feels so surreal to be here. Time is moving too fast—it's like sifted sand slipping through my fingers. I'm worried I'm going to blink and miss something important.

The store is buzzing with activity, customers bustling around and sales associates helping them pick out just the right items. I take my time, running my hands over a few rocking chairs and picking up some of the soft baby blankets that are for sale. Dare trails behind me, seeming to enjoy looking at all the possible options but not yet committing to anything in particular.

I turn to him and arch an eyebrow. "What do you think? Anything you like?"

He takes a deep breath and rubs his hands together nervously. "I think…well, everything looks really nice. But there's something about all this pink decor for the nursery and baby clothes that make me feel—" He stops mid sentence, embarrassed by what he was about to say.

"It's okay," I tell him gently, trying not to laugh. "You can admit that you're excited."

He looks relieved as he nods and smiles sheepishly at me. "I know it's weak to care about pink baby clothes."

I wheel around, looking at Dare like he's grown another head.

"Are you kidding? I'm really glad that you're starting to feel excited about the baby. I was afraid that you would be all weird about her parentage."

Dare stares at me for a beat, his face unreadable. Then he takes a deep breath and takes my hand in his, pressing it against my stomach. "I wish like hell I'd met you first," he says softly. "And that this baby was mine."

My heart swells with emotion and I take his other hand in mine, squeezing it gently.

"It doesn't matter," I tell him. "If you care for her—and I know you will—that's all that matters."

Dare presses a kiss to my wrist. I suspect that he is masking some emotion, but I don't know for sure.

We spend the next hour looking at furniture, clothing, toys, and other accessories for the nursery. Dare gets increasingly excited about each new item we come across until finally we've picked out everything we need for the baby's arrival—including an adorable stuffed giraffe for decoration!

As we walk through the checkout line, Dare turns to me with a smile on his face.

"Thanks for giving me this moment," he says softly, taking my hand in his own hand and squeezing it gently.

"Of course," I say. I smile back at him, feeling content with my life as it is right now.