*** Gerald's POV ***
Kaitlyn rode in the ambulance with Rachel to the hospital, and Grady made me stay with him at the house until I was sobered up enough to see her.
"You can't go see your baby's mother when she's in the hospital while you're drunk," Grady muttered as he looked at his eye in the mirror that hung in his hallway. "You're just gonna stress her out even more."
Gatorade and water couldn't sober a person up, only time could, but Grady was shoving them both down my throat in an attempt to help me.
"I have to make sure she's ok," I groaned as I held my head, sitting there on his couch. "I feel like an asshole for what I did."
Bentley had calmed down, and was sitting in the chair across from me. He wouldn't take his eyes off of me.
"I know you want to go see her, Gerald, but you can't just show up like this," Grady said as he sat down next to me. "Kaitlyn is going to flip when she sees my eye."
"I'm sorry," I muttered as I closed my eyes. "I shouldn't have hit you, I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I just let my anger get the best of me.'
Grady sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked over at Bentley, who was still watching me.
"It's fine," he said, giving a half-ass answer. "But you're going to have to learn to control your anger. Especially since Rachel is pregnant, she's going to be hormonal sometimes, and you can't just get mad at her."
As he was talking, my phone vibrated. It was a text from Ella, the girl I had been sleeping with on and off.
Ella: I'm in the Bay for a few months to create some new content for my page. We should hang out. ;)
I was going to respond, but Grady decided that I was ready to go see Rachel, so I ignored her and put my phone in my pocket.
"Grady!" Kaitlyn gasped when she walked over to us. "Your eye," she said as she touched his cheek gently before looking at me. "You fucking did this!"
"Hey," Grady said gently as he wrapped his arms around her when she lunged for me. "That's enough, Kaitlyn."
I watched Grady try to calm her down and bit down on my lip, looking at her.
"I'm sorry, Kait," I said as my voice cracked slightly. "I'm sorry for hurting Grady and Rachel, but I'm trying to be here for her now."
"You're lucky she's been asking for you, or else I wouldn't let you see her at all," Kaitlyn spat as she looked at me with this angry look in her eyes. "Don't upset her, or I swear to fucking god I will hurt you, Gerald. I'm not playing around."
"Shhhh," Grady said as he put his hands on her shoulders while I walked down the hallway to Rachel's room. "It'll be okay."
When I walked in, the lights were slightly dimmed and the nurse who was checking on her IV was talking to her. Rachel was laying on her side with a blanket pulled up over her shoulders.
"The heartbeat sounded great," the nurse smiled as she gave me a silent nod when I sat down in the chair by her bed. "The doctor will be in in a little bit to perform an ultrasound, but let me know if you need anything before then," she said as she turned around to grab her clipboard and leave.
"Rach," I said softly as she shook.
She turned around to look at me, and my heart broke even more. Her eyes were red and puffy, her hair was messy, and she just looked exhausted.
"What do you want, Gerald?" She asked as her voice cracked. "You can go back to Manhattan. I know you don't want to be here."
Cold, but I deserved it.
"Actually, when I found out you came back here, I moved back home," I said softly as I pulled the chair closer to her bed. "I talked to my moms and she kinda put some sense into me..."
Her tired eyes met mine again as she bit down on her bottom lip.
"You've already missed out on so much. I'm already three months," she said quietly. "What changed your mind?"
"When I realized that you're gonna be going through it alone," I said as I slowly reached out and pulled her blanket down so I could grab her hand. "I said some pretty hurtful things, and I know I can't take them back, but I realized that I can't give up on you or let you go, not when you need me the most."
She looked down at our hands and rubbed her small thumb over my large knuckles.
"Okay," she said softly as her gaze met with mine again. "We'll...see where this thing goes."
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently as she closed her eyes. As I was sitting back down in the chair, the doctor came in with the ultrasound machine.
"Hello, Ms. Young," the doctor smiled as he came into her room, shutting the door. "I'm Dr. Yen. I'm just going to do a quick ultrasound and make sure your baby is healthy, okay?"
She nodded and moved slightly when the doctor propped her bed up so she was laying at an angel.
"Can you pull your gown up and move the blankets to cover from the waist down?" He asked as he plugged in the machine to get it turned on.
I watched Rachel and stood up to help her slide the gown up her body. She folded it back and rested it across her chest. She reached down for the blanket and I handed it to her, draping it across her thighs.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw her small, bloated bump. It all of a sudden hit me that there was a baby in there. My baby. All thoughts of Ella and any other girl I had slept with when Rachel left me had been pushed out of my head.
"Ready?" The doctor asked her, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Just a little cold gel," he said as he squirted some just below her belly button.
She bit her lip and shivered when the gel made contact with her skin, but she reached over and grabbed my hand. I didn't hesitate to hold onto it.
"Are you the father?" Dr. Yen asked as he sat down on the stool and moved closer to the bed with the machine.
I hesitated for a second and nodded, looking down at Rachel.
"Yeah," I said with a hint of a smile. "This is my first ultrasound, too."
He smiled with a slight chuckle as he put the wand on Rachel's stomach, moving it around to find the baby.
"You're in for a treat," he grinned, looking at the screen and turning it so we could see. "Ah, there's your baby," he smiled, holding the wand on the spot above Rachel's belly button.
"Look," Rachel smiled as she looked up at me and then back up at the screen. "Our baby..." she said as she squeezed my hand.
I brought our hands up to my lips and kissed hers with a smile. My eyes filled up with tears, but I blinked them back when I looked back at her.
"That is our beautiful baby," I muttered as my eyes went back to the screen. "Is it a girl?" I asked the doctor.
Dr. Yen smiled at me and then moved the wand to a different position, taking some pictures on the screen before showing us what he took.
"Congratulations, it is a girl," he beamed. "And I see that you're only a little over three months. I'm happy that we were able to find out early for you. It looks like your baby is healthy and nothing is wrong. I imagine that your blood pressure just got a little too high," he explained. "I'm going to put you on a blood thinner for a few weeks to keep it low, and then I want you to follow up with your primary doctor, okay?"
Rachel nodded and sat up as he moved the bed so she could fully sit up.
"I'll go prepare your discharge instructions and write your prescription," he said as he turned off the machine and unplugged it. "Congratulations on your baby girl," he smiled as he walked out of the room.
We thanked him and watched as he left the room. Rachel turned back around to look at me.
"How do you feel knowing it's a girl?" She asked as I handed her her clothes so she could get dressed. "I'm excited..."
I sat back down in the chair, my eyes going to her bump again as I tried to process that I was even having a child in the first place.
"I think I'm warming up to the idea," I said softly as I watched her. "Do you want to stay with me tonight? We have a lot to talk about..."
She shook her head, biting down on her lip, and I could feel my heart sink.
"No," she answered gently. "I kind of want to be in my apartment, but you could come over."
I nodded with a smile, sitting up in the chair.
"Alright, fair enough," I said as I folded my hands in my lap.
I considered us getting along as the first step to hopefully getting back together.