“But you’ll come by the station and let us know,” Simon prompted.
“Yes, if you want me to, that is.”
They all gave her a look that suggested she was crazy.
“Okay, okay. I’ll come by as soon as I get out of the doctor’s office. That is if I can even get an appointment that soon.”
“Are you staying?” A.J. asked. His question hung in the air and Simon and Matt looked intently at her.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I hadn’t thought beyond my initial panic.”
“You don’t need to worry about it now,” Simon said firmly. Besides, if anyone moves, it will be me and A.J.. This is your house.”
“No!” she exclaimed. “I wouldn’t hear of it. I mean you guys have been here forever.”
“We feel the same way about you moving,” A.J. said softly.
“Thanks,” she said warmly. “I love you guys.”
Simon squeezed her to him. She got up awkwardly and headed back to the kitchen. “You guys are missing the second half. Go ahead and watch. I think I am going to go lie down for awhile.”
“You okay?” Simon asked in concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a lot of thinking to do.” She ignored the worry in their eyes and walked to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
She leaned heavily on the door, her knees sagging underneath her. What a complete mess. She had the urge to dive under her covers and stay there for a week. Yeah, sure, she couldn’t hide her pregnancy forever, but she’d hoped to buy some time to get her life in order before she told them about the baby.
Baby. She smoothed her hands over her still flat stomach. Tears welled in her eyes. She loved it already. Almost as much as she loved its father. But telling Simon she loved him, much less that he was the father of her baby, was out of the question.
Chapter Two
She slept in the next morning, knowing the guys had to be at the station by six forty-five for their shift. Usually, she’d get up and shoot the breeze with them before they left, but this morning she stayed in bed to avoid them.
When she heard them leave, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and tensed for the wave of nausea she’d come to expect. She reached into her nightstand drawer for the small package of crackers she’d put there the previous day. Taking small bites, she got up and headed for the bathroom.
At seven thirty, she got into her yellow Jeep Wrangler and headed for the veterinary practice across town. She’d worked as Doc Johnson’s assistant for the last six years, since she’d come home after one year of college.
He was a kindly older man, very much a father figure after the death of her parents. She loved her job and loved living in her small town even more. It was where she’d lived all her life, and she couldn’t envision that changing.
Things could get a little difficult when her stomach started bulging, though. The only problem with living in a town where everyone knew you was, well, everyone knew you.
She climbed out of her Jeep and threw on her lab coat before heading inside.
“Mornin’, Toni,” Marnie called as she opened the door.
“Mornin,” she returned.
“Doc’s waiting on you in back. We just got in a dog with a broken hip, and he’s prepping it for surgery.”
Toni nodded and walked through the door past the exam rooms and on to the surgery area. She scrubbed then entered the surgery where Doc Johnson was waiting.
“Mornin, Toni. Just in time. Come on over so I can get started.”
An hour later, Toni washed up and walked back out to the reception desk. Thankful Marnie was on the other phone, she hastily looked up the number for the local obstetrician’s office and dialed. After making an appointment to have blood drawn, she hung up and returned to work.
At one, she took her keys and headed out the door. A few minutes later, she had the glorious honor of peeing in a cup that wasn’t large enough to spit in. Then the nurse took a blood sample. Toni was asked to wait a moment in the waiting room, so she went out and poured over a magazine.
She watched women in various stages of pregnancy walk in and out of the office, and she wondered what it would feel like to have a burgeoning stomach. To feel the baby kick within her. Have a bulge for her hand to rest on.
The nurse stuck her head into the lobby and called Toni back. Toni shot from her chair and followed the nurse back to a small desk.
“Your urine results were positive, Miss Langston. I’ll phone your blood results to you tomorrow afternoon, but congratulations. It certainly appears you’re pregnant. We’ll check your HCG levels and make sure they’re where they should be. Then we’ll get you an appointment for your first check up in four weeks.”
Toni murmured her thanks and left the office. Numbly she sat behind the wheel of her Jeep. Thankfully she didn’t have to return to work today since Doc was taking the afternoon off. She wanted to go home and hide in her room, but instead, she instinctively drove toward the fire station.
God, what a mess she was in. Pregnant. Single. No way to tell the father without admitting what she had done. What a fool she’d been.
She clenched her hands around the steering wheel as she neared the station. She pulled into the small parking area and stopped next to Simon’s extra cab Ford truck. To her surprise and a little dismay, he was getting out of his truck with lunch in hand.
He immediately walked over, setting the sacks on the hood of her jeep. “How did it go?”
The concern in his voice was nearly her undoing. “It went okay. I, uh, well, I’m definitely pregnant.” Of all the ways she’d imagined telling the father of her baby she was pregnant, this wasn’t one of them.
He pulled her into his arms and she rested her head on his chest, breathing deeply of the faint scent of his soap. “Are you okay with it?”
She drew away and smiled tremulously. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Help me take in lunch to the guys? They’re anxious to hear from you.”
She took two of the bags and walked beside him through the garage and into the station. Inside the guys were lounging around the TV. She and Simon set the bags on the table, and the rest got up and ambled over to sit.
“Hey Toni,” several of the guys called out as they rummaged through the bags for a hamburger.
She smiled and returned their greeting. She was pretty much a fixture around the station house. A regular Dalmatian. Good grief, now she was comparing herself to a dog.
Matt and A.J. sidled over to her side. “Well?” Matt whispered.
She nodded and A.J. put a hand to her back, rubbing up and down soothingly. “You okay?”
She nodded again and offered a smile.
“You wanna hang out here at the station tonight?” Matt asked. “We’re going to watch a few movies later. Might beat being at the house alone.”
“No, I’ve got things to do at home. I need some time alone anyway. I’ll catch you guys tomorrow afternoon when I get off from work.”
As she made for the door, Simon fell into step beside her. She looked up in surprise when he followed her out. “You sure you’re going to be okay tonight? I know this has to have been a tough day for you.”
Her heart lurched at the tenderness in his voice. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s probably just as well you guys are working tonight. Don’t think I’d make good company.”
“I wish I could be home to hang out with you. We’ll catch up tomorrow night, okay?”
She smiled and climbed into her Jeep. “Thanks, Simon.”
“Take care,” he said softly, closing her door.
Simon watched her drive off and slowly walked back inside the station. Finding out Toni was pregnant had been a huge shock. She’d been like a little sister for so long, it was hard to imagine her doing anything to get pregnant.