An Act of Persuasion(48)

Finally the nurse came in to weigh her and Ben dutifully turned around. Then she took Anna’s blood pressure and glanced at the chart as she was writing it down.

“Blood pressure is a little elevated. Can you think of any reason for it?”

I’m embarking on a relationship with a man who I thought I loved for maybe six, but definitely at least four years, only to realize now I’m not sure what love is. Also, I’m going to have his baby.

“No, not really.”

“Well, it’s not too high. Nothing to worry about, but we’ll want to keep an eye on it.”

“Okay.”

“You can undo your pants and lift up your shirt. The doctor will be in shortly.”

The nurse left and the silence in the room grew worse. She forgot about the unbuttoning the pants part. The truth was there was nothing she would like better than to unbutton her pants. The push of the material on her stomach was making her want to pee and the grim reality was the pants were too tight before she’d needed to pee.

“Do you need me to turn around again?”

How awkward would that be?

“Hi, Doc, here is the father of my child. But I really don’t like him to see me without my pants on so I’m going make him face the corner. You cool with that?”

“No, that’s fine. Can’t be squeamish, right?” She undid the buttons of the casual black pants she’d worn and as soon as the zipper slid down she let out a sigh of relief.

“Getting too tight?”

“Mmm. Just a bit.”

He stood then and moved toward her, looking down at the belly still covered by what she called her granny whites because they were becoming the only underwear that fit. She looked down to see what he saw and the round bump that was now her stomach was glaringly obvious.

“It’s huge,” she moaned.

“It’s not. It’s a little mound.”

“I’m a porker already and it’s only month four.”

“It’s barely there. It’s not like your stomach was exactly flat before.”

That took a moment to process. “Are you saying I was fat before I was pregnant?”

He huffed and mumbled something about women under his breath. “You were not fat. At all. But if memory serves, and trust me it serves me too damn well these days, you had a little...a gentle roundness to your belly.”

“You are so dead.”

“I mean, come on, Anna, you have to admit it’s not like you could bounce a quarter off the damn thing.”

“You need to stop. Right now.”

He opened his mouth then shut it again.

“That’s right,” she nodded. “We’ll just pretend this didn’t happen.”

“I liked your stomach,” he said quietly. “I like it better now. Can I touch it?”

Could he touch it? No! Again, weird. Ben Tyler touching her stomach...that was filled with his baby that he put there because they had sex. Sometimes it was hard to remember that night because she thought about how she had been with him and what she’d done with him that she’d never done with anyone before. Almost like it hadn’t really been her.

Then other times it was impossible to forget. How easy it all felt. Like they had been doing it for years.

“Please.”

Anna held her breath and gave a tight nod. She leaned back a little on the table to give him access and watched his large hand descend on her lower belly. Skin touched skin. She could feel the warmth immediately and it seemed to heat up her whole body like he was some faith healer laying hands on her and she was being cured.

Then he started to make slow circles with that hand, pushing a little against her flesh, stroking a lot until his fingers dipped under the waistband of her embarrassing underwear. She looked at him, ready to question what he was doing but his face was intent on the place his hand covered.

Color rose in his cheeks and she could see his nostrils flare. Not that he was the only one impacted by his touch. Her heart started to pound heavier and her legs shifted in reaction to his touch. She could feel herself grow damp and she thought about what it would be like for him to slide those fingers a little lower, just a little lower...

“And how are we today?” the doctor asked as she entered the room.

“I’m the father!” Ben announced while he jerked his hand out of her panties.

The small and serious looking OB/GYN smiled. “Let’s hope so.”