Forever Bonded (BWWM Pregnancy Romance) (14 page)

“I appreciate it,” Liam said as he neatly
folded the picture in half and slid it in his wallet.

When Jasmine returned, the tech handed her
a copy of the ultrasound as well. “Well alright then,” he spoke up, making his
way over to the door. “It was nice meeting you both. Dr. Gilligan will be in soon
for the second half of your appointment.”

Liam and Jasmine both thanked him. As soon
as he was gone, Jasmine's smile dissipated and she turned to look Liam in the
eye.

“You don't need to stay for this part,” she
told him. “You've had your confirmation.”

Liam didn't flinch.

“Liam,” Jasmine said with a deep sigh.
“This isn't like the ultrasound. This is private.”

Liam shrugged. “If it involves my child, I
want to be there for it. You're just going to have to get used to it.”

Jasmine narrowed her eyes at him but
remained quiet. She contemplated pointing out the fact that he had no real
rights as a father considering the baby wasn't even born yet, but something
stopped her from doing so. It occurred to her that maybe if he heard all the
gory details of what went into childbirth, he wouldn't feel the need to tag
along next time.

“Whatever,” Jasmine muttered. “I'm not in
the mood to fight with you.”

“Good.”

They sat in an awkward silence for a good
ten minutes and Jasmine distracted herself by flipping through some celebrity
gossip site on her phone. She knew it wasn't a smart idea to look at bad press
about herself, but she couldn't help it. There was something so fascinating
about reading what people thought they knew about you.

“Why?” Liam finally spoke up.

“Why what?” Jasmine questioned, pulling her
attention from an article that was dragging her for her natural hair
transition. Not that she cared. Frequent perms and bleaches weren't safe during
pregnancy, and she cared a lot more about her unborn child than she did her
hair.

Liam took a deep breath. He had a hard time
getting the words out. “Why did you go through with it?” he questioned, keeping
his gaze steadied on his hands.

Jasmine swallowed hard and went back to
flipping through her phone. “I don't believe in that,” she said. It was a
simple enough reason, but what she really wanted to say was,
'this baby is a part of us. I could never
get rid of it'
.

The implications of speaking those words were
far too heavy for Jasmine’s liking. She and Liam were over. Baby or not, was no
‘them’ left.

“Thank you,” Liam said.

It was the most sincere thing Jasmine had
heard him say in awhile, and she couldn't help but look at him. “I did it for
the baby,” she clarified. “Not for you.”

“I know,” Liam said in his usual cocky
manner. “But that doesn't make me any less grateful.”

Dr. Gilligan entered the room a few seconds
later. “Good afternoon, Miss Davis,” he said, nodding at Jasmine without
looking up from his clipboard.

Liam was immediately put off by how bored
he sounded. He didn't want any doctor who was in charge of bringing his kid
into the world seeming annoyed by his profession. Not to mention the fact that
he had clearly seen better days. He had to have been at least sixty by the
looks of it. Why hadn't he retired yet?

“I've reviewed your file,” Dr. Gilligan
continued without acknowledging Liam's presence. “Your baby's development is
exactly where it should be this far along. All I need to do today is get some
additional information from you. Your next scan is a big one. We need to know
if there’s anything in specific that we should watch out for. Let's start with
the father. Do you happen to know anything about his medical history?”

“Actually,” Liam spoke up, gritting his
teeth. “I'm the father.”

Dr. Gilligan looked surprised. “Oh, I'm
sorry. Of course. How rude of me.”

Liam shrugged.

Dr. Gilligan cleared his throat and looked
down at Jasmine's paperwork again. “As I was saying,” he continued, stumbling
over his words a bit. “Your baby's development is right where it should be this
far along. My main concern is how you've been feeling. It says here that you've
been experiencing a bit of heartburn?”

“Yes,” Jasmine said. “But it's manageable.
It mostly only happens after I've eaten something spicy. The little one doesn't
seem to agree with my Thai cravings.”

Dr. Gilligan snickered at the remark, but
the look in his eyes made it clear that he wasn't entirely listening. He went
on to make a few recommendations before explaining the birthing process Jasmine
had decided on in vivid detail. Liam latched onto every word, but he was left
feeling physically ill by the time the appointment was over.

“Jazz hold on, we need to talk,” he spoke
up, placing a hand on her arm to stop her from walking so fast.

Jasmine laughed and shook her head. “Oh no
we don't,” she shot back, continuing down the corridor towards the parking
garage where her driver was waiting.

Liam ran after her. “Jazz come on,” he pleaded.
“I know we're not the best of friends, but you can't keep me out of my child's
life.”

Jasmine sighed. “What exactly do you want?”

“Easy,” Liam said, leaning against the
wall. “I want in on the decisions from here on out. I want to come to these appointments,
I want to be there for the birth, and I want joint custody.”

“What?” Jasmine hissed. “Joint custody?
Liam, come on...”

“No, you come on,” Liam shot back. “Any
child of mine is going to have both their mother
and
their father in their life.” He paused and grabbed her hand,
forcing her to meet his gaze. “Even if one of them hates the others guts.”

Jasmine glared at him. “I don't hate you,”
she muttered.

Liam raised an eyebrow, making it clear
that he didn't believe her.

“Fine,” Jasmine agreed, exhaling a deep
sigh. “But when I ask you to back off, you back off. And your involvement in my
life ends with our child. It doesn't cross over the boundaries of that.”

“Of course,” Liam said. He smiled and held
up his hands. “So long as you don't let your life have an affect on our kid's.”

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