Page 52 of Creed

He picks me up with an excited yelp as he carries me to the kitchen. “We get to see our baby!”

* * *

“If baby wants to cooperate with us today, we might be able to tell the gender. Is that something you want, or keep it a surprise?”

I look over at Creed.

He shrugs. “I wouldn’t mind knowing. It gives me an idea what to shop for. Or we can shop for both?”

My mind blanks for a moment. Shopping. I haven’t bought anything because it would feel a little too real if I saw the items in my apartment. I also couldn’t take the chance of my father seeing anything baby-related one day, not that he’s visited me once. I clear my throat, focusing on the tech. “Maybe next time? I haven’t really thought about it yet.”

She smiles. “No worries. Plus it will be more concrete after twenty weeks. Let’s wrap this up, and then the doctor will be in to talk to you.”

The rest of the appointment goes by in a blur, neither of us unable to look away from the printed sonograms in our hands. It feels like such an important milestone. It’s real now.

“We’re having a baby,” I say as we walk out of the building, holding hands. “That’s our baby.”

He smiles, cupping my face and kissing me. We stand there, kissing and wrapped around each other before he pulls away and kneels. Creed rubs his hands over my small protruding belly, pressing kisses along it.

“You know, I’m excited for a son.”

My cheeks hurt with how hard I’m smiling. “I’m sure, a little partner in crime. I think if it’s a daughter, you’ll be just as excited.”

He shrugs, standing, and spans his whole palm over my stomach before leaning down to kiss me again. This is the best part of going to a doctor in the next town over. We don’t have to sneak being with each other. His lips brush mine.

“I fucking knew it!”

I startle at the loud screech, and we both turn to face the woman storming toward us. I’d recognize that blonde anywhere. She haunted my dreams for days.

Creed steps in front of me. “Bri. What are you doing here?”

“I knew you were a liar! You said there wasn’t someone else!” She wags her finger in his face. My hands curl into the back of his shirt, my pulse picking up. My training has prepared me for multiple types of confrontation, but not exactly your baby daddy’s lifelong ex confronting him about moving on.

“No, what I said was it’s none of your business if there was. So what…you follow us here?” His cold tone is not one I’ve heard from him before, and it makes me shiver.

She shakes her head. “I just knew there had to be. You always come back to me. Let me guess. You knocked up one of those clubwhores just like your daddy, and now you want to play family?”

Creed stands a little taller and I press into his back, rubbing it slightly. We haven’t talked about his family much, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out it’s not a good subject. “You broke up with me, Bri. Why the fuck are you following me? You wanted to be done. Be fucking done instead of fucking desperate.”

She inhales sharply, and I squeeze my eyes shut. I know it’s cruel, but I hold my tongue. How much has she seen? Does she know who I am? I really don’t need drama in my life when I have to figure out a way to tell my father and determine a future with Creed. Every week we spend together, it’s harder to think about doing it separately.

“He tell you what you have to do to get accepted into the club? Huh?” She directs the question at me, but I look over at Creed. His stony silence makes me uncomfortable.

Bri scoffs. “Of course he didn’t. You’re probably not important enough to claim.”

“That’s enough,” Creed says. The coldness in his tone sends a chill down my spine. “I never knew you to be cruel, and I haven’t done anything wrong. We broke up weeks before I got with Morgan. I didn’t even owe you the conversation in the restaurant, but I thought with our history we could end on good terms. If you want to be a bitch, go ahead, but it won’t be in front of her. We can’t stress out the baby.”

She steps back as if she’s been struck, glancing at my stomach and then back at Creed. “B-baby?” It's as if she can’t believe her earlier accusation is actually true.

Creed looks at me, brushing a kiss on my forehead. “Can you give us a minute?”

21

CREED

I stare at Bri.“What are you doing?”

She glares. “Catching you in a lie.”