Best of Both Worlds

Chapter Eight

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.