The Things I Do for You (The Alexanders) (22 page)

Nick cleared his throat and tried to focus on Ian Williamson, one of his oldest clients.

“Oh, look at the time. We’ve run over.”

Nick’s head snapped up. “Yes, we have, and unfortunately I really do need to run. My wife is having her first sonogram today,” he found himself saying. “We get to hear the heartbeat.”

Ian looked shocked. “Well, congratulations, Nick. As you know, I have four with the missus. There’s nothing like the first time you see your child. Go on. Go!”

Nick grabbed his briefcase and shot out the door, yelling over his shoulder for Kay to put Mr. Williamson down again for next week.
 

Too impatient to wait for the elevator, he bounded down the five flights of stairs to the lobby and then another flight to the underground parking deck.
 

By the time he pulled up to New Haven General, he was pretty sure he’d broken several traffic laws. He pulled around to the side of the hospital where the medical offices were located. Not finding a space close to the door, he parked at the back of the lot and jogged up the path. He entered and walked straight up to the reception desk.

“Hi. My wife, Raina, is here and I’m late.”

The nurse behind the desk smiled knowingly. “She asked us to keep a lookout for you, Mr. Alexander. She only went back five minutes ago.”

He followed the nurse through another door and down a long hallway. She stopped at a room on the right and knocked briskly. He heard Raina’s voice call out, “
Come in
.
”

The nurse opened the door and ushered him inside.
 

“Nick!” Raina stood as soon as he entered. “You made it. I thought you weren’t going to get here in time.” She had already undressed and wore a light blue hospital gown. He kissed her lightly on the cheek.

“I’m so sorry, sweets. I was in the middle of a client meeting. I was on the verge of running out. Luckily, this guy has four kids of his own so he seemed to understand.”
 

Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. Her pregnancy was already obvious in the glow of her skin and the flush on her cheeks.
 

“I’m just glad you’re here. I’m waiting on the doctor now. I already filled out my paperwork and the nurses weighed me.”

He sat in one of the uncomfortable blue chairs next to the utilitarian gray desk in the corner. Raina sat back on the paper-lined exam table. It was stark and slightly scary to be in such a medicinal environment.
 

Raina has to do this all the time?
 

Nick couldn’t imagine having to come here on a regular basis, but Raina had already been once to confirm pregnancy. Now they would get to see the baby and hear the heartbeat.

There was another brief knock before the door opened. An older woman with salt-and-pepper hair stepped through the door.

“Ms. Winters, good to see you again.”

Raina waved. “Hi, Dr. Waters. This is my husband, Nick.”

The doctor shook his hand. “Hello, Mr. Alexander. Glad you could join us this time.” She read over Raina’s chart and then asked, “Any problems I should be aware of?”

“I’m just throwing up a lot. When is this part going to be over?”
 

“Usually it’ll stop before the second trimester. Hopefully, sooner. If it becomes severe and persistent then we’ll need to address it. But hopefully it won’t come to that.”

She pulled out a small machine and positioned it next to Raina. “Now it’s time for the good stuff. We get to do another ultrasound so you can hear your baby’s heartbeat. I’ll also measure the baby to make sure he or she is growing properly.”

Nick rubbed his hands together. While the doctor moved around the room gathering equipment, he leaned over and took Raina’s hand.
 

“She can’t tell whether it’s a boy or a girl yet, right?”

Raina shook her head. “Not yet. We have to wait until I’m twenty weeks along for that.”

“You don’t have a preference, do you? Because I should probably warn you, Alexander men mainly shoot Y chromosomes.”

Raina put a hand over her stomach. “I don’t care about that. I’ll love them either way. And they’ll love me right back.” She said the last part so softly he wondered if she’d meant to say it at all.
 

The doctor came back to them with a large wand. “Now don’t be alarmed, Mr. Alexander. Since your wife isn’t that far along, we have to use a probe.”

“A transvaginal ultrasound, right?” Nick supplied.

Dr. Waters looked impressed. “Very good. Not many fathers are that well informed.”

He gave himself a mental pat on the back. “I’ve been reading this book about pregnancy.”

Raina shot him a wry glance. “He probably knows more about it than I do.”

“Okay, just lie back and try to relax, Raina.”

Nick moved up closer to Raina’s head. Her eyes latched on to his. He could hear movement below, but he kept his eyes on hers. She flinched, then he heard the doctor tapping away at the keyboard of the machine she was staring at.
 

“Okay, I’m measuring the fetus. Growth is on target. Now, just a second and we’ll let you hear the heartbeat.”

There was a pause and then the room was filled with a loud whooshing sound. Nick felt his own heart rate jump in response.
 

“That’s our baby?” he whispered to Raina.
 

She nodded and a tear slipped down her cheek. “Listen to him! It’s so fast.”

“It does sound really fast. Is that normal?” He turned and repeated the question to Dr. Waters.

“It’s a beautiful heart rate. It’s normal for it to sound fast like a horse’s gallop.”

Raina looked at the screen. There wasn’t much to see, just a few white shaded areas and a small blob in the center.
 

“There’s my little jelly bean,” she said.
 

Dr. Waters hit a few keys and then handed them a strip of black and white pictures. “Here are some photos for your scrapbook.”

Nick peered at the photo. There was a small circle around the blob in the middle so he assumed that was the baby.

“Now, do you two have any questions for me?”

Nick looked up. “I do. Is there anything that we should avoid? Like sex, for example?”

Raina winced. “Nick!”

Dr. Waters held up a hand. “The most common question I get about pregnancy is whether sex is safe. In your case, Raina, your difficulty in getting pregnant was due to the blockage in your fallopian tubes. Now that you
are
pregnant, I fully expect you to have a completely normal pregnancy and delivery. Which means that sexual activity is perfectly safe.”

Nick leaned forward. “The book said no deep penetration though—”
 

“Nick! She said it was safe.” Raina’s cheeks flushed bright red.

Dr. Waters looked like she was fighting a smile. “It’s perfectly all right. It’s safe for you to do whatever Raina feels comfortable doing. Just listen to your body’s natural cues. If anything feels uncomfortable or you start to feel dizzy or sick, then stop. Otherwise, it’s perfectly fine.”

Nick sighed. “Okay, then I have no other questions.”

*
 
*
 
*
 
*
 
*

“YOU’RE WEARING THAT?” Nick stood in the doorway of their bedroom, watching as she smoothed down her dress.
 

“I’m pretty sure those words are in the ‘what to never say to your pregnant wife’ category. But yes, I’m wearing this. I have to wear all my nice clothes before I’m too big for them. Plus, I’ve been feeling so sick and gross all week that the only things I’ve worn are my pajamas. I want to wear something nice.”

“You look beautiful.”

“I can’t wait until this horrible nausea stops. Baby bumps are all the rage now. I’m determined to be fashionable all throughout this pregnancy. I’ve already gotten a few offers for pregnancy modeling, but I can’t take them when I’m barfing all day.”

“You’ll be as beautiful pregnant as you’ve always been.” He was saying the right things but looking down at his phone. He’d been like this lately, distracted and distant.
 

Raina looked at herself in the mirror over her dresser. Was it any wonder? Throwing up for the past month and a half had robbed her complexion of its usual freshness. She snorted. Who was she trying to fool?
Freshness?
She looked like a hag. She was bloated even though she hadn’t been eating much because even the smell of food made her want to upchuck.
 

They arrived at the ABC Farm and Nick ushered Raina quickly from the car into the house. It was much colder out now. The weather seemed to have gotten pissed off that summer was gone and had just snapped into the low forties overnight.

Julia greeted them at the door. “I’m so glad you’re feeling well enough to come, Raina. Come on into the kitchen and keep me company.”

Raina followed behind as Julia led her through the family room and into the kitchen. It was a relief to leave the noise and chaos of the den behind.

Ridley and Laura were chopping tomatoes and dropping them into a big wooden bowl. A decorative plate of oranges sat on the table.
 

“Would you like something to drink, Raina?”

“I’d love an orange, actually.” Raina stood at the counter and peeled the fruit. She popped a section in her mouth and the tart juice exploded on her taste buds. She wasn’t able to keep much down, but everything she ate now just tasted better. She found herself eyeing the peel, wondering how it would taste. Before she could stop herself, she popped a small piece in her mouth.
 

Weird but good.

She looked up to find Ridley watching her in disbelief. “Did you just eat the orange peel?”

“I don’t know why I did that.” Slightly embarrassed, Raina continued eating her orange while Ridley and Laura carried the food out to the table.

“Weird cravings must be part of carrying an Alexander baby." Julia came over and stood next to her. “I never craved ice cream or any of the usual things when I was pregnant with any of the boys. I craved
really
strange things when I was pregnant with Nick. I wanted black pepper all the time.”

“Well, that’s not that weird,” Raina pointed out.

“I wanted black pepper
by itself
.
Not sprinkled on food but I would just shake it onto my tongue. It drove Mark crazy.”

Raina looked down at the orange peel she’d been absently gnawing on and suddenly didn’t feel so bad.

“I’ve been doing weird things more than anything else. I had just about given up on baking, but lately I’ve been craving chocolate cupcakes again.”

“I bet Nick likes that. He’s always had a sweet tooth.”

“Well, he would probably like them if they didn’t all taste like cardboard. I’m completely useless in the kitchen,” she admitted. Every time she tried to cook anything, it was an utter disaster. She’d been feeling more and more useless lately. Domestic skills had never been at the top of her priority list, but now she wondered if she’d been too quick to dismiss their importance. All the things she’d thought were so boring and ordinary were skills that would come in handy now.

Julia rubbed her arm. “Everyone has different talents. What would be the point of chefs if everyone could cook? Besides, my son is a great cook. He’ll take good care of you.”

“He shouldn’t have to do everything, though. I’m sure he’s going to get tired of always having to do everything for me.”

If he isn’t already,
Raina thought. Considering how distant he’d been lately, it seemed their honeymoon period was already over.
 

“All I know is that my son had a shadow over him for much of this past year. Until he married
you
. He was always making jokes so everyone else thought he was fine, but a mother doesn’t miss these things. You’ll see once yours arrives.”

 
She rubbed Raina’s belly. Raina warmed from the inside out. She had never been the touchy-feely type, but it was very easy to make an exception for her mother-in-law. Julia had a way about her that put everyone at ease.
 

“I know your own mother is gone and I’m so sorry, sweetheart. But I hope you know you can come to me with any questions you have or if you just need to talk. I wasn’t blessed with daughters, but I feel like the good Lord is making up for it now by bringing you two sweet girls into my sons’ lives. I’ve met their girlfriends before, of course, and I’m sure they were nice enough girls. But Lord love them, some of them didn’t have the brains God gave a turnip. My sons need strong women they can really talk to. Women who can be true partners.”
 

“I’m sure I’m not what you wanted in your daughter-in-law,” Raina said softly.

“I wanted him to have a wife who makes him
happy
. Look at him.” Julia gestured with her chin to where Nick was holding Jase in his lap and feeding him cookies. He was talking to Jackson and gesturing with his hands emphatically. He looked up and met Raina’s eyes. She smiled and he smiled back. It transformed his whole face.
 

 "I’ve never seen my Nicky so happy,” Julia commented. 

Raina could only hope he was really as happy as he looked.

THERE WERE FEW things Nick enjoyed more than taking his motorcycle out for a ride. The wind in his hair, the zing of adrenaline as he took a tight curve. It was one of the only times he could let go of his worries and just fly.

There were several back roads that connected most of the older farms in New Haven. There wasn’t much traffic, so he could ride for an hour easily just circling around his parents’ property and then looping around their neighbor’s spread and back again.