Tymber Dalton - Pinch Me

“I’d say the first thing is to tell Rob.”

She closed her eyes. “He’s working until tomorrow. Double shift.”

They quietly waited until the doctor and nurse returned. An hour later they were finished, but the doctor recommended she not do any diving considering the fairly recent trauma she’d been through.

“Better to err on the side of caution,” he said.

Bill waited for Laura while she checked out and made a follow-up appointment for a few weeks later. He browsed a fishing magazine in the waiting area when he heard a man’s voice speak Laura’s name.

Bill looked up and saw a man in a suit emerge from the back. Laura visibly bristled.

“Oh, hello,” she said.

Bill stood, waiting for a cue she needed him to intercede. The guy looked like a salesman, probably a pharmacy rep. Two others had come and gone earlier while they awaited Laura’s turn.

The nurse behind the counter handed Laura an appointment card and some paperwork. “Mrs. Carlton, do you want any brochures, or need a referral to a Lamaze class?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll get that from you next time.”

The nurse turned to the man. “Hi, Don. Didn’t see you come in. I thought you weren’t due until next week. Did you need anything else?”

He smiled, but Bill didn’t like the look of him. “No, I’m okay, Della, thanks. I was in the area, thought I’d pop in. Tell the doc I’ll stop by next week to see if he needs anything.” He turned to Laura. “How are you?”

Laura forced a smile. “I’m fine, thank you.” Then she turned back to the nurse. “Am I all set?”

Della nodded. “Yes, we’ll see you back in three weeks.”

“Thank you.” Laura turned to walk away. “Nice seeing you, Mr. Kern.”

Bill fell into step beside her and sensed her agitation. In the car he quickly locked the doors once they were inside. “Okay, sis. What’s that about? Who was he?”

She filled him in. “Customer from the shop. It unnerved me seeing him there until I remembered he’s a pharmaceutical sales rep. And Englewood is a very small town.”

“So he’s just creepy?”

“Yeah, but apparently he’s got a girlfriend now. Sara said he brought a woman in with him for a dive last week.” Laura groaned and smacked her leg. “I can’t dive!”

“What?”

“I’m supposed to run the check-out dives this weekend. I can’t do water classes. Crap!”

“Why?”

She looked at Bill. “Duh. What’d the doc just say?”

He winced. “Sorry, sis. I’m not used to the fact that I’m going to be an uncle yet.” He drove. “Where to?”

She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. “What time is it?”

“Noon.”

“Let’s go to Rob’s station.”

“I need directions.”

They found Rob at the station. He was happy to see them until he got a good look at Laura’s expression. “What’s wrong?”

“We need to talk,” she said quietly.

Rob looked at Bill. Bill shook his head. No help there.

Rob took her hand. “Come on.”

Bill followed them inside and sat in the lounge to watch TV. The captain let them use his office, where Rob sat her down.

“Okay, tell me what’s wrong, baby girl. What did the doctor say?”

Her tears finally broke through the shock and she sobbed, unable to speak.

He put his arms around her, trying to soothe her. “Honey, please, what’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” His imagination pictured the worse. Was it cancer? Was she dying?

It took her several minutes to calm down enough to sniffle her answer against his shoulder, and he couldn’t understand what she said.

“Sweetheart,” he whispered, “ please . Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together. I love you. Tell me.”

She sat up and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “Sir, I’m pregnant.”

He stared at her, sure he misheard her. “You’re not sick?”

She looked at him. “What?”

“What did you say?” He must have misheard her, as upset as she was.

“I’m pregnant, Sir,” she whispered. “About six weeks.”

The words finally made it through to his brain and he felt his dread lift. He grabbed her hands. “We’re going to have a baby?”

She nodded, and he grinned. “That’s fantastic!” He hugged her, “Jeez, I thought you were going to tell me you were dying! You scared the crap out of me! I should beat you on general principle just for that.”

She finally laughed and managed to pull free. “No, Sir. Not dying.”

“That’s great! A baby—” He processed the look on her face. “What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with it?”

She shook her head. “No, Sir. Not that I know of.”

Rob studied her and finally understood how upset she was. He lowered his voice and dropped into full-on Dom tone. “Baby girl, why do you look like you’ve received bad news?”

She looked down at her lap. “Because we decided to wait, Sir.”

“It’s okay.” He pulled her to him again. “It’ll be okay sweetheart. Don’t you still want to have a baby?”

“Yes.”

“Then tell me what’s wrong.”

She shrugged. “I’m just… It was a shock, Sir. It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

He kissed her. “Have you told anyone else yet?”

“Bill was there when the doctor told me.” She barked out a laugh. “He mistook Bill for you and we had to explain he was my brother.”

He caressed her cheek. “I love you so much. You have no idea.”

She rested her head against him. “I don’t want to tell anyone else yet, Sir.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t mean not tell Shayla and our close friends, or Steve and Carol and Sarah. I just don’t want it to be public knowledge.”

He studied her face. “Okay,” he agreed.

Bill stood when they finally emerged from the office a few minutes later. “Are you okay?”

She nodded. Rob held her hand and walked them out to the car. He hugged her before opening the door for her. “Sweetheart, this is okay. This is good news.”

She wished she felt the same. “I know.” She forced herself not to call him “Sir” in front of Bill.

Rob held the door for her while she got in, and he leaned in and kissed her one last time. “Take it easy, all right? Don’t wear yourself out.” He closed the door and watched them pull out of the parking lot.

“Where to, sis?”

She sighed. “Let’s pull through somewhere, get something to eat, and take it to the shop.”

There were no customers when they arrived at the shop. Steve put down the regulator he was working on when she walked in. “What’s wrong?”

Bill laughed. “Who says anything’s wrong?”

He frowned and pointed to Laura. “I’ve known this girl since she was a kid. What’s going on?”

Laura shook her head. “Where’s Carol and Sarah?”

“They’re out back. Why?”

“I want to say this once and get it over with.” They took the food outside and found Carol and Sarah at the table.

“Honey,” Carol said, “what’s wrong?”

Bill shook his head. “Does everyone have this weird psychic stuff?”

“About her, yes,” Sarah said. “What’s wrong?”

Laura sat and started to unwrap her burger. “I’ve got something I need to tell you all. And you can’t tell anyone . It needs to be between just the three of you. Bill knows, obviously. And Rob.”

“What is it?” Steve asked.

She looked at him. “I’m pregnant.”

Sarah grinned. “That’s great!” She studied Laura, her smile fading. “That’s not great? Why do you look upset?”

Laura glared at her. “Psycho guy after me. Sort of preempts the baby buzz.”