“Ms. Graves,” Dr. Hamilton says with a smile as he opens the door to the back part of the office. Dr. Hamilton is around our age, so he is far more accepting of our dynamic.
“Please, call me Sadie,” I say sweetly.
“Okay, Sadie. You ready to see this baby?” he asks as he waves us back. Everyone files past the doorway, and Dr. Hamilton leads us to a room.
“Uhm. I’m afraid that I fucked the kid up by choosing to be oblivious,” I say.
“Some people do not realize that they are pregnant until they are giving birth to a full-term baby. Simply put, shit happens. We move forward and handle what we need to handle,” he says as we walk into a larger room. There is a screen on one wall and a complete setup for an ultrasound on the other, facing the screen.
“I’m sorry there are so many of us,” I laugh.
“That’s alright,” he says with a smile. “As long as you and this baby are not in harm’s way, I am accepting of most dynamics.”
“If you are accepting of eight men and one woman, I’d hate to see the dynamic of what you won’t accept,” Mason laughs.
“The way I see it is simple,” the doctor says as he points for me to sit. “She has absolutely no reason to not be able to relax. She has eight people helping her with this baby, so she has eight reasons why she should be resting and healing when the baby comes.”
“Oh, she will be relaxing,” Todd says matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, you have nothing to worry about there,” Lance adds.
“I’ll probably get tied up somewhere if I even think about doing something other than relaxing,” I laugh.
“Good,” he says. “Do you guys want to know the sex of the baby?”
“Yes,” I say quickly, and he chuckles.
“Alright. I don’t usually do scans, so be patient with me. I’m just going to do some measurements and see how they’re doing. I’ll tell you the sex when I get there.”
“Okay,” I smile.
“Lay back for me,” he says as he moves his chair to the computer beside me. I lie back and pull my shirt up so he can tuck a towel in the waistband of my leggings. He squeezes out warm jelly on my abdomen before spreading it around with the wand. “Take a deep breath, Sadie.”
“Sorry,” I say when I realize I’m nearly hyperventilating. The guys are surrounding me to my left so they can be close but not get in the way. Lance is holding my hand, and I am squeezing him to keep myself calm.
“Here is the heartbeat,” he says before a beautiful thumping sound plays through the room. Tears burn my eyes, and I smile brightly as I hear how strong it is.
He moves around on my belly and takes various measurements as we watch. We are all looking at the screen in front of me, and nearly all of the guys have tears in their eyes as we look at our child. Billy wipes my fallen tears and kisses my forehead when the baby’s face comes into view.
“They’re so cute,” Ben says. “I didn’t realize how adorable they can be like this.”
“They’re still tiny, but technically viable,” Dr. Hamilton says. “You are measuring right at twenty-two weeks.”
I do the mental math, counting back to the date of conception. Everyone snaps their head to me when I suddenly burst into tears. “I’m sorry,” I cry, trying to calm myself down.
“What is it?” Dr. Hamilton asks.
“The date of conception. It would be twenty weeks ago, right? It would be to the first day of my last period, so it’s two weeks difference?” I ask.
“Yeah, the date of conception would be…” he says as he clicks around. “Roughly July fifteenth.”
“It’s not Leo’s,” I say tearfully, looking at the guys. “It’s not his. That’s when Stacy was still alive.”
Todd cups my cheek and leans down to kiss me. “It’s not his,” he says softly, reminding me. I nod and wipe my face.
“I assume Leo is none of you?” Dr. Hamilton asks. “Maybe I shouldn’t ask that, but I’m morbidly curious.”
“It’s not,” I laugh at his bluntness as he continues the scan. “Leo is someone we all used to be friends with. He is cousins with a man who sexually assaulted me when I was eleven. Leo kidnapped and raped me before murdering our best friend Stacy about eighteen weeks ago.”