“I’d love to,” I told her honestly. “Tonight?”
Nibbling on her bottom lip, she nodded.
It was a pretty long walk from her apartment to school so I offered, “I can pick you up if you want?”
“That’d be nice. Thanks.”
She told me a time, and after I said I’d be there, I murmured casually, “We can go out for something to eat before I drop you at home?”
Relief flashed in her eyes. It had nothing to do with meeting me and everything to do with food.
My kid was hungry.
Fuck, how could I have failed her this much?
“That’d be great.” She backed off, turning around after a couple steps, before running into the building.
I almost took off, but I waited, hoping…
Before she walked through the main door, she twisted back to look at me.
I raised a hand in farewell, which prompted her to dart inside.
Blowing out a sharp breath, one that was loaded with relief and lingering nerves, I reached for my cellphone and tapped out a text.
Rex: She’s her mother’s daughter.
Which, of course, was when I realized I hadn’t gotten a picture of us.
Maybe later. Seeing as there would be a later now.
THIRTY
RACHEL
Rex: She’s her mother’s daughter.
I stroked my thumb across the screen once I’d read his message.
At face value, I thought he was referring to Wynter’s adoptive mother.
Then, it registered he was talking about me and that stirred up a whole host of feelings, most of which were unexpected and were a pleasant escape from the terror gnawing at me.
“Rachel Laker?”
I peered up at the receptionist when she called my name and tucked my phone back into my pocket.
Sweating, nauseated (not from morning sickness,) and jumping like I was a cat on a hot tin roof, I suffered through my appointment. It was hard not to bolt, just to endure, but I had to get used to this.
The alternative wasn’t an option.
I wanted this baby; that meant I had to see this through.
This would be my first doctor’s visit, and I’d been dreading it. Mostly because of the past, partly because I knew what I’d be told.
And I was right.
I was underweight. Overworked. I was borderline anemic and had low blood pressure. All of which were things my doctor expected to be worked on before I visited with her again.
Like I could wave a magic wand and out of nowhere, the desire to slow down as well as to have more iron in my blood could be fixed.
Right.
There was only one positive from the visit—that pain in my side? She suspected it was an ulcer.
Once the appointment was over, thank fuck, and tired of being poked and prodded, it was with no small amount of relief that I left the office.
As I did, and as luck would have it, Rex sent me a text message.
Rex: Can I call?
I didn’t answer, just presented the nurse with the folder my doctor had given me, made another appointment, proceeded to make a note of it in my calendar, and then I left the damn place as my cell buzzed.
Parker: How did it go?
Rachel: Badly.
Parker: She tell you to eat more, take iron supplements, and to try meditation for stress?
Rachel: Why did I bother going through the trauma of visiting her when I could just have seen you?
Parker: I’d say that I could have saved you the copay but it’s not like you pay it anyways.
Rachel: Lol. I’ll pay you the copay next time.
Parker: Next time… lemme see. I’d have to get up close and personal with your vajayjay. I love you, honey, but I think that’s where our relationship ends.
Rachel: And I thought we were the next Thelma and Louise.
Parker: We can be. So long as I don’t have to see your lady garden.
Rachel: LOL. I need to graduate you to non-fade-to-black books. Anyway, gtg.
Parker: You’d better be going for lunch.
Rachel: I am. MOM.
Sucking in a couple deep breaths of chilly air, I didn’t bother texting Rex a reply, just directly called him once I’d stuck my earbuds in.
He answered almost immediately. “Rach?”
His voice, damn, sounded so good in my ears. Even if I’d heard it this morning, it was nice to hear it now after being scolded by the doctor.
I bet that bitch would have been different if Rex were there.
Almost huffing at the thought, I asked, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. I finished up with Wynter and I’m back in my room. I figured you’d want to know how it went.”
Hearing her name made me press my hand to my belly. It was a stupid thing to do, but talking about my firstborn while I was carrying my to-be-born child had a weird way of twisting the past and the present together.
Gnawing on my bottom lip, I told him, “I got your text.”
“Yeah, I saw you’d read it.”
“You meant me, right?”
“Of course I did. I don’t remember dick about Ally anymore.”
Her adoptive mom.
Ally.
What had made him choose Wynter's adoptive parents? Was it like Mav said... Rex knew they were already looking into adoption?
I pursed my lips. “What’s she like?”
“She’s a detail-oriented, pedantic pain in the butt. She won’t let me get away with shit, barely smiles, and is so hungry it hurts but… she’s awesome.”
I half-laughed at his description, but the depth of the eagerness I felt to know more about our child took me aback.
The notion of getting back in my car and talking to him there didn’t fill me with glee, so I headed to a coffee shop down the street.
“If you hear noise, it’s just me going into a café.”
“Okay. Where are you?”
“Is that one of your questions?” I teased.
“No,” he groused, but I heard the smirk.
Sure, it was technically impossible to hear a smirk, but that was how well I knew Rex.
“I’m in New York.”
“Still?”
He wasn’t to know that my OB/GYN was there because I didn’t want the rest of West Orange knowing that I was pregnant.
“Business.”
His hum was dark. “Business.”
I grinned as I peered at the menu once I’d taken a seat in a corner booth. It was after lunch so the rush had died down about forty minutes ago.
With the doctor’s warnings in my ears, I made my selection and pointed to it when the server came and ordered a chai latte too.
When I was done, I said, “It’s for a gala.”
“A gala?”
I scoffed, “Like you don’t know about the FAST galas.”
He snickered. “You’re not supposed to know that I know.”
“Let’s just assume that I believe you know everything there is to know about me, whereas I know piteously little about you.”
“Piteously little, huh?”
I grunted. “Yes. Much too little. Anyway, the gala is approaching. I mostly leave it to a couple of events organizers, but some things need my attention. I’ve brought Lily on board too at Giulia’s suggestion. She’s been a lifesaver.”
“Giulia?”