“No, they all have babies.”

“And we will too.”

“Yeah, but they have them now. Ours is still cooking.”

He smiles. “True, which is why we gotta get to the doctor.”

I eye him. “I’m not done talking about this.”

He waves me off. “It will work out.”

And I don’t doubt that. If anyone can do it, we can. But at what cost?

Lying back on the cold table, I lift up my T-shirt as Dr. Vernon moves his hands along my abdomen.

“How is everything? You still vomiting a lot?”

I smile. “Yeah.”

“It’s normal, but you let me know if it gets out of hand.”

“Okay.” I smile at Jace as he watches, his eyes intent on the doctor.

“Her boobs hurt a lot,” he says then, and I giggle as the doctor smiles.

“It’s normal.”

“That will go away, right? She said it will go away.”

Rolling his eyes, Dr. Vernon laughs. “Yes, son, it will.”

“Cool,” he says, rocking back on his heels. “And everything is good? Like, she’s normal?” He’s shaking with nerves and I reach out to take his hand. “Like, her meds won’t hurt the baby, right?”

“No, she’s right where she needs to be. You are showing already.”

I smile. “I look bloated, fat,” I say with a laugh, and Jace glares at me.

“I told you, you aren’t fat.”

“Woo-hoo, got you a good man right there. Smart man,” Dr. Vernon says with a wink and I grin.

“The best,” I say to Jace, but he’s too busy watching everything the doctor does.

When his eyes widen, I cut my gaze to the doctor as he comes to me with a little machine. “What is that?” Jace asks, horror in his voice.

Dr. Vernon laughs. “I haven’t had a skittish daddy in a while. It’s nice,” he jokes, but Jace isn’t laughing. “It’s a fetal Doppler. We’re going to see if we can hear the baby’s heartbeat.”

“Aw, cool!” I say, coming up on my elbows to watch. Jace comes closer, his eyes wide as Dr. Vernon turns it on and then places it to my belly, pressing into my skin. But I hear nothing. He moves it around, but I still don’t hear anything other than the static of the thing moving. Oh, no. What if something is wrong?

“I don’t hear anything,” Jace says, the alarm in his voice matching mine. “Does that mean it doesn’t have a heartbeat?”

But Dr. Vernon waves him off. “No, it’s early. We may not be able to hear it,” he says, moving it around more, but that doesn’t help the anxiety suffocating me. Lucy said I should be able to hear it at this appointment. I glance at Jace and he looks white as a ghost and hasn’t moved, only his eyes following the little probe on my belly. Turning back to the doctor, I watch him, and when he smiles, I hold my breath. “Hello there, little bit,” he mutters before turning the knob of the thing up, and the most beautiful sound in the world fills the room.

Our baby’s heartbeat.

I close my eyes, my face breaking into a grin as Jace kisses me hard on the cheek. When I open my eyes, he has his phone up, and I smile, thinking he’s taking a picture. “I’m recording. That’s our baby.”

I laugh as he turns off his phone, kissing me once more. Leaning his nose to my temple, he whispers, “I’m so happy.”

Tears burn my eyes as I nod. “Me too.”

“Me too,” Dr. Vernon says. “It sounds good, strong. You are doing great, so we are done. Let me know if there are any questions, and I will see you in four weeks.”

He takes the Doppler off my stomach, and the room goes silent except for the crackling of the paper I sit on. But one thing is for sure, you couldn’t wipe the grins off our faces. Or erase the fact that I’ll never forget the sound of my baby’s heartbeat.

“It could be a badass beat, for a rap or something,” I say as we walk out of the office and toward our car.

Jace laughs. “Yeah, I want to hear that.” Smiling back, I lean into him, wanting not only his warmth but his love. “That was so awesome.”

“It was.”

“I want to post it, but I know you don’t want people knowing about the little bun in your oven.”

I nod. “Even though everyone already suspects it. Because why would hotshot, star hockey player Jace Sinclair marry someone like Avery Rose without knocking her up?”

He makes a face. “Who the hell thinks that?”

“Everyone, Jace,” I say with a shrug. “I don’t care, though. They’re just jealous.”

“True that,” he says with a nod. “So I still can’t post it?”

“No,” I laugh, leaning into him.

“Why?”

“’Cause I’m only nine weeks. Wait till after twelve.”

“That’s boring.”

“It’s smart,” I say simply. “I could still miscarry according to the baby book.”

He shakes his head. “Um, no. My baby is coming into the world to dominate. He’s sticking around.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re crazy.”

“Crazy for you,” he says, nuzzling his nose in my ear, causing me to giggle as I try to get away. Reaching out, he pulls me back into his side as we reach the car. While I’m excited and elated about hearing the baby’s heartbeat, our conversation from earlier is still bothering me, and I know I have to settle this with him.

When he goes to start the car, I stop him. “Jace.”

He looks over at me, smiling. “Yeah?”

I smile. “I love you—”

“I love you too,” he says, leaning over and kissing me softly on the lips, but before he can get away, I stop him.

“But you have to let me help here. I have money saved up. Let’s use that and get an apartment, or we can go move in with your mom.”

His face twists in disgust. “No way in hell are we moving in with my mom. And no, we are good. It’s fine. If anything, we’ll just sleep apart until something opens up.”

I nod, but I don’t want that and neither does he. “That sucks.”

“Yeah, but I’m not gonna financially fuck us, and I’m not asking for help. We got this.”