A sequel to EXPECTATIONS. Not entirely fluffy, but a bit of a present for the season.
Chapter One
He sat uncomfortably on the too small plastic seat. Larger, pleasantly stuffed chairs filled the waiting room, but he felt he didn't deserve them. In his mind those chairs were reserved for the many women in the room. Some of those women glared at him, while others looked at him with sympathetic or envious eyes. The two other men in the room appeared as awkward and uncomfortable as him and gave him occasional sympathetic glances. One was at least a decade younger than him and the other looked barely old enough to be considered an adult let alone a candidate for fatherhood.
"Thank you for coming," Alex said. She sat in one of those large, stuffed chairs next to him. "You didn't have to."
Bobby briefly looked at their interlocked hands. "Yes," he said in a soft voice. "Yes, I did. More than that, I wanted to."
Alex smiled at him. "Well, I'm glad you're here, if only to have someone close to my age here."
Bobby smiled wryly. "We are in a different demographic group from most of these people. And I'm a different gender."
Alex leaned closer to him. "I think some of these women are jealous."
"Alex Eames," the nurse called. "Dr. Warren is ready for you." The nurse looked curiously at Bobby as he stood.
"This is Bobby Goren," Alex said. "He's my partner…and the father…" She'd rehearsed the words in her head, but actually saying them was thrilling and unbelievable. Bobby gently squeezed Alex's hand, and her heart threatened to fill and overflow. "Can he come back with me?"
"Of course," the nurse said as she opened the door that led to the hall of the examining rooms. Her professionalism couldn't hide her happiness at discovering what might have been a difficult discovery was clearly a joyous one. "All right, Ms. Eames," she said affectionately. "You know the routine. There's a gown behind the screens. If you could change, Dr. Warren will be here very soon. She's right on schedule." The nurse turned to Bobby, who was mildly disconcerted by her study of him. "You can sit there, Mr. Goren," she said kindly. "It's not the most comfortable chair, but it'll work."
"Thank you," Bobby said softly. He sat, opened his binder and pulled out a pen.
The nurse weighed Bobby's graying curls against his ill concealed nervousness. "Your first, Mr. Goren?" she asked in the same kind voice.
Bobby started slightly. Behind the screens, Alex smiled.
"Yes," Bobby admitted. "I was hoping I wasn't that obvious."
"Not that much," the nurse said. "Just that I'm an old hand at this." She smiled at him.
"You…uh…probably think I'm a little old for this…especially for my first," Bobby stuttered.
"No," the nurse shook her head. "It's good to see a man who waited until he knew what he was doing." She moved to the door. "Dr. Warren will be here soon," she called to Alex as she left.
"God," Bobby shook his head as Alex, clad in a gown at least two sizes too big for her, appeared from behind the screens. "I wish I knew what I was doing."
"Hey," Alex said, stepping closer to him. "I've done this before, and I'm not sure what I'm doing."
"I don't find that reassuring." He hugged her gently. "Are you ok? Are you warm enough?"
Alex smiled against his shoulder. At moments like this, she didn't mind being a foot shorter than him. "It's always the same in here…No matter what season…It's always too cold." She looked up at him. "But you're good at keeping me warm."
The door opened, and Dr. Warren entered the room. Bobby and Alex reluctantly separated. The doctor smiled.
"Alex…It's good to see you…"
"Dr. Warren, this is Bobby Goren…He's…he's…" Alex struggled to find the words to describe what Bobby was to her.
"I'm the father," Bobby said with a mixture of fear and pride.
"Yea," Alex agreed warmly. "And a good deal more."
"I can see that," Dr. Warren said gently. "Mr. Goren, could you help Alex on the table?"
Bobby more than helped her; he lifted Alex on to the table with remarkable ease.
"I'm impressed," the doctor said dryly.
Bobby blushed slightly. "Sorry…"
Alex and Warren shared a smile.
As she examined Alex, Dr. Warren found herself liking the large, gentle, shy man who was the father of one of her favorite patients' child. He treated Alex with great care, almost as if she were a fragile treasure. He listened intently and carefully to everything the doctor said and took copious notes. He paled slightly when Warren quietly warned Alex of the potential dangers of her pregnancy. He did become evasive when the doctor inquired about his family history. He looked uneasily at Alex.
"Could I get back to you about that, Doctor?" Bobby asked softly. "It…it's complicated…"
Alex had told Warren a little about Bobby's family history, and the doctor understood why he might be reluctant to discuss it. "If you'd like," she said. "You can fill out this questionnaire and get it back to us."
Bobby gratefully accepted the form. "Thank you…I'll get this back to you as soon as possible."
"You can change now, Alex," Warren said. "Everything looks great."
"You're sure?" Bobby said as he looked in his binder. "What about…?"
Alex gave Warren a sympathetic look. "Bobby," she said as she moved behind the screens. "I promise you…She knows what she's doing…"
"It's all right," Warren said. "Let's deal with your questions while Alex gets dressed."
Dr. Linda Warren was an experienced, extremely well trained doctor who dealt with frantic fathers every day. Robert Goren was far from frantic, completely not overbearing, and exceptionally polite, but his intelligent, well-researched questions placed Warren in the unaccustomed and uncomfortable position of scrambling for some answers.
"I'm sorry," Bobby whispered. "But so many things can go wrong."
"They usually don't," Warren replied softly. "And remember…Alex has done this before…She's tough and she's smart…"
"I know that…It's part of why I love her." One of Bobby's large hands swept across his face, and the doctor found herself liking this man more and more. "It's…it's just…She hates it…but she's so small…"
"Who's so small?" Alex emerged from behind the screens. Bobby appeared to be trying to find some way to disappear into the floor.
"Alex," Dr. Warren said calmly. "I strongly recommend that you not hurt the baby's father until you go into labor." She smiled. "Everything looks terrific. Next time we might be able to get a picture for you."
Bobby struggled not to hover as he guided Alex to the car. Her gratitude for his concern outweighed any irritation she felt at being treated as a fragile invalid.
"Dr. Warren likes you," she said as she buckled her seatbelt.
"I like her," Bobby replied. "She didn't patronize me or make me feel like an idiot."
"Linda Warren never makes anyone feel like an idiot…even idiot," Alex smiled. "So, I have the rest of the day…You?"
"Yea…Ross didn't blink an eye." Bobby carefully drove the car out of the parking garage. "We're going to have to tell him…"
Alex nodded. "Yea…I can't hide the baby for too long…Not that I want to."
"Same here," Bobby said. "'Course, I may wind up working for Deakins…or unemployed."
Alex stretched and yawned. "I think Ross has suspicions…I think Deakins had suspicions."
Bobby frowned. "But we weren't together when Deakins…" He glanced quickly at Alex. "He…He might have known before we did?"
"I think a lot of people knew…at least thought…we should be together before we did…My sisters did," Alex said.
Bobby grew somber. "But your brothers…parents…" He gripped the wheel tightly. "Your mother still blames me…and your older brother…"
"Is an idiot," Alex declared. "He's lucky my Dad pulled me off of him. He's an idiot and my Mom is wrong." She placed her hand on Bobby's shoulder. "You know that no one else in my family blames you for what happened. I know my Dad pulled my brother off you. And he read the riot act to Mom. My Dad rarely reads the riot act to anyone."
The tension in Bobby's body eased a bit. "Yea…but that was before I got his daughter pregnant."
Alex harrumphed. "I think his daughter had something to do with that. And he's dealt with unexpected babies before."
Bobby gave her a surprised look.
"I'll have to fill you in on all the gory details of my family," Alex said lightly.
Bobby was silent.
"Hey." Alex's hand rested softly at the base of Bobby's neck. "What's going on?"
"It's just…" Bobby's right index finger taped on the wheel. "It's hard for me to think of anything in your family being "gory"."
"Yea," Alex said thoughtfully. "I guess your definition of "gory" might be very different from yours." She gently rubbed the back of Bobby's neck. "Don't worry, Bobby. They'll come to love you. Half of them already do. And others…They came to love Joe, and all of them were against him at first."
"But…Alex…I'm…I'm such…"
"Don't," she said gently. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
"O…Ok…"
"We'll approach my family in easy stages," Alex said calmly. "We'll tell my Dad first…and we'll do it after we get the ultrasound photo…"
"Yea," Bobby said ruefully. "Maybe your Dad will be less inclined to kill me if he sees proof of his grandchild's existence."
A week later, Dr. Linda Warren entered an examination room and faced a calm Alex Eames and a composed but mildly anxious Bobby Goren. Warren beamed at them. "You'll be happy to know," she said. "That everything is better than fine."
"You're sure? What about…" Bobby started.
"Bobby," Alex said patiently. "Dr. Warren has everything covered."
Bobby blushed and stared at his feet.
"It's ok, Alex," Warren said gently. "Bobby, I assure you everything is fine. I'd be happy to go over every point with you…But everything is fine." She smiled reassuringly at them. "We can even get that picture for you now, if you'd like."
Bobby's attention was instantly diverted. "I know," he said. "That all the literature says that you can see the baby now, but it's so early…"
"I've told him," Alex said as she relaxed on the table. "That we'll be able to see something, but he won't believe me."
"Just wait a few minutes," Warren said. "And we'll show him."
Bobby, leaning forward and holding Alex's hand, watched intently as Dr. Warren traced the scope over Alex's abdomen.
"There," Alex pointed as a tiny smudge of lighter color appeared. "That's it, isn't it?"
"Yes," Warren said. "You remember this well, Alex."
A lump rose in Bobby's throat. That tiny smudge, that thing he couldn't recognize, was his—his and Alex's—child.
"That…that's…" He choked.
"Yep," Dr. Warren said. She decided she really liked this man. "That's it."
"It's beautiful," Bobby said.
END CHAPTER ONE