Come Monday morning, Dalton was anxious to see the bean he planted into Victoria and was curious to see how far along she was, that when they got to work, he immediately had her go into an examining room, and brought in the ultrasound machine.

She laid on the table, raised her shirt, and waited for him to squirt the gel onto her stomach, as she watched him set up the machine. "Are you excited to see what we created?" he asked, removing the top off the tube of gel.

"I feel nervous."

"Why?' he asked, chuckling.

"What if I was wrong? What if it was a fake positive? It happens a lot, women come in here all the time saying they are pregnant after taking a test at home, then find out differently."

"Yes, I know... it does happen, but those tests are mostly accurate. Besides, I know you are, I can see it, and feel it."

As he placed the wand on her stomach, her eyes closed, and her heart began to pump harder and faster. Worried she was going to hear she wasn't pregnant. He stared at the screen, and started moving the wand around, then stopped and smiled, when he found what he was looking for.

He turned his head towards her, and gave her a nudge. "Open your eyes silly..."

She opened one eye, and looked at him, refusing to look at the screen. "I'm not pregnant, am I?" she said quietly.

He smiled, and pointed. "Look, see for yourself."

She took a deep breath, opened her other eye, and rolled her head to the side. "You are in fact seven weeks pregnant..." he says, then pointed out the baby, and its features. "There's it's arms, legs, and eyes." he said in awe. Seeing his own child on screen, instead of one of his patients, had him feeling different kinds of emotions he's never experienced before. His heart was melting, and tears of happiness started forming in his eyes. He couldn't believe he was finally getting the child he had long wanted, and that it was Victoria who was giving him that dream, the one who claimed she never wanted children.

Seeing what he was showing her on the screen, a tear rolled down her cheek. She couldn't believe she was pregnant, and was at a loss for words as she stared at the screen. She could see the arms and legs he was pointing at, and when he pointed at the baby's heart, she felt her heart double in size.

He looked at the time, and stood up "Shit... clinic should be opening soon, and I think I forgot to put the flags out." he says, opening the door. As he flipped the flag, Tiara was walking by and stopped.

"Have you seen Victoria?" she asked.

"Yes, she's in here, we should be done shortly." he says with a smile and wink, then giving her a thumbs up. Tiara curious as to what they were up to, rolled her hand out over her stomach like she was pregnant, questioning him if she was.

Another smile crept up her face when he raised his thumb, letting her know she was, and began clapping excitedly. "YES!" she squealed.

He sat back down, and smiled. "I'd like to hear the heartbeat, how about you?"

While he was standing in the doorway talking to Tiara, she had a few minutes to think about the baby growing inside her, and how her life was going to be changing forever. As scared as she was, she felt excited, and happy for who she chose to have a child with. She raised her hand, and wiggled her finger, wanting him to come over to her.

As he walked over and stood next to her, her hands reached up and pulled him down to her, hugging him. She felt tears filling her eyes, and released her arms from around him, and pulled him in for a kiss, showing him how happy she was. He pulled back, and smiled as he looked at her "Our lives will only be getting better from here on out... love you mamma."

"Love you too."

He sat back in his chair, and turned on the doppler machine, "Ready to hear the heartbeat?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Hearing the baby's heartbeat, had them both feeling in awe, and more in love than they were moments ago. "I just need to do a cervical exam, aka pap smear." he chuckled. "Then I'm going to bring you over to Lakeisha, and have her finish with the pregnancy tests."

"Why?"

"Because, I still need to have your blood drawn, and tested as well as your urine sampled... it's all common procedures with the first pregnancy exam... you should know that." he winked.

"Yea I know, but I didn't think I would have to do all that, being that we're together."

He chuckled, and leaned down to her face, kissing her nose. "Still have to do it, and make sure all is good... you have to remember this is your first pregnancy, so don't be so stubborn about this."

After he gave her a pap smear, he handed her the pictures he took, and walked her over to Lakeisha, instructing her about the blood work needed, and not to forget the urine sample. "I hate needles." Victoria groaned, as Lakeisha tied the band around her upper arm.

"It's not so bad." she giggled. "I only have to poke you once, and get the blood needed from that one draw." she explained, then looked at her with a smile. "By the way, congratulations to you, and Dalton."

"Thank you."

After she drew Victoria's blood, she noticed how white in the face she became, and gave her a cup filled with sprite, and had her sit for a bit, not wanting her to pass out. She finally finished with her tests, and headed to her office. "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" Tiara said excitedly as Victoria sat in her chair.

"Thanks... I'm a little nervous, and scared about it, but happy."

"You've got a good man that'll take good care of you, and that baby... you're extremely lucky to have who you have."

"I know, and I'm glad for that... if it weren't for him, I'd still be on the pill."

******

For the next week, Victoria hung out with her brother, sister-in-law to be, and her new nephew. The night before they were set to leave for their two-week vacation, Victoria hung out with Analyn and Jonah, while Dalton and Rhett went out to have some drinks.

Rhett and Dalton sat at the bar talking, Rhett picked up his drink, and curiously looked at Dalton. "I don't know how you did it, and I'm curious... how the hell did you get that stubborn ass woman to give you a child?"

"Why do you ask that?" Dalton asked, while sipping on his scotch.

"Because I know her... I'm not sure if she told you, but when she was ten years old, my parents left us for the weekend with my aunt, and uncle while they went out of town. My aunt put our cousin down for a nap, and later in the afternoon, Victoria walked into the baby's room to check on her while my aunt was in the shower, and ran out of the room, yelling the baby wasn't moving or breathing. After seeing what my aunt and uncle went through, from losing their child, to the funeral, the years of depression my aunt went through, and the blaming game between my aunt and uncle, she created a fear of babies, and for years vowed to everyone she would never have kids."

Dalton's stomach dropped, and set his glass down onto the bar. "No, she never told me that story. She did tell me her fears on why she was afraid to have children, but never mentioned that. And being only ten years old to witness something like that, must have caused PTSD. May I ask how old she was?"

"Six months old. After that happened, she never held a baby again, afraid of it dying in her arms. Then to hear she's pregnant, was a huge shocker to my parents, and I. And it got me curious as to how you got her out of that fear. She must really trust and feel safe with you, and just so you know, that's a huge plus with my family."

He waved the bartender over, asking for refills, then looked at Rhett, and smiled. "With me, she has nothing to worry about. I'll always be there for her, and will help her get through whatever challenge she is facing. I'm not God, and cannot stop something like that from happening, but I had a talk with her, and let her know that it doesn't happen all the time, that she can't be thinking that way, and stressed to her that there are precautions she can do, to help it from not happening."

Rhett smiled, and raised his glass to his lips. "I like you... you're good for my sister, and I'm so glad she got rid of that one piece of shit, and met you."

"Me too." he chuckled. "Cheers, brother to be." he says, holding his glass out.

"Cheers, brotha." he grinned.

Analyn was sleeping in the spare bedroom with Jonah, while Victoria had just finished packing for their vacation, and finally laid down. She rolled her head to the side to look at the time, and sighed. Two in the morning, and he's still not home... She closed her eyes, and fell asleep for about fifteen minutes, when the smell of alcohol filled her nostrils.

She opened her eyes, and saw him stumbling as he tried removing his pants. "Rough night?" she quietly asked, scaring him.

Hearing her voice scared him, and widened his eyes as he stood and froze still, only to quickly lose his balance, and fell over. She quickly sat up, and leaned over his side of the bed, and looked at him on the floor, trying to get himself back up. "Hun your dreaming, go back to sleep." he slurred.

"Nice try, I'm definitely awake." she says, sliding her legs over the bed, debating about helping him up. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, and walked around him. Her hands reached underneath his armpits, and helped him up while pushing him onto the bed. She had to laugh when she saw his pants were only halfway down, and began taking them off.

His head lifted, and looked down as she took the rest of his pants off, and grinned. "Are you planning on talking into the microphone?"

"I'm just helping you remove your clothes, so I can go back to sleep."

He wasn't sure if she was upset, and when she laid back down, he moved closer to her, and wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her stomach. As he closed his eyes, he thought about what Rhett told him, and slowly breathed in deep. He had a feeling the moment the baby makes its debut, she was going to be a nervous wreck, and felt she'd be one who would be checking on the baby every two seconds.

******

The next morning, Victoria woke up to the baby crying, and headed over to the spare bedroom. She knocked, and when she didn't hear anyone, she slowly opened the door, and peeked her head inside. She was shocked to see Analyn, and Rhett still sleeping after how loud the baby was crying, and walked in, picking up the baby out of his bassinet.

She remembered Analyn pumping her milk the night before, and headed to the fridge to grab him a bottle, figuring he was hungry. After warming the milk, she sat on the couch, watching him the entire time as he ate. Holding him in her arms, watching him eat, and seeing how innocent he was, had her heart growing bigger, and wanting to see her baby face to face sooner than the date Dalton gave her.

Dalton reached his arm out, wanting to snuggle up to Victoria, and realized she wasn't in the bed. He opened his eyes, looked around the room, then felt his head pounding and held his hands on his forehead, groaning. He slowly removed the blanket off him, and sat up rubbing his face, trying to remember coming home.

While putting on his sweatpants, the night finally came back to him, and how he got busted by Victoria after he got home. He headed out of the bedroom, trying to walk as careful as he could, not wanting his head to pound any harder, and walked into the kitchen. Ugh he groaned, seeing there wasn't any coffee, then grabbed the bottle of Advil that was sitting next to the sink, and popped the cap off. He popped a couple pills into his mouth, turned on the faucet, and hung his head underneath the running water, trying to wash down the pills.

Victoria could hear Dalton moaning and groaning in the kitchen, and giggled as she looked down at Jonah "I think your uncle has a hangover this morning." she said quietly.

After preparing the coffee, he walked towards the living room, and stopped when he saw Victoria holding Jonah. She could feel him standing in the room watching her, and looked away from Jonah, to look at him. "Morning sweetheart, how are you feeling this fine morning?"

"Just wonderful." he responded in a low tone, trying not to move in a way that would have his head pounding harder.

"Really?" she said surprised.

"No, my head feels like someone is hammering a nail into my head, and into the wall."

She giggled, and looked the other way when she heard the bedroom door open. Analyn walked in the room, and sat down next to Victoria. "Thanks for getting him, someone decided to keep me awake for hours after he got to bed." she said in broken English.

"I'm sorry."

"It's all right. I think after all the puking he did, the alcohol was most likely removed from his system." she smiled.

"Dalton isn't feeling the greatest either." she giggled.

"We were only doing what brothers do, and that was having some fun... now I'm regretting the decision to drink as much as we did." he groaned, while holding his head. He heard the coffee pot beep, and walked back into the kitchen to pour himself a cup.

Victoria handed Jonah back to Analyn, and got up to make breakfast for everyone. As she walked past Dalton, he reached out to her, and pulled her to him, holding her tight as he rested his chin on top of her head. "I'm so ready for this vacation, it's well needed for the both of us." he said quietly, then moved his hands to the side of her face, cupping them, and placing a kiss on her lips.

"I better get breakfast made, it'll make you, and Rhett feel better."

Later, on the way to the airport Victoria suddenly felt sick, and had Dalton pull over. "I think I'm about to be sick." she says, opening the door before he stopped completely.

"Damn Victoria, you could have waited until I stopped." he says in a panic.

"No, I cou-" she began saying while holding the door open, and letting out all the groceries she ate prior to them leaving, all onto the ground. Nearly making a mess on the side of his car. She sat back up, closed the door, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Thank you, I feel much better."

"Are you sure? I thought maybe I was going to have to call the highway cleanup crew, and have them clear the way, so we could get to the airport before our flight took off." he says, grinning.

"You're funny." she mocked.

"I know I'm funny looking, but looks aren't everything Hun." he says, reaching his hand over, and smiling as he caressed her cheek. "Is it safe to leave?"

"Yes, I think everything I ate came out."

After making a couple more stops along the way, they finally made it to the airport, through the airport security, and onto the plane. After making a stop in New York before the long flight to Paris, they finally landed, and waited for her father at the baggage claim.

Luke knew Victoria was most likely getting anxious to leave the airport, to get situated into their hotel room, and to go out sightseeing, and hurried with his paperwork so he could see the two off. As he got to the baggage claim, he saw his daughter standing by the doors, looking outside, and walked over to her.

"Bonjour, ma chère belle fille." he says in her ear, with his hands resting on her shoulders. Her eyes widened in a panic, thinking it was some weirdo going to mug her, and became afraid to turn around. But the more she thought about the voice, and how much it sounded like her father, she turned around, and giggled.

"I didn't know you knew French." she said surprised. "I almost gave you an elbow to the stomach, thinking you were some psycho about to mug or kidnap me."

He laughed, and gave her a hug. "I learned French years ago."

"What did you say anyway?"

"I said, Hello, my dear beautiful daughter."

Dalton grabbed a cart to put their luggage onto, and walked it over to Luke and Victoria. "Are you staying the night?" Dalton asked Luke.

"Yes, I'm staying at one of the hotels right down the road from the airport, then flying out in the morning."

Dalton looked at Victoria, and back to Luke with a genuine smile. "I was thinking after we get our car rented, and ourselves situated into our hotel room, we could all go out for a bite to eat somewhere, if you're hungry?"

Luke liked the invite, and smiled. "Sure, I could go for some good French food, before heading back home... While you two are doing your thing, I'm going to get checked into my room, and change into different clothes."

Dalton and Victoria checked into their room, and as they walked into their room, Victoria was in awe with the looks of the room, and how they could walk out onto their patio and see the Eiffel Tower. "Amazing... I can't wait to see what it looks like at night in person." she says, spinning around, and wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you so much for bringing me here, and putting us in such a nice, and beautiful hotel room... and please don't tell me how much this room cost, I don't want to know."

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!🤞🤞🤞🤞