Page 71 of My Girlfriend is Not the Father

‘That didn’t land, did it?’ she whispered.

He squeezed her shoulder. ‘It never does.’

A moment later, the door flew open. ‘So sorry I’m late. I can’t believe I’m late.’ A crease sliced across Mason’s forehead, a rarity on his usual stoic face. ‘I had to park on the fifth floor, and they were down to one elevator.’

‘No worries.’ Drew hugged him. ‘The doc isn’t even here yet.’

Mason glanced around the room. ‘Where’s Jade?’

Who knows? Lucy wasn’t sure where Jade was, other than not here. In fact, lately, Jade had been more absent than present. She hadn’t slept over in a week and had cancelled plans multiple times saying she was working late. Even when she did show up, it felt like she was trying to find an excuse to duck out early.

Maybe Lucy tossed and turned too much at night, and Jade was too polite to say anything? The interrupted sleep sucked for her, so she could only image it sucked for Jade too. But they hadn’t had sex for well over a week and Lucy was getting itchy.

‘Uh, Jade had some clients that couldn’t reschedule, and she felt bad cancelling.’ Ugh. Why lie? She’d never lied to her friends before, minus the one time she said Drew’s skinny jeans looked good. Lying was a cardinal sin, a one-way ticket to devil-land per her childhood teachings. But in this case, it was necessary. Lucy refused to ruin this moment by going anywhere negative.

The men, thankfully, seemed distracted, and the doctor entered the room at the perfect time.

‘Hey there, family. Big day today.’ The doctor snapped on gloves. ‘Are you ready to see how much your baby has progressed?’

‘Yes, we’re so excited.’ Drew’s voice was an octave higher than usual, and he cleared his throat. ‘I know we were on the fence before, but Mason and I decided we want to know the baby’s sex.’

‘Sounds good.’ The doctor faced Lucy. ‘How about you. Feeling good? You ready for this?’

The level of dissociation was for the record books. Lucy was ready, but it wasn’t to view the cells forming in her stomach – it was to watch the fathers’ reaction to seeing their baby.

Was she curious to find out if the kid had sprung an extra limb or something? Sure. But other than that, observing a floating blob with a head was not what she considered a good time. She thought by now, she’d think differently, or even perhaps grow some sort of attachment – maybe even a fondness – to the foetus.

But no, nothing. Chucky would always be her one and only child.

After the doctor explained what to expect from the sonogram, she lifted Lucy’s shirt. Poor Mason was looking everywhere but her naked belly. ‘Mason. You can totally look at my stomach,’ Lucy said. ‘I mean, we’ve gone swimming like a gazillion times.’

‘True.’ Mason glanced down to her stomach, his eyes morphing into a cartoon-wide bulge. ‘Wow. You got huge!’

‘I retract my invite,’ she said with a groan, but wished she could snap a photo of the sudden, beautiful light in his eyes.

‘Sorry, sorry.’ Mason held up his hands. ‘It’s just amazing, you know?’

Cold gel blopped on her stomach, and the wand travelled up her belly.

And, well, there it was. Floating around on the screen was a profile of a half-shaped human with a belly, head, ears, hands, and maybe toes? She squinted, gave up defining body parts and waited, again, to feel something.

Nope.

Until she looked at the dads.

Mason, sweet old statuesque Mason, pulled his lips into his mouth and gripped Drew’s hands so tight that Lucy could see Drew’s fingers turn white. ‘That’s our baby …’ His voice quivered.

Drew blinked at the image, taking a step closer to the screen. He ran his hand down his cheek as Mason stood firmly at his side, rubbing his back. ‘Is everything … ah … normal? Good?’

The doctor smiled. ‘Everything is looking good. We’ll check for spine, bladder, heart, kidneys, limbs …’ She rattled off more as Lucy’s mind wandered.

Drew and Mason were solid. They’d been like this since Day One, never faltering in their feelings, never questioning where they stood. Lucy had met Jade nearly seven months ago, standing in the grocery store aisle looking like a goddess and swearing at the vacant sriracha shelf. She loved being with Jade. She adored Jade. But she hated the way her heart tugged and shifted. Oh, no. Had the magic from the beginning disappeared? Right now, Lucy wished she was feeling towards Jade what Drew and Mason felt towards each other.

‘Ready?’ the doctor asked. When the men nodded, she continued. ‘You are having a … baby girl. Congratulations.’

Drew and Mason yelped. Lucy was unsure of who had yelped louder. He hugged Mason hard, as Mason buried his face in Drew’s shoulder. ‘We were hoping for a girl. We, of course, wanted the baby to be healthy and would love them no matter what … but a girl!’

The joy from the men filled Lucy, and she wanted to savour this moment for eternity.