The Road to Rose Bend, Naima Simone [jenna bush book club .TXT] 📗

And when it did...

She gasped. Couldn’t help it. Her hand shot out of its own accord and clutched Cole’s. His fingers immediately wrapped around hers, and for a moment, their eyes clashed, connected, before she tore her gaze away and returned it to the monitor. It wasn’t the first time she’d received a sonogram, but it felt like it was as her baby appeared, tiny. She laughed, the sound breathy and full of the joy that welled and spilled over, infiltrating every part of her.

In this instant, with her eyes glued to her baby, she became joy.

“She’s beautiful,” she said, her voice like sandpaper against her throat. She heard the scuff of feet over the floor, then felt a warm, familiar hand on her knee.

Dragging her attention away from the screen, she glanced down, and her father, his focus fixed on the screen, had moved closer, touching her affectionately for the first time in... God, longer than she could remember. Tears pricked her eyes, and she briefly closed them before returning them to the screen.

“So sure you’re having a little Arwen?” Cole teased, and she shrugged a shoulder, smiling.

“One, she will never be named that. And two, I just have a feeling.”

“We haven’t had a boy in our family since your uncle,” her father murmured. “I’m betting on a girl, too.”

She and her father agreed on something. Wow. And they said miracles didn’t happen anymore.

“Here’s your uterus.” Dr. Prioleau circled the arrow over a dense-looking place at the bottom of the image. “The baby is in a good place. So that’s awesome. Your placenta is healthy. Wonderful,” she murmured. She located all the baby’s organs, checking them and steadily capturing images. “An active baby,” she added.

Sydney grinned, tears pressing against her eyes, stinging them as the baby flipped just then, presenting them her spine and the back of her head.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear your kid just told us to kiss its ass,” Cole drawled.

She laughed, the sound watery, and squeezed his hand tighter. “Aww. She takes after me already.”

Her father snorted, and she smiled at him. That moment of connection bloomed inside her chest, mingling with the happiness that swamped her to capacity.

“And what we’ve all been waiting for,” Dr. Prioleau said, still capturing more images. “Your baby is moving a lot, which is awesome. Now if he or she will turn just so...” They all waited, and the baby did turn, but with its legs curled, hiding the sex.

“You did the same thing,” her father said. “Wouldn’t cooperate for anything.” No censure or sharpened words. Just the opposite. They were packed with warmth and fondness and even a hint of laughter.

“Oh wait... Here we go,” Dr. Prioleau announced. The baby had turned again, and her bottom faced the screen from underneath. “A girl,” she said, laughing. “Seems you were right, Sydney.”

“A girl,” she breathed. This time, she didn’t even attempt to bat back the tears. They fell from her eyes and tracked down her cheeks. Glancing at her father, she repeated just as softly, “A girl.”

“A granddaughter,” he whispered, voice thick. He cleared his throat, but when he spoke again, it remained just as scratchy. “How about that?”

“I think it’s fair to say she’s going to be a handful. And probably spoiled.” A half smile curved Cole’s lips. “Isn’t that right, Luke?”

“My wife is going to be awful,” he said. “I’ll try and keep her in check, but I can’t make any promises.”

Cole laughed. “Right.” He arched an eyebrow. “Says the grandfather who already looks like he’s wrapped around that tiny, alien-looking finger.”

“Hey.” Sydney chuckled, lightly slapping him in the abdomen with the back of her hand. “That’s my alien-looking little girl you’re talking about.”

“If the UFO fits...” He shrugged, but she caught the quirk at the corner of his mouth.

“That’s just wrong,” she protested on a burst of laughter. And then, because she couldn’t look away too long, she returned her gaze to the monitor. The sonogram would end soon, and she had to soak up every moment she had left. “She’s so real. I knew she was, of course, but looking at her here, seeing her move. She’s real, and God, I love her,” she whispered, not aware she’d uttered the vehement words aloud until a thumb gently wiped away her tears.

“She’s definitely real, Sydney,” Cole whispered. “And you’re going to be a wonderful mom.”

“I hope so,” she murmured, and tipping her head to the side, she found his face hovering inches above hers.

She could pinpoint the striations of brown and gold in his eyes, feel the puff of his breath on her mouth. Inhale his earth and fresh rain scent. Desire coasted through her, setting every part of her on simmering fire. Not here, she scolded herself. She shouldn’t have to place a stranglehold on the need to lift her head those few inches, press her lips to his beautiful mouth and taste him. Tangle with him. No, she shouldn’t have to wrestle this need, because she shouldn’t have it in the first place.

“Do you really think so?” she asked, doubts and uncertainty crowding inside her, crouching like a troll beneath a bridge, waiting to attack.

“I know so,” Cole replied softly.

His words reverberated through her, the warmth they generated competing with the desire mingling with it. He straightened, but the hand that wasn’t still clutched in hers brushed over her hair. And though it was impossible and fanciful on her part, she would swear under threat of perjury that she felt it. On her cheek. Her shoulder. Her breasts...between her thighs.

“We’re all finished here,” Dr. Prioleau said, snatching Sydney’s attention from her body’s wayward response to this man and back to the ultrasound machine.

She studied the image of her daughter one last time before the doctor removed the scope from Sydney’s belly. Efficiently but gently, Dr. Prioleau wiped away the gel, and Sydney tugged her shirt down and refastened the straps of her overalls.

“I need to get back