Sound of Heartache ("Sound of" Book 2) (9 page)

“
Thank you.” He told his friend. Eric had a soft spot for Aimee and it showed.

Eric waved him out of the room without ever opening his eyes. Brent shook his head at his eccentric friend and slowly headed toward Eric’s room. His gut clenched with nerves and he took a deep breath. There was never a good time to pay the piper. He pushed open the door to Eric’s room, which hadn’t been fully shut.

Aimee lay bundled under Eric’s mound of covers. Brent snorted to himself. The man was so odd. He often wore tattered clothes and beat up sneakers but his bedding was the stuff dreams were made of. He knew the comforter Aimee rested under was as soft as a cloud and the sheets were a high thread count. She would be comfortable there, but still. Brent stripped down to his boxer briefs and slid into bed with Aimee. It was probably the first time he’d been in bed with her and not been interested in her in a sexual way. He desperately wanted to feel the softness of her skin against his and hold her close. He needed to reassure her.

“
I’m so sorry I yelled at you,” he murmured softly. He knew he’d have to repeat the apology when she was awake but he wanted to get it out there now. He couldn’t go another moment without saying it, even if it was to her sleeping back.

Brent startled when Aimee’s voice floated back to him, soft and regretful. “I’m so sorry I lied to you.” He ran his hand over her arm and wished he hadn’t woken her. She was sick and exhausted and could really use the sleep.

“
We’re going to have to figure this out.” He told her. She nodded, her head tucked under this chin. He swept her long, dark hair over her shoulder and pressed a soft kiss to the skin of her neck. She smelled sweetly familiar and for the first time in hours, he felt like he could take a deep breath.

“
It’s going to be complicated. I’m on my parent’s insurance but with all the HIPAA laws I don’t think anything can be disclosed to them so I’m safe to get prenatal care.” Aimee’s voice was hesitant, like she expected him to interject with arguments. The last thing he was going to argue about was their baby getting the care it needed.

“
I think you should go as soon as possible. You’ve got to be at least about eight weeks along and I want to make sure you’re okay. I don’t like you being so sick.” Their fight last night hadn’t lessened Brent’s concern over Aimee’s health. If anything, he was even more worried. Christ, he couldn’t believe she was only seventeen and now pregnant with his baby. How was her body supposed to handle this?

“
I’ll call Monday.” Aimee promised.

“
How far do you think you are?” Brent asked her, searching for some idea of when conception might have occurred. He’d thought it over and drawn a blank. There wasn’t a time where the removal of the condom had been cause for concern.

“
I don’t know. Eight or nine weeks maybe.” She said. “Eric and I did some research last night on due dates and stuff. It’s kind of hard to pin anything down because my cycle isn’t very regular. But just given from what I read, that’s where I think I am.” Brent was glad Aimee seemed to have an idea of what was going on because he surely didn’t.

“
Just make an appointment, okay? School starts back up in a couple of days and I want to see what we can do to make sure this doesn’t ruin your semester. I’ll help you as much as I can but I’m pretty useless when it comes to your core classes.” The fact that Aimee was only seventeen and already taking more advanced biology classes reinforced Brent’s original theory that Aimee was a brainiac hiding in a sexy body. He wasn’t going to say anything to her, but he was secretly terrified she would come to resent him for getting her pregnant.

“
I’ll get in as soon as I can.” She promised softly. Brent pulled her tightly against his chest. He rubbed his hand down her stomach and it came to rest there. He might be imagining things, but he thought it definitely felt harder and rounder there. Aimee was pretty slender, so any changes to her body would be apparent quickly. He didn’t know much about pregnancy but he had a feeling Aimee might be off in her calculations by a few weeks. Baby bumps weren’t supposed to start showing up right away.

“
I’ll go with you.” He vowed to her. Supporting her through this mess was the least he could do.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“
But I can’t be 15 weeks along!” Aimee protested to the doctor. After calling a doctor recommended by a local social media site group, they’d had to wait two weeks into the semester before going to see him.

She had just finished an examination that had her face burning. A boyfriend should never, ever, see his girlfriend in such an undignified position. Scooting down on the bed after her feet were in stirrups while Brent looked on was beyond humiliating. The little paper drape the office provided for modesty covered nothing.

The doctor snapped off his gloves and smiled at Aimee. “I’m going to get our ultrasound cart to confirm what I think, but I’d be surprised if it shows anything different.” The doctor was disgustingly jaunty and Aimee irrationally felt like sticking her tongue out at him. When he left the room, Aimee turned to Brent a little frantically.

“
I can’t be 15 weeks along!” She cried softly. “He said my due date was July 22. That’s too close to my birthday!” Aimee was barely hanging onto her composure by a thread. This was worse than she thought.

“
I know it’s not ideal to have a baby at seventeen,” Brent told her calmly, “but the world isn’t going to end if it arrives a few days before your eighteenth birthday.” Aimee frantically shook her head at him.

“
You don’t understand!” She burst out. She drew up short when the doctor came back in pushing a TV monitor on wheels. The nurse who had originally accompanied the doctor into the room helped Aimee lay back again and arranged Brent by Aimee’s head. She tucked Aimee’s gown up under her breasts while simultaneously spreading a blanket over her girl parts. Only Aimee’s belly was exposed. After the exam she just endured, Aimee wasn’t sure why she bothered. It was a little late for modesty.

The blob of goop that was squirted on was oddly warm. “We have a little warmer for it,” the nurse said, smiling at Aimee’s expression. Aimee relaxed a little. That made more sense than just magically warm goo.

Aimee watched intently as the doctor swirled the ultrasound wand in the goo. A rapid whooshing noise filled the room and Aimee’s breath caught. She knew what that sound was.

“
That’s the baby’s heartbeat!” She told Brent, excited despite the cold fear gripping her insides. She realized in that moment that there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for this baby. This heartbeat was part of her and Brent.

“
That’s…” Brent struggled for words, looking awed. “That’s so damn awesome.” He finally said. They watched as a little blob was outlined on the screen. Aimee could clearly see the pulsing heart in the little alien-like body. The doctor took some measurements and printed out a couple of stills of the baby for Aimee.

“
Well?” She asked him impatiently.

“
Do you want to know the sex?” The doctor asked blandly. He had probably done this song and dance hundreds of time.

“
You can tell already?” Surprise colored Aimee’s tone.

“
Yep. Baby isn’t shy.” The doctor waited patiently while Aimee glanced at Brent, who looked emotional. He gave a brief nod.

“
Let’s go for it.” She said, excited in spite of herself.

“
You’re having a little girl.” A thrill shot through Aimee. A girl! “I’d say you’re about halfway into your fifteenth week, so a due date somewhere around the 18
^th
to the 20
^th
of July.” The doctor patted her shoulder and headed out of the room.

Any pleasure Aimee had from seeing images of the baby drained out of her. Those dates were too damn close to her birthday for comfort. This was the absolutely worst case scenario and one she hadn’t wanted to consider when she found out she was pregnant.

Aimee stayed numb as Brent helped her get dressed. He took pamphlets from the kindly nurse as well as a prescription for iron and some prenatal vitamins that were supposed to be gentler on the stomach. He carefully led her out to his car and Aimee sank into it gratefully. She felt like she was on a never ending roller coaster today with the way her emotions were swinging up and down. Brent slid into his side of the car and turned toward her.

“
Why are you really freaking out about the due dates?” He asked her bluntly. Aimee felt tears well up and she brushed at her eyes angrily. She turned her body in the seat so she could face him.

“
My parents. If I’m seventeen when the baby comes I won’t have any control over what happens to her,” Aimee whispered grimly.

“
What the fuck are you saying?” He growled. “This is my baby too.”

“
I’m saying that if the baby is born before I’m eighteen I’ll never see her and neither will you. They’ll take her away.” Aimee’s voice cracked at the end and she struggled to not hyperventilate.

Brent frowned at her. He opened and closed his mouth several times.

“
I thought laws had changed. I didn’t think they could do that anymore.” He finally said. Aimee knew he had no idea what they were up against. He hadn’t met her parents yet. She, however, knew the lengths her parents would go through to keep her focused on school and the plans they had for her. Their wealth allowed them a lot of leeway.

“
There are states where the adoption laws have a mental competency provision for minors in them. If the parents can prove it’s in the best interest, the child will be taken away.” Aimee’s voice wobbled. If her daughter didn’t stay in past the due date, Aimee knew for sure she would be taken away. Stolen, really, because Aimee was clearly competent enough to get into a difficult college program at seventeen so diminished mental capacity was a joke.

“
Your parents wouldn’t do that.” Brent’s voice lacked certainty. He caught her fingers in with his. “Would they?”

“
They absolutely would,” Aimee told him, shuddering at the images playing through her mind. She could envision herself locked in a facility, pregnant, waiting for her baby to be taken away. As Aimee’s words sank in, Aimee saw in Brent’s face what she lived with every moment since finding out about the baby. Sheer terror.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Spring break that year fell around Aimee’s 23
^rd
week of pregnancy. She had developed a high little round ball that very politely rested just under her breasts. She’d been able to keep wearing most of her jeans with a belly band until just a couple weeks ago. Oddly enough, it had been Eric who brought home Aimee’s first maternity clothes. She and Brent had been snuggled on the couch when Eric walked in and tossed her a bag. She’d caught it out of reflex.

“
For the baby,” he told her succinctly, before moving into the kitchen and banging around in the cupboards.

Aimee had dug into the bag and smiled widely as she withdrew a pair of soft black yoga pants that had a stretchy tummy panel and a tee with foil lettering and drums that said, “Bump It Up”. She got off the couch and went into the kitchen where she wrapped her arms around Eric. He had briefly stiffened up before returning her hug.

“
For the baby?” She’d teased him.

“
I think you’re squishing it in your jeans.” He’d said, and Aimee had laughed. The jeans were getting pretty uncomfortable and she knew the yoga pants would feel like heaven.

“
Well, she thanks you for saving her brain cells,” Aimee told him, and hugged him again before skipping off to change.

Now, two weeks later, she and Brent were doing some major maternity clothes shopping because almost nothing fit. Luckily her parents were generous with her living allowance and Aimee wasn’t usually very spendy. She had a nice little nest egg saved.

She had been able to delay going back to San Francisco for spring break by using the excuse of mid-terms. Luckily her parents were so devoted to her studies that they were easily pacified. Aimee had told them that she was going to try to look into internships for the summer, hoping to delay going home even longer. If she had to take an internship and work up until the day the baby was born, she would do it, just to be able to stay where she was. Knowing how her parents would react to her pregnancy, Aimee didn’t feel even the slightest bit bad that she was telling them half-truths. She had gotten so attached to the little life inside her that she didn’t know what she would do if her parents found out.

“
Oh, God!” She heard Brent exclaim. She wandered over to where he was standing. She giggled when she realized he was holding what appeared to be maternity thongs.

“
Not comfortable ever!” She told him, laughing. “Especially not now!” She plucked some panties off the rack that looked a little like the yoga pants had, just with no legs attached. There was a large panel at the front and a full coverage rear. “Now this is what I’m talking about!” She teased. The look of horror that crossed Brent’s face was priceless.