Delivering His Package: A Secret Baby Romance by Jamie Knight (top novels to read txt) 📕

it. Morning sickness not too bad.” I watched Aiden buttoning up his UPS shirt as I returned from the bathroom.

“I’ll bring takeout. Don’t worry. Maybe we can celebrate tonight.”

Aiden didn’t talk about it too much. He didn’t want to jinx it. And, of course, he and I would love the baby no matter what medical conditions that baby would have once born. But after the fire, there was always a risk, a significant risk, of the baby being born with congenital birth defects and disabilities. Or not even being born at all. As long as the baby was born, no matter what disabilities, my love and I would be happy.

Unfortunately, Dr. Williamson couldn’t even guarantee that much. He had told Aiden and me that since I had such a hard time conceiving before, it was already a risky pregnancy. Then there had been the fire. Aiden had carried me out during the fire. I had felt sick for the few days after the fire.

As for the baby, there was no way to know for sure until birth whether the baby would survive the pregnancy and whether the baby would have congenital birth defects. But every “no” result at every one-month mark helped us feel better. If the baby wasn’t having medical problems by this time, it probably wouldn’t have any problems by the time of birth.

Aiden left for work. Through the bedroom window, I watched his car pulling out of the underground garage and onto the street. Once the silver Camry disappeared into New York traffic, I gazed across the city, all the way to the library where I no longer worked. Whenever a UPS truck drove by, I imagined it was Aiden’s truck, even if I knew that his route didn’t take him by our home. UPS rules wouldn’t have allowed that.

After a long and careful pregnancy shower with lukewarm water, I stepped out of the shower cubicle. I clicked on my Uber app to get a car. It would take me—and his baby inside me—to Dr. Williamson’s office.

The nurses performed two ultrasounds scans and drew blood for a hormone panel. Dr. Williamson came in to listen to all sides of my pregnant belly with a stethoscope. Then he told me about the amniotic fluid draw. The needle would be guided by ultrasound, and Dr. Williamson had been trained to perform the procedure. Soon after the fluid draw, they’d know more about the baby.

The doctor then disappeared again into his office to examine the ultrasound and lab results. I wasn’t the only one who liked hiding out in a secret windowless office; from what glances I could catch, Dr. Williamson holed up in a room not too different from the one I had holed up in at the library.

“You should be careful about that room,” was the first thing I said to the doctor as he entered the examination room.

“What room?”

“Your office. That small windowless office. That’s what got me in trouble in the library fire.”

“A small windowless office?”

“I liked to hide out and get my work done in an office that wasn’t meant to be an office. Firefighters didn’t even know to look for people there. It was supposed to be a storage room. And there I was, the baby and me.”

“And Aiden showed up because he knew you were holed up in there, right?”

“Aiden showed up. Even though I’d been rejecting his calls.”

He nodded and looked down at the chart. “I told you and Aiden already that your baby has some significant risks from your exposure to smoke, heat, toxic fumes.”

“Yeah. We’ve come to terms with it. I mean, we’re ready for anything, as long as we have a baby.”

“Well.” Dr. Williamson’s eyes brightened. “I admire you for not being put off by the possibility of a special-needs child.”

“Sure. A kid’s a kid.” I would be up to the challenge of a special needs child.

“It looks likely now that the baby won’t suffer any long-term health issues from the fire incident. We didn’t find any pathologies in the ultrasound or the blood test.” The doctor sat down at his computer screen. A message flashed on it. “Amnio results just came in.”

His face looked happy, then slightly concerned. He looked at me. “Good news. No genetic abnormalities. Negative for Down, Fragile X, anything else we can find with amnio.”

“Great. We’d be happy with the baby no matter what, but that’s great. But you seem — concerned?”

“It’s just that—” Dr. Williamson shook his head and smiled a little. “Amnio tests for gender.”

“Yes?”

“Your baby.” He looked at me. “Your baby is a girl. I hope that’s ok.”

“Wonderful!” I said.

“Oh.”

“Is there some reason I shouldn’t be happy?” Was there some medical fact that the doctor wasn’t letting out?

“Aiden always seemed to be referring to it as a boy. I figured that was what you both wanted.”

“No. That’s ridiculous.”

“Good. Thanks for clearing that up.”

“We never even really thought about the baby’s gender. A girl will be great. A boy would be great. Mind if I call Aiden about it?” I wobbled over a few steps and reached for the phone he’d left on the exam room’s counter.

“We’re actually all done for today, so take your time.” The doctor shook my hand.

“No problem. Thank you.” I nodded, and Dr. Williamson left the exam room. I started putting on my dress, then stopped myself to call Aiden.

“Eleanor, my beloved Eleanor. I’m driving now, but what’s up? How was the doctor’s?” Aiden’s voice was always a salve on my stresses, like a soothing balm on pregnancy's small everyday pains.

“Bunch of good news for you today. Can you handle it while driving your truck? I mean package van. They call it a package van, right?”

“Yeah, my package van. Always good news with you. And yeah, I can handle it. Lay it on me.”

“No birth defects found. No permanent health problems found from the fire incident.”

“Wow.”

“But wait, there’s more!” I was ecstatic and acting a bit silly. “They did an amnio fluid draw.”

“That’s the one that gets