LA: Loyalty Or Annilation

Chapter 18

Jade's POV

Cold gel should not feel this disrespectful.

I suck in a breath the second it touches my stomach.

"Jesus!"

Maya laughs beside the ultrasound machine.

"I warned you."

"You said it would be cold. You didn't say you were storing it in Antarctica."

"We like surprises."

"I don't."

Shawn chuckles from the chair beside me.

I cut my eyes toward him.

His amusement dies immediately.

Smart man.

At least temporarily.

Dr. Davidson hides a smile as he adjusts the monitor.

"Ready?"

I look at the screen.

My irritation fades.

"Yes."

Shawn's hand closes around mine.

This time, I don't pull away.

Dr. Davidson begins moving the transducer across my stomach while Maya stands beside him. Shapes appear across the monitor.

Somewhere inside all those shades of gray is my baby.

Our baby.

My throat tightens.

"There," Dr. Davidson says.

His voice softens.

"There's your baby."

My breath catches.

"Oh my God."

Shawn moves closer.

"Where?"

Dr. Davidson points.

"Right there."

I see it.

And suddenly the hallway doesn't matter.

The argument at home doesn't matter.

Nothing does.

Because that's my baby.

"Baby," Shawn whispers.

I turn toward him.

His eyes are fixed on the monitor.

They're shining.

"That's really our baby?"

Dr. Davidson smiles.

"That's really your baby."

Shawn brings my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles.

"Hey, little one."

My lips tremble.

Dr. Davidson continues the scan, taking measurements and explaining what he's checking.

"Everything I'm seeing so far looks appropriate," he says.

Relief moves through me.

"Good."

"Very good."

Then a rapid sound fills the room.

My free hand flies to my mouth.

"What is that?"

"Your baby's heartbeat."

Tears spill immediately.

Shawn's chair scrapes closer.

"Jade."

I laugh through them.

"That's our baby."

"Yeah."

His voice cracks.

"Yeah, it is."

He kisses my forehead.

And for this moment, he's completely here.

With me.

With our child.

That's all I need from him right now.

"Can we record it?" Shawn asks.

Maya smiles.

"We'll make sure you leave with what the clinic allows us to provide from today's scan."

"Good, because I'm about to become extremely annoying."

"About to?" I ask.

He looks offended.

Dr. Davidson coughs into his fist.

Maya suddenly becomes fascinated with the machine.

Traitors.

Then Dr. Davidson asks, "Would you like to know the s*x today if we're able to get a clear enough view?"

I turn toward Shawn.

He looks at me.

"Do you want to know?" he asks.

"Do you?"

His smile spreads.

"Kind of."

"Kind of?"

"Okay. Desperately."

I laugh.

"Let's find out."

---

Shawn's POV

The second our baby's heartbeat fills the room, everything else disappears.

I can't stop staring at the monitor.

That's my child.

Mine and Jade's.

Dr. Davidson moves the wand while explaining measurements.

I understand maybe half of what he's saying.

"Everything looks good?"

"So far, yes."

"Heartbeat?"

"Looks good."

"Size?"

"Consistent with where we'd expect."

"Movement?"

Dr. Davidson glances at me.

"Mr. Montgomery."

"What?"

"If something concerns me, I'll tell you."

"Oh."

Jade snickers.

"Excuse me for caring about my child."

"You're interrogating the doctor."

"I'm an attorney."

"He's not on the witness stand."

"Occupational hazard."

Maya laughs.

Even Davidson smiles.

Fine.

I'm being excessive.

I sit back.

For approximately ten seconds.

"What's that?"

"Shawn."

"I'm just asking."

Davidson points something out on the screen and explains it.

I nod like I know what the f**k I'm looking at.

I don't.

It resembles a very adorable alien.

My adorable alien.

Then Davidson asks whether we want to know the s*x.

Hell yes.

But I look at Jade first.

When she agrees, excitement shoots through me.

"Come on, baby," I murmur.

Jade looks at me.

"Are you trying to negotiate with the fetus?"

"Absolutely."

"Of course you are."

"Listen to Daddy. Cooperate."

"Maybe the baby already takes after me."

"Then we're screwed."

She smacks my arm.

I grin.

Then Davidson stops moving the wand.

His eyes narrow slightly.

My smile disappears.

"What?"

"Give me a second."

My stomach drops.

"Is something wrong?"

"No. I'm trying to get a better angle."

I exhale.

Jade squeezes my hand.

Davidson adjusts again.

Then he smiles.

"There we go."

"What?"

"Congratulations."

My heart pounds.

"You're having a—"

---

Dr. Kenny Davidson's POV

I let them suffer for approximately two seconds.

Mostly because Mr. Montgomery looks like he's about to crawl inside my ultrasound monitor.

Then I smile.

"Baby girl."

Silence.

Mrs. Montgomery's mouth falls open.

Shawn blinks.

"A girl?"

"A girl."

Jade bursts into tears.

Shawn stares at the monitor.

Then his entire face changes.

"My daughter."

His voice is barely audible.

He turns toward his wife.

"We're having a daughter."

She laughs through her tears.

"We're having a daughter."

He kisses her.

Maya and I both turn our attention back to the equipment.

Not our business.

I finish the remaining measurements while they whisper about names.

Their dynamic is complicated.

That much is obvious.

But whatever happened between these two—and wherever Kristal fits into that history—isn't mine to investigate.

My responsibility is the patient on this table.

"Everything I'm seeing today is reassuring," I tell them. "We'll continue monitoring throughout the pregnancy, and we'll go over the rest of your follow-up schedule before you leave."

"Thank you, Doctor," Jade says.

"You're welcome."

Shawn is still staring at the screen.

"Mr. Montgomery."

Nothing.

"Mr. Montgomery."

He finally looks at me.

"Huh?"

"We're finished."

"Oh."

Jade laughs.

"Come back to Earth."

"I'm looking at my daughter."

"She's not going anywhere."

I smile as I remove my gloves.

"I'll give you two a few minutes. Maya will help you finish up."

"Thank you," Jade says again.

I nod and step into the hallway.

The door closes behind me.

And there she is.

Kristal is at the nurses' station, bent over a chart.

Her auburn-brown hair falls forward over one shoulder as she reads.

I don't even realize I'm smiling until she looks up.

Those blue eyes meet mine.

"There he is."

I approach the desk.

"There who is?"

"Dr. Greek God."

I stop.

Interesting.

"Excuse me?"

Kristal's eyes widen.

Behind her, Maya isn't here to save her.

She looks like she suddenly regrets every decision that brought her to this exact moment.

"I said Dr. Davidson."

"No, you absolutely did not."

Her lips twitch.

"I think you need your hearing checked."

"I'm a doctor."

"Not an audiologist."

"Still qualified enough to know when a woman calls me a Greek god."

She lowers the chart.

"I plead the Fifth."

"That's basically a confession."

"It's literally the opposite."

I lean one hand against the counter.

"Is that what you call me when I'm not around?"

Her cheeks darken.

God.

Beautiful.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Don't push your luck, Doctor."

I grin.

She tries to return her attention to the chart.

Tries.

I notice the corner of her mouth fighting a smile.

Then a loose curl falls across her cheek.

Without thinking too much about it, I reach forward.

Slowly.

Giving her plenty of time to move.

She doesn't.

I catch the curl lightly between my fingers and move it away from her face.

My knuckles barely graze her cheek.

Kristal's breath catches.

So does mine.

For one second, neither of us says anything.

Her eyes lift to mine.

That look...

Fuck.

Three months of patience suddenly feels like both the smartest and most torturous decision I've ever made.

"You had something," I murmur.

Her eyebrow rises.

"In my hair?"

"No."

"Then what?"

"An excuse for me to do that."

Her mouth falls open.

I grin.

Then she smacks my arm with the chart.

"Boy, go do some doctoring!"

I laugh.

"There she is."

"Go!"

"I'm going."

"Today, Kenny."

I start walking backward.

"Greek god."

"KENNY!"

Her laugh follows me down the hall.

Yeah.

Worth it.

Every f*****g second.

---

Shawn's POV

The door closes while Jade is wiping the remaining gel from her stomach.

I help her sit up.

"We're having a daughter."

She laughs.

"You've said that about fifteen times."

"I'm going to keep saying it."

"I figured."

I kiss her temple.

Maya returns with the information we need for follow-up and gives us a few more minutes to get ourselves together.

Eventually, Jade adjusts her clothes and reaches for my hand.

We step into the hallway.

And I hear Kristal laugh.

My body reacts before my brain does.

I look.

She's standing at the nurses' station.

With Davidson.

He's leaning toward her.

She's smiling up at him.

Not the polite smile she gives patients.

Not the professional smile I've seen a thousand times.

A real one.

Warm.

Playful.

Then he reaches toward her face.

My entire body stiffens.

His fingers catch a curl near her cheek.

Kristal doesn't move away.

She lets him touch her.

Something ugly twists inside my chest.

Then she smacks him with the chart.

"Boy, go do some doctoring!"

Davidson laughs.

"There she is."

"Go!"

"I'm going."

"Today, Kenny."

He walks backward.

"Greek god."

"KENNY!"

Kristal laughs.

And I understand.

Not everything.

But enough.

The coffee-shop ease between them.

The way Davidson watched her earlier.

The way Kristal looks at him now.

His first name falling naturally from her mouth.

The fact that she let him touch her face.

Oh.

That's why Davidson was looking at her like that.

My jaw clenches.

I don't like it.

I don't f*****g like it at all.

And almost immediately another thought follows.

Too bad.

Because this isn't my business.

Kristal isn't my fiancée.

She isn't my girlfriend.

She isn't mine.

She made that painfully clear.

I haven't contacted her in three months because I finally learned that respecting her means leaving her alone, even when every selfish part of me wants something different.

If she's seeing Davidson...

If she likes him...

If he makes her laugh like that...

I don't get a vote.

That doesn't stop jealousy from burning through me.

But jealousy isn't permission.

I feel Jade's hand slip from mine.

Fuck.

Not again.

I look at her.

She's staring at me.

Not Kristal.

Not Davidson.

Me.

And this time, I don't pretend I don't understand.

"Jade—"

"Don't."

One word.

Quiet.

Controlled.

I close my mouth.

Her eyes flick toward Kristal and Davidson for only a second before returning to me.

"Walk."

I nod.

And walk.

Because three months ago, I would've found an excuse to stay.

I would've asked Davidson a question that wasn't mine to ask.

I would've convinced myself I deserved to know what was happening between them.

I don't.

So I follow my wife toward the exit while every possessive instinct inside me screams to turn around.

I don't.

That's the difference.

Maybe not enough of one.

But it's a start.

---

Jade's POV

Of course I saw it.

I saw Dr. Davidson touch Kristal's hair.

I saw the way she looked at him.

And I definitely saw the way Shawn looked at them.

Wonderful.

Just f*****g wonderful.

But something else happened too.

Shawn walked away.

He didn't call Kristal's name.

He didn't question Dr. Davidson.

He didn't manufacture some ridiculous excuse to linger.

His jaw looked tight enough to crack a tooth, but when I told him to walk, he walked.

I'm still pissed.

Let's not get carried away.

But three months ago?

That man would've found a reason to stay.

Today he didn't.

I slide my hand over my stomach as we approach the exit.

Our daughter.

The thought softens me despite everything.

A little girl.

God help us.

She's going to have Shawn wrapped around one tiny finger before she can even hold her head up.

Beside me, he's unusually quiet.

Good.

He should be.

I press the button for the elevator.

The doors open.

We step inside.

Shawn reaches for my hand cautiously.

I look at it.

Then at him.

He waits.

I let him take mine.

His shoulders loosen slightly.

"Don't make me regret that."

"I won't."

"You stared."

"I know."

"I noticed."

"I figured."

The elevator doors close.

I look straight ahead.

"She's moving on, Shawn."

His fingers tighten slightly around mine.

"I know."

There is pain in his voice.

I hear it.

But for once, I don't need to fight with it.

Because he doesn't turn around.

And neither do I.