Chapter 34

“Okay, Eden, let’s see how the baby is going?”

Laying my hands at my side, I stare at the doctor as she pours goop on my stomach. I’ve been anxious about this appointment for a few days, and I have my reasons. The first being the doctor. We definitely didn’t get off on the right foot the first visit due to her nasty attitude. However, today, with Jasper by my side, she is a picture-perfect doctor. She smiles, says kinds words, and even laughs at something Jasper says. The second reason is I’ve been worried about the baby. We had a rocky start with stomach ulcers. Thankfully, things have been getting a lot better. I’ve gotten a handle on the morning sickness, so I’m not throwing up as much. None of that matters though. I just want to know that my baby is healthy.

The doctor begins spreading the goop around as she stares at the screen, and as the seconds pass, I begin to worry that something is wrong.

Glancing at the doctor, she’s looking at the screen with a small crinkle in between her eyebrows. She moves the handle around a bit, and the frown grows.

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?” Jasper asks, immediately reaching for my shaking hand.

“I’m just finding the heartbeat a little difficult to locate. Sometimes the baby is turned in a weird position.”

My heart begins to beat like a horse as the seconds drag on. I prepare for the worst, and my eyes begin to water with tears. Something is wrong.

I take several deep breaths while squeezing Jasper’s hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I see his leg bouncing anxiously, the same fear running through him.

A tear trails down the side of my face. A loud thumping noise breaks through the silence.

“There we go.” The doctor smiles in relief and we all let out a happy sigh.

I let out a little laugh as Jasper wipes my tear away, smiling.

“Everything is okay, baby.”

“Heartbeat is fast and steady. Good numbers. Baby is measuring at 14 weeks, which is on schedule. So, I’d say that everything is good. Do you have any questions?”

I shake my head.

“When will I feel the baby start moving?”

“A lot of women start to feel some fluttering around or after 16 weeks. The next time I see you, you can learn the gender if that’s something you want.”

“Yes,” Jasper says.

“No,” I say at the same time.

The doctor laughs, shaking her head.

“Well, you two have plenty of time to get on the same page.”

After wiping the goop off of my stomach, the doctor chats with us for a bit before sending us to the front desk to schedule my next appointment. When we exit the building, I feel a weight lift off my shoulders. I’m so happy this visit went better than the first. I’m even happier that I was able to hear my sweet baby’s heartbeat.

I can tell Jasper feels the same way because as we get into the car, he can’t stop smiling.

“Happy?” I ask.

“Very. I’m glad our baby is doing well. I’m glad you’re doing well. All I do every day is hope that you’re doing okay. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you. I’d die.” He takes my hand, and I squeeze it.

“I’m fine and our baby is fine. Try not to stress so much, okay?”

Jasper nods before leaning over to kiss me. His kiss is firm and hungry. He’s kissing me like I’m going to disappear into thin air and this is the last kiss he’ll ever get from me. I don’t want him to feel like that every day, but how can I stop him? I’m the love of his life, and I’m carrying his child. Of course he’s going to worry. He’s about to be a father. He was protective before the baby. Now it’s extreme.

To take our minds off all our worries, Jasper takes me to get Mexican food for lunch. He knows I’ve been craving it this past week. I’ve also been craving a margarita, but ya know…

I settle for my favorite soda as we sit in the booth eating chips and queso. While we’re talking, I pull out the ultrasound pictures and start a discussion about who the baby is going to look like.

“Obviously, the baby is going to look like me. I have all the dominant traits.” Jasper smiles as I roll my eyes.

“That doesn’t mean anything. This baby can look just like me. I look just like my mom when she was my age, and she looks like my grandma.”

“But who says it’s going to be a girl?”

I pause with my mouth open.

“Okay, you have a point. If it’s a girl, then she’s going to look like me, and if it’s a boy, then it’ll look like you. There, now we’re equal.” I shrug, and Jasper pops another chip in his mouth, shrugging with me.

“Doesn’t matter if it’s a boy or girl to me. Either way, it’s going to be a beautiful baby because it’s coming from a beautiful woman.”

My heart warms at his words, and I almost start to cry. He truly does know exactly what to say to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Jasper is a very closed-off man, and when I met him, he scared me a little with how stone cold he appeared to be, but as I got to know him, I realized that he simply doesn’t waste words. Whatever he says, he means with his whole heart. That’s what I love most about him.

As we’re eating, I want nothing more than to hop over this table and kiss him to bits, but that wouldn’t be appropriate, so I restrain myself. However, after crossing and uncrossing my legs for the fourth time, Jasper catches on, finishing his food a little faster before paying the check.

With our moods a lot better than they were earlier, we’re ready to go home and have wild sex all over the bedroom. All I want is for him to make me come over and over in a never-ending loop of orgasms in every position known to man.

Okay, not every position.

When we pull into the driveway, I’m the first out of the car as Jasper grabs my carryout box of leftover Mexican food that I couldn’t finish. He tosses me the keys, and I hurry to unlock the door. The moment I open the door, my smile falls and I’m yelling for Jasper.

Rushing over to the stairs, He sees Harper on the floor. I fall to my knees next to him and he groans.

“Oh God, Harper, what happened?!”

“My knee gave out and I fell. I tried to get up, but my back wouldn’t let me.”

“How long have you been here?!”

“Almost an hour. My phone is in the living room.”

Jasper rushes next to me with his phone in hand, ready to call an ambulance. Harper assures us that he’s okay and only fell three steps. He says he didn’t hit his head or anything, but he’s still not well enough to pick himself up off the floor without help.

Slowly, Jasper helps him up and gets him upstairs and into bed. My stomach is in knots with worry. I feel sick knowing that he was just lying on the floor, helpless, unable to call for help. I want to fuss at him and tell him that this is what I meant when I said that he still needs help. However, I don’t want to take away his last little bit of pride. It must be upsetting for him to need this kind of help, but he was in a major accident. It’s not something to be embarrassed about. He survived, and it’s going to take some time to get his body back together. I wish he’d realize that.

When Jasper has him settled, he calls the nurse and asks her if she can come to check him, just in case he hurt himself worse than he already is. Thankfully, she agrees.

Within 20 minutes, she’s here and running a whole-body check on him. She takes his vitals and assesses his pain, checking for new injuries as well as a concussion (just in case he did hit his head without realizing it).

The whole time, I pace in the hallway, waiting for her to tell us that he’s as fine as he was before the fall.

She finally comes out and lets us know that he’s okay but shouldn't go up and down the stairs without assistance. Maybe, since a professional said it out loud, he’ll listen, because he didn’t want to listen to me.

After she leaves, Jasper checks on him again. I opt not to go in so he doesn’t think I’m coming to fuss over him, even though I should. When Jasper finally comes out, he runs his fingers through his hair.

“He’s going to be the death of me. I thought I was the stubborn one.” He shakes his head, yawning.

“He’s okay?”

“Yeah, baby. He’s fine, just embarrassed. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Good,” I sigh.

“Well, so much for the wild sex we had planned.” He pouts and I can’t help but smile.

“You’re impossible,” I mumble, walking downstairs to get some water.

“Not impossible. Just horny,” he whispers just loud enough for me to hear.