Ruin The Wedding (The Murphy Brothers #1)

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬

"She's perfect!"

That she was indeed and Charlie couldn't look away from her on the screen, wondering how the hell it was possible that in about two months she would be in her arms.

Feeling a squeeze on her hand, she forced herself to look away only to see her mother Ruth staring at the screen with silent tears falling down her cheeks. This was the first time she had come here with Charlie and seen her granddaughter moving on the screen instead of seeing only the ultrasound photo.

This time she wasn't tearing up anymore, perhaps because she had gotten used to it by now or maybe it was because she had run out of tears. Either way, now she only smiled at her mother before looking at her unborn daughter again.

"And there's nothing wrong? Everything looks still good?" Charlie had to ask again, not even bothering to wonder if it annoyed Ingrid-employee or not.

Luckily, the young woman only smiled in assurance. "Yes, your daughter looks healthy and she's growing just as she should. Heatbeat sounds good too as you just heard. As I said, she's as close to perfect as she can."

"Good, that's good," she nodded, forcing herself to not ask her to do any tests again.

"Have you and your partner talked about your birth plan already?" Ingrid asked curiosly, her back on Charlie because she started writing something on the laptop.

Freezing, she could have sworn that her heart stopped beating when she heard that question that might sound only innocent and curious to others but what reminded her once again of the lack of a partner.

Just when she was starting to get used to it, someone always asked about Mason and she had to explain the unfortunate truth about being a single mother. Usually, she had had the luck to get appointments with the same midwife but today she was unable to come to work and Ingrid had to fill in.

Faking a smile, Charlie looked away and said, "No partner, I'm doing this alone."

That made Ingrid turn around on the chair and she immediately apologized, looking regretful and ashamed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed anything. It just comes so naturally... I'm still sorry."

"It's okay. And I know that I want a natural birth with epidural." After she mentioned that, her thoughts went to the baby's name again.

Although she didn't have a first name yet, the baby would have Charlie's last name Idler. While Mason had been more than clear about his lack of interest in fatherhood, making that decision hadn't been easy.

For a second she had even considered giving the baby his last name and making her a Tate too. That wouldn't make any sense, though, because there was a chance that she might never even meet her father. That was why her daughter would have her name.

She still hadn't decided what to write on the birth certificate. Leaving the father-spot in there empty sounded so cold and final even though she knew that it was nothing but the truth. That baby wouldn't have a Dad just like Aurora wouldn't have ever again, if she ever even if. Well, maybe she had a father in the name but no Dad.

After giving birth and getting settled, she might have to talk with Mason about Aurora and his rights as a father. Did he care so little that he would want to make it official so that he wouldn't have any rights to his children anymore? What would he say if Charlie wanted to change Aurora's name to Aurora Idler too?

Did Charlie want him to fight her, for the children? Would she want him to scream at the bottom of his lungs that he was wrong and that he regretted everything? That he wanted to come back and be part of their family again, be a father again?