My Office: A Lloyd Hansen Story

33.

"Hey." Lloyd said. I was eating chocolate that someone brought me from school while lesson planning.

"Hey." I said.

My boyfriend came over and took a piece of chocolate, kissing my head as he did. I smiled to myself.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. He sat down next to me on the couch.

"Good." I said. He moved to turn on the tv. Lassie came up and sat by our feet.

Good was probably a lie. I was exhausted. This baby definitely knew that it was a mistake and was cursing me for it. And I felt bad, but I didn't know if I should tell Lloyd. He had been so busy and I didn't wanna bother him.

There was a day off of school today, so we were both home. And I had a checkup in about an hour.

"Suppose I should get ready to go." I said.

"K. Wait.." he said after I got up. He pulled me down into a kiss. I almost tripped, gripping onto the back of the couch by his head. He moved to grab my waist, pulling me on his lap.

"Fuck I'm gonna pee if you do that." I said and laughed. He pulled me into a hug on his lap. I smiled to myself.

I rested my weight onto him a little more. He sighed.

"Sit down."

"Do not make me feel worse about myself."

"You were tiny before you were pregnant. I think you're good."

I sighed and pulled away, looking at him.

I was five months pregnant, and definitely showing. Lloyd smiled at me.

"You look really pretty."

"You're a liar."

"No. I'm not. Now go get dressed."

•••

"You wanna know the sex today mama?" The nurse asked as she put the gel on me for my ultrasound. Lloyd was sitting there, glancing at the screen. I watched to see his reaction.

"Lloyd?"

"What? I wasn't listening."

"You wanna know the sex?"

"Yeah. If you want to."

"Okay. Then yes."

"You nervous?" She asked.

"A little. I'm just so not ready for all of this. Kinda want time to slow down a little."

Lloyd got up, moving the chair towards me more. I glanced at him as he watched the screen.

He moved to hold my hand. I really hated pda. I never wanted people to see us doing anything. Even when he would hug me in front of Denny or Suzanne I would get embarrassed. But I think we both needed this moment.

The nurse moved the little tool around. "Alright. You ready?"

"Mhm."

"It's a girl. She's looking great in there. Seems very happy, and she is a little rascal in there. She's quite the mover."

"Yeah I can feel that a lot. I don't know what is happening really.."

"She's moving a lot right now. Gosh look at her."

Lloyd chuckled beside me. I knew it was a girl all along. But I was having a little girl. My little best friend was in there.

"Wow.." Lloyd whispered. I rubbed his hand with my thumb.

I knew we had to think about names and everything. This was so scary, but yet so exciting. I did love kids. I just didn't expect to have any of my own by now.

But I could call her mine. She was my daughter. I was a soon to be mom.

And I think I was excited.

•••

Lloyd and I got into the car. He had the ultrasound pictures. "Hey so I have to stop at the mansion to drop off some paperwork. You good to come with?"

"Of course."

He gave me a little smile. "So baby names."

"Oh god. I don't know what to pick. There's so many good ones I mean...holy shit like we're having a little girl."

"I knew you were gonna be a girl mom."

"Ugh. Why am I so excited for her now? Like that's so mean."

"Because I feel as though you can relate better if you had a daughter. Not to say you wouldn't be good with a son. But god I just know that little girls gonna be just like you."

I smiled, looking down at my stomach. "Help me think of names."

"I have none that comes to mind. All I have is the nickname Bea."

"What about Bailee?"

"I like that." He said. "Bailee Bea?"

"That's cute."

"Okay. Well as of right now, that's her name. But we can always switch and find new ones."

"I'll for sure stick with that Bea nickname. Our little bean is hanging out in there all cute."

"Lloyd Hansen. You're being soft."

He cleared his throat, sitting up as he started driving. "Way to remind me that I'm going into work."

"Sorry. I like that side of you."

"I'm just excited about the kid is all."

"Me too." I whispered. "Thanks for being so supportive."

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

•••

I walked into the mansion after a while. Lloyd said it was gonna be a couple minutes, but it was an hour and I had to pee at this point.

I went to the bathroom before stopping in his office. He was deep into his computer.

He glanced at me and then at the clock. "Oh fuck. I'm so sorry."

"You're fine." I said. I glanced around the shelves. He had changed his pictures to us. And there were ultrasound pictures. That's where he put them.

I smiled as I looked at them. He had one from each visit. That's what people saw when they came in here. Our little soon to be family. He didn't care about what people thought in his job.

I love that.

"You good?" Lloyd asked, still looking at his computer.

"Yeah. I'll go back out to the car. I just had to pee."

"I can tell you're tired. Go upstairs. It's only the staff working here today, and I've got no one coming in. I'll be like another hour."

"Okay." I said.

"Caroline."

"Yeah." I said as I started walking out the door.

"I love you."