Egotistically Yours by Hayley Faiman

Chapter Twelve

BETHANIE

Dinnerwith the Astors was fun, but at the same time, it opened my eyes to a whole new side of Laurent. One that I didn’t realize existed. He’s not only Laurent Astor, he’s also a big brother and uncle, and a friend.

He’s relaxed around his family, but I can see that he also wants his father’s approval for a lot. As if he’s still searching for it. I don’t think that Landry has kept his approval from him or anything, but I think that Laurent is just searching.

Laurent and Landry talked business, tried to brainstorm some things with Astor Investments and seeing the two of them together, I can one day hope that Laurent will be just as great of a father to Tucker as Landry is to him.

Two weeks have passed, my mother wasn’t able to come when she said she could. My father ended up catching the flu and she was afraid to bring it to Tucker. Although I’m thankful that she didn’t come over sick, it’s been a month since I’ve seen her, I miss her.

Reaching for my phone, I start to call Laurent to remind him that I have a doctor’s appointment today, but just as I find his name in the phone, the front door opens. He walks into the room, his lips curved up into a grin as he makes his way toward me and Tucker.

“Are you ready?” he asks, bouncing on his toes slightly.

I try not to smile, but I know why he’s so excited. Today is the day that I get the all clear from the doctor. I’m not going to lie and pretend that I’m not excited too. I am super, super, excited.

Laurent has been patient, he’s been kind and caring. He’s been attentive not only to me, but to Tucker as well. But Laurent is a man and I’m a woman and if we’re going to make this relationship work with one another, we need all the parts to work. I for one cannot wait to feel his body against mine again, it’s been far too long.

“I am,” I say, shoving my phone in the side pocket of the diaper bag before standing.

He reaches for the bag and throws the strap over his shoulder. I watch, mesmerized by the sight of him with my girlie diaper bag against his deep navy designer suit. A thrill shimmies up my spine and I shiver before I move to put Tucker in his car seat.

Together we walk out of the apartment and down to his car. Slipping into the front seat, Laurent shifts the car into drive and we head toward the doctor.

My appointment doesn’t take long, my doctor checks me and says that everything looks good and I’m clear to resume all activities, then he asks me about birth control.

I freeze.

We hadn’t discussed birth control.

“Um,” I whisper.

He chuckles. “It’s okay, but I want to warn you that even if your period doesn’t come back due to breastfeeding, you can indeed become pregnant.”

My heart starts to slap against my chest with the thought of becoming pregnant again. I know that Laurent said five more children, but the reality is that as a couple we are not stable, at least not yet.

“I was on the pill before,” I say.

“Would you like to go back on that?” he asks.

He says it in a way where I can almost feel the judgment. Almost like, you got pregnant on the pill last time and here you are doing it all over again.

“I would,” I state.

He sighs, then goes to the computer and inputs the prescription. “Use another form of birth control for the first couple of weeks, after that you should be okay,” he mutters.

It’s as if he’s bored with me or maybe it’s just because he doesn’t agree with my decision, either way, I suddenly have a bad taste in my mouth with this doctor. I’ve been going to him my whole pregnancy and this is the first time he’s behaved this way toward me.

“Is there a problem?” I ask.

He doesn’t even look up at me as he shakes his head. “Nope. Now I’ll see you back in a year for your annual, unless you have another before then.”

His words are monotone, but something is off. “Dr. Patel, is everything okay?” I ask.

He lifts his gaze to meet mine, finally, and he looks directly into my eyes. “I see you girls come in here, day after day. Single, new baby, and then you find a man and have another right away. Two babies, two different men, and a host of problems. I hate to see more women go down that road. Get some therapy.”

Deciding not to get into an argument with him, I grind my teeth together and shake my head. “Thank you for your advice,” I snap.

Standing, I turn and leave the doctor. I don’t want to argue with him. I don’t want to explain myself because I don’t need to. He doesn’t know my life and he’s making a judgment that is unfair and tells a lot more about him than it does me.

Laurent is waiting in the lobby when I burst through the door. He stands, picking up the carrier, his eyes wild as they meet mine. I walk past the receptionist and Laurent, straight toward the hallway.

“Bethie,” Laurent calls out. “Stop.”

Stopping in the hall, I turn to him, my breathing coming out in heavy pants as I tip my head back and look up to him. I can feel my nostrils flaring, my teeth clenching as I look up at him.

“What the fuck?” he demands.

I can’t stop myself. I can’t hold back, it all comes spilling out, everything that he said to me. Tears are streaming down my cheeks by the time that I finish and I don’t realize that with each word that I say, Laurent is growing angrier and angrier.

“Here, take Tucker,” he grinds out.

I watch as he sets the car seat down with a sleeping Tucker inside, calmly slips the diaper bag off of his shoulder and then turns away from me and heads back into the doctor’s office. I stand in the hallway, tears streaming down my cheeks, my lips parted in awe, and staring at the now closed doctor’s office door.

LAURENT

Marching backinto that doctor’s office, I don’t even look at the receptionist as I breeze past her and open the door to the back rooms. A nurse calls out for me, but I ignore her. Instead, I open door after door, ignoring the screams and shouts as I do, until I see the motherfucker I’m looking for.

He’s standing at the foot of one of the exam tables and lifts his head to look up at me. He arches a manicured brow, then curls his lip as if he is annoyed with me. He doesn’t understand annoying, yet.

He doesn’t understand who the fuck he’s dealing with.

“Do you have a goddamn problem with my woman?” I demand.

He blinks, then as haughtily as a person could possibly be, he responds. “I don’t know who you’re referring to, sir.”

“Do you have a problem with Bethanie?” I grind out.

The doctor shakes his head slowly. “I have zero problem with her and more an issue with her promiscuity. She’s having a baby by one man and you’re in the lobby, but she wants to get back on the birth control that got her in this position in the first place.”

“Well, this is grossly inappropriate, and illegal,” the woman on the exam table murmurs.

I don’t respond to her, but she’s absolutely correct. I’m so pissed off, I can’t even see straight, let alone think about the repercussions of any part of this conversation.

Taking a step toward him, I ball my hand into a fist and again, without thinking, seeing only red, I punch the good doctor in the face. He lets out a wail, lifting his hand to cover his face and that’s when I lean forward.

“I’m the father of her baby. I’m Bethanie’s man. So your assumption was fucking wrong. Maybe you should ask someone before you make a goddamn asshole out of yourself.”

Spinning around, I walk out of the doctor’s office and straight toward Bethie, who is standing in the middle of the hallway still, her eyes wide as she watches me make my way toward her. Wordlessly, I reach down, grab the diaper bag, throwing the strap over my shoulder, then I calmly reach down and pick up Tucker’s car seat.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asks as I turn and start to walk down the hall.

“Nope,” I snap. “But you’ll need to find a new doctor.”

She doesn’t say anything immediately, following behind me almost at a jog. I need to get the fuck out of the building and hopefully he hasn’t called security or the police on me.

Once we’re in the parking garage, I load Tucker in the back seat, then open the passenger door for Bethie before I jog over to the driver’s seat and fold into the car.

Bethie is silent as I drive us back to the condo, at least for a moment.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” she asks on a whisper.

“You need to find a new doctor,” I bark.

She hums. “Yes, you’ve already told me that, can you elaborate as to why?”

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, I notice that my knuckles turn white and I can hear the plastic of the steering wheel make noise beneath my grip that sounds much like cracking. Loosening my grasp, I clear my throat.

“He’s a dick. He’s full of shit and I don’t want you to be under his care,” he states.

“Okay, but your knuckles are red, so I’m thinking something else happened,” she mutters.

Flicking my gaze between my knuckles at the road, I inwardly curse. She’s not going to accept a nonanswer, and she already knows what the fuck happened. She knows I punched that fucker right in the face and I would do it again if I had the chance. I should have done it more than once, he deserved to get his ass absolutely beat the fuck down.

“I hit him,” I grind out. “He was out of line and I put him in his place.”

She doesn’t say anything right away, the car is filled with silence, but I don’t care. I am not ashamed of what I did. He deserved it, there isn’t a doubt in my mind of that.

“Okay,” Bethie whispers.

“You pissed at me?” I ask.

I don’t know why, but I need to hear that she isn’t mad at me. That she isn’t scared of me or upset in any way. I just need to know.

There is a long moment of silence, then she finally puts me out of my misery. “I’m not mad at you. He was out of line. Maybe I shouldn’t want someone who is going to punch another person,” she begins. “But it’s hot.”

I chuckle. “Thank fuck, because I’m not sorry.”

Pulling into the parking garage of our building, I find my spot just as I hear Tucker start to wake up and fuss. Bethie reaches across the car, her fingers wrapping around my wrist before he tugs my hand close to her. I watch as she brings my bruised knuckles up to her lips and touches them gently.

“It’s hot, Laurent, in this case at least. Not something I’d want you to do on a regular basis, but that guy was out of line.”

“He absolutely was,” I say, my voice gruff and raspy.

Leaning forward, I’m just a few inches from kissing Bethie when Tucker lets out a bloodcurdling scream. I snort and Bethie releases her touch on me. I watch as she scrambles out of the car and unbuckles him from his seat, holding him against her chest.

Together, the three of us, a whole ass fucking family, make our way upstairs to the penthouse. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but I know that I won’t stand for some pompous fuck talking badly about my woman, that’s for damn sure.