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“You almost ready?” Amanda asked Sonny as she came out of her bedroom and reached for her coat. He was still making himself a travel mug of coffee and somewhat paying attention to the TV.
“Oh yeah, sorry; just needed a little extra jump this morning,” he answered.
“I get it. I hate these early doctor’s appointments, but I prefer to try and get in before Dr. Sloan gets too busy with any procedures or deliveries. Then I can go right to work after, although at least today is my day off so I don’t have to do that.
And speaking of which, you didn’t have to take the day off. I’m a big girl, Sonny, and it’s my second pregnancy. I can handle an OB appointment.”
“You know I don’t mind coming with you, and besides, I haven’t had a vacation day in a while. I thought maybe after your appointment we could do some baby shopping, get some lunch, something like that. Or we could just come back here and hide out until we have to pick up Jessie from school.”
“Hide out?” Amanda laughed. “And after we go baby shopping? That almost makes it sound like we’re…”
“Dating?” he chimed in.
“Yeah. Something like that. Now come on. Put the lid on the mug here and let’s get moving. I don’t want to be late.”
“I just realized something,” Amanda whispered to Sonny after they had gotten settled into the waiting room at Dr. Sloan’s office. “Today is a scheduled day off for me, but you called out. It’s interesting enough that Fin makes remarks about us spending time together and you have dinner at my place. Do you think Liv was able to figure anything out when you called in?”
“I didn’t tell her my plans,” Sonny replied. “I just asked her a few days ago if I could take a day off and at the time, I wasn’t sure what I’d do with myself. I figured I would just take a staycation in front of the TV or go out to Staten Island and see my mom. But then you told me about your appointment and I realized I could hang out with you. Don’t worry; I didn’t tell Liv I would be here. I know you don’t like sharing too many details about your pregnancy, so she probably doesn’t suspect a thing. Are you worried about any gossip?”
“Far from it. I’ve gotten used to everyone gossiping about us and trying to figure out what’s going on in our personal lives. It was just a random thought.
“What do you think she’d do if she thought we were dating?”
“Probably tell us to keep it on the down low and don’t bring any drama to the squad room. But then say she’s happy for us.”
“Yeah, I agree.”
Amanda brushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled, and she caught another pregnant woman looking over at her.
“Oh, you two look so in love,” the other woman told her. “I wish my husband could have come with me today, but he got called into some big meeting at work. I know it’s our second, but he could have at least explained he had to be with me for an hour.”
“Well, I’m not…” Sonny shook his head, but Amanda reached for his hand.
“We’re not married yet is what he’s trying to say,” she laughed. “We’re just starting to discuss marriage. Sonny is just saying that he’s going to scale back on work a little bit once the baby’s born because I really don’t like the whole stay-at-home mom routine.”
“But we haven’t figured that out yet,” he added. “I went to law school a few years ago and I want to work in the DA’s office, plus I'm very supportive of Amanda's career. So, we're trying to find a balance of work and parenthood that works best for both of us." He felt his face turning red as he tried to keep up the charade.
“And of course, I still need to figure out what kind of ring to get her.”
He turned away from the other woman and looked at Amanda in disbelief. “You leaned into that way more than I expected. Very convincing.”
“You did a good job too. And by the way, I like gold bands.”
When it was her turn to go into an exam room, they walked back together. Sonny even turned away while she was getting weighed so he wouldn’t have to see the number. It didn’t matter to him what the scale said anyway; just that he was spending extra time with Amanda.
“So this must be Dad,” the nurse, whose name was Martha, said.
Oh God, not again, Sonny thought, and he started to panic.
“No, I’m not. I’m just…”
“It sure is.” Amanda cut him off before he could say anything else. “He couldn’t make it to the last appointment, Martha. Sonny’s a little shy because it’s my second pregnancy, but this is our first baby together. He’s a little nervous. He’s so good with Jessie but now that he’s the biological father, it’s a tough adjustment. He knows he’s going to have a bigger role both in Jessie’s and the new baby’s life now.”
“Oh well, congratulations Sonny,” Martha said with a big smile. “How long have you and Amanda been together, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Ummm…” He decided to try and play the game but felt like he couldn’t count. “I think about a year. Right, honey?”
Amanda pretended to be thinking and then nodded in agreement. “Sure. A year. It’s been a really quick year, and his family was shocked I got pregnant before marriage, but they got over it pretty quick and now they're so excited for us. Sonny has a huge, loud, Italian family, so they love babies, and he’s good with his nieces and nephews.”
“Don’t be nervous then,” Martha reassured him. “It sounds like you have a lot of experience. You guys are going to be a great family.”
Once Martha left, Sonny sighed and put his head back, but Amanda was trying to stifle a laugh. “I don’t think this has ever happened before!” she said. “I mean, even when you were with me when I was pregnant with Jessie, we weren’t getting this many assumptions. I think maybe one store cashier thought you were my husband because you were helping me carry some bedding for the crib.
“If it’s embarrassing for you, we can stop and own up to the truth for the rest of the day, though.”
“Eh, let’s not and say we did,” Sonny was now laughing despite his best intentions to hold it in. “I just hope Dr. Sloan doesn’t try the same thing, but I think since we see her quite a bit when we’re working, she won’t be fooled. She knows we’re coworkers.”
“Well, we could tell her we started dating…”
“Nah, I think the fun in this is that we’re pranking people who don’t already know us.”
“Yeah. I agree. Let’s see how long we can keep it up.”
“I knew Dr. Sloan wouldn’t be fooled,” Amanda said, shaking her head. She and Sonny had just finished up a round of baby shopping and were heading for lunch. She had given away a lot of Jessie’s baby clothes, not exactly predicting she’d need them again, so she had decided to look for some new outfits. Sonny ended up helping her pick out some pajamas and even one dress with leggings. “He’s a natural,” the sales associate at the store told Amanda. “You’re so lucky; most husbands come in here and just say ‘sure, that looks great’ but he seemed really interested.”
“By the way,” she continued. “I didn’t think you would be so interested in baby fashion.”
“Not normally, no. But this was a nice way to change things up. You still have the big stuff like the stroller and the car seat anyway, so I knew you weren’t going to need my suggestions on that. Do you think I picked out nice clothes for a baby girl?”
“Yeah. Just be ready to do it again a million more times in her first year. She’ll grow fast.
“And on that note, it feels like everyone thinks we’re married already and yet…we’ve never even been on a date. I think it’s because people see us bouncing conversations off each other, you accompanying me to an OB appointment and now shopping with me…I understand why others get that impression, but it feels…different. Do you think you could see us together?”
“Honestly…I’ve never thought about it either,” Sonny replied. “Not that you’re not a great girl, but I’ve never really wanted to date someone I worked with. It felt like there would be no boundaries. Like what if my girlfriend and I had a fight and then had to immediately go to work together? That would be a long eight hours.”
“That’s understandable. And yeah, I agree. I love our friendship, but maybe we’re better off keeping it as such for now. Jessie loves you regardless, and I hope the baby does too.”
They arrived at lunch, and Amanda tried to sit down and make herself comfortable, but her growing baby bump had a hard time fitting in the tight booth.
“Oh, want me to see if we can pull that out a little?” he asked. “You look like you could use a little more room. Excuse me!” He waved over a host. “Can we adjust this a little bit? We just need some extra space.”
“Sure.” The host smiled at Amanda. “First one?”
“No, second.”
“Nice! Well, congratulations, you two. I hope that adjustment helps, and your server will be right over.” The blonde-haired server nodded and smiled at Amanda and Sonny from behind the bar.
“That’s definitely better,” Amanda agreed. “I probably could have made it work had you not mentioned anything, but I appreciate you helping me get some breathing room. I’m going to have a shelf for my food and drink before long.”
“Anything to help. Hey, I gotta run to the bathroom. If she comes over, can you just get me a Coke, Pepsi, whatever they have?”
“Sure.”
Almost as soon as Sonny walked away, the blonde server came over. “Hi, I’m Sophia,” she said. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Yeah. Just water for me.”
“No problem. And did your husband want anything?”
Husband. Amanda couldn’t help but giggle at the thought.
“A Coke for him, please.”
“Of course. I’ll be right back.”
When Sonny came back, he sat down, and he noticed that Amanda had a wishful look on her face and was smiling to herself.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. Sophia, our waitress, thinks you and I are married. I guess she didn’t notice the lack of a ring on your finger. Although not all men wear their wedding rings. Just ask Prince William.”
“Job hazard.” He grinned at her. “Just say that if someone mentions it.”
“Maybe we should try for real…” Amanda continued. “I know what you just said about dating women you work with, but…I’m not feeling this thing with Al. And it’s not like he’s showing up for any doctor’s appointments or offering to shop for clothes and diapers. I don’t care what he says about how great of a family we’re going to be; he’s not even trying to play the part.”
“We’re already out to lunch,” Sonny laughed. “It could technically be a date if you want it to be.”
“I see what you’re saying. But…” She paused. “You know what? Never mind. I’m kind of liking playing pretend for now and raking in all the compliments while knowing we don’t have a label on ourselves. What do you think?”
“Yeah. It’s been a fun day so far. Still, though, why don’t we start talking more about what we’d like to name our baby and what kind of big sister we think Jessie will be?” He winked as if to say “ our little secret” when Sophia walked by to drop off their drinks.
“Yes. Our baby.” She picked up her menu and tried to decide what to eat for lunch, feeling the glow of pregnancy for possibly the first time in months.