Titus: Book Two of the Cantrell Brothers Series

Chapter Twenty-Two

The drive to Ob Gyn Associates of Broxton was silent. Anna re-read all of the questions she had written down this past week while Titus made sure they got to Broxton fifteen minutes before the scheduled appointment. From the corner of her eye, she saw the hard set of his face, his jaw clamped as tightly as his hands on the steering wheel.

To a person who didn't know him all too well, Titus would appear relaxed. With his right arm casually playing with a stray piece of leather on the counsel and his form slouched into the Ford's truck seats, he looked like they were just going on a normal trip down to Benny's Pharmacy and Soda Fountain.

But they weren't. She and Titus were going down to the very first prenatal appointment for this child inside of her. Anna rubbed the small baby bump with an absent mind, enjoying the feel of a small yet important life inside her that had changed everything in a span of just a few weeks.

People, she could tell, were beginning to notice the little bump, but only Sam had asked if she was pregnant. Anna could still remember how she had just sat down on the bench next to her friend, telling Sam that yes, she was in fact pregnant with her newlywed's child. Word had quickly spread after that, and within a day, everybody – even her students and the elderly shut-ins – had known.

There were congratulations said, and only one precarious, unbelieving look from Mary Ellis. Anna had been expecting a lot more unbelievers than just Mary, but, as far as she'd seen, everybody was just happy for her. There was no other word for it. When she had went grocery shopping earlier today, a high school student cashier had congratulated her, soon followed by a string of others as she had walked in the parking lot to her car.

In Napolm, that type of behavior was to be expected. It was too small to not be a religious-oriented town where everybody knew everything about everybody else. Hell, she even knew the middle name of the guy who had bought Hunter's old financial advisor building that had been his makeshift office whenever he had been in Napolm.

Keith Paxton Summerstron was the guy's name, and he had even congratulated her with a handshake on the pregnancy when she had taken one last stroll down that part of Napolm. She could still remember how a group of older women had circled around like a pack of wolves as they asked about Titus and how the rancher was doing.

Anna had said all the right things to not just them but everybody, making everybody fall in love with her and Titus's love story. Some just stood there with dreamy eyes, others – like the Eagles' football coach, Dan Wilkensky – had been grinning ear to ear with the prospect of another strong generation of football players.

She looked down at her belly once again, wondering if they were indeed having a football player or if this child was going to play volleyball. Some people always said that the mother just somehow knew what the gender of the child was, but Anna honestly had no idea and not a care really if this was going to be a boy or a girl. He or she would have a home with a loving father and secure mother, and that was all she was concerned about.

“What do you think?” Anna asked, fiddling around with her list of questions.

He didn't take his eyes off the road, only continuing to dodge in and out of traffic on the interstate. “What do I think about what?”

“The gender? Boy or girl?”

“Aren't you supposed to know? Don't you have some type of seventh, motherly sense or somethin'?”

“Guess,” was all she said, wanting him to alleviate her nerves by just talking with her.

The corner of his mouth kicked up, and he said, “I'm guessing that it's probably gonna be a boy, but I want a girl.”