Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“Good morning, you two,” Ms. Maddie says cheerily. “What can I get you guys?”
“I’ll have an egg, sausage, and cheese bagel,” Theo says, looking at me. “She’ll have . . .”
“The same.” I reach for my purse to take out money. “And an orange juice please.”
He doesn’t even let my hand get halfway into my purse before he puts money on the counter. “Do you want us to wait here, or will you bring it to us?”
“You guys go and sit down, I’ll bring it over.”
I choose a table in the back, away from the front—where people would be able to see us clearly.
“Relax,” he whispers as he joins me.
“Easy for you to say,” I mumble as he smiles at me.
Breakfast is over in twenty minutes as we rush, and he gets up, holding out his hand for me. “We should go. I don’t want to be late.” We wave goodbye to Ms. Maddie on the way out.
We get to the clinic, and the doctor’s car is the only one in the lot. When Theo tries to open the clinic door, it’s locked.
“We have to knock.” I hold up my hand to the glass window that bears the doctor’s name. “Her clinic hours start at ten, but she’s doing me a favor.” I look at him. “It’s also going to be good that no one is going to see us. The gossip won’t be spreading.”
“I don’t care about that,” he says.
“You should.” It’s all I say because Dr. Louis opens the door, smiling at me. “Hi,” I say as she steps back to let me in. “Thank you so much for doing this for me.”
“I would be seriously pissed if you went to anyone but me.” She locks the door behind us. “I’m Dr. Louis.” She extends her hand to Theo.
“I’m Theo.” He shakes her hand. “I’m the dad.” He smiles at me, and I excuse the flutters in my chest as a result of the nerves and the baby just being fed orange juice.
“Right this way.” I follow Dr. Louis through the waiting area to an exam room in the back. “Okay, so we’re going to do things a bit differently. I’m assuming that you took a pregnancy test.”
“I did,” I admit, “and I had my blood drawn two weeks ago when I was in the hospital just to confirm.”
“Of course you did. Let’s get a urine sample, and we’ll just confirm again for my records”—she hands me a plastic cup with a white cover—“and then we’ll see what we’re working with.”
I head into the bathroom and turn the water on as I pee in the cup, then wash my hands.
When I walk out, the two of them are having a conversation like they are long-lost friends. I place the container on the desk beside her. “Here we go,” I breathe out, laughing nervously.
“You can have a seat on the exam table, and we’ll go through a couple of questions,” Dr. Louis says. “Your last period was when?” I give her the date, thirteen weeks ago. “Are your cycles typically normal?”
I feel a sense of embarrassment discussing my cycle in front of Theo. “All normal. Every twenty-eight days. They last five days.”
“Okay, let’s see what we have here.” She rolls over to me on her stool.
“Theo,” she looks at him, “if you can shut the lights.” He turns off the lights and then comes to stand beside me.
“Is this okay?” He asks me as I lay back on the table. I nod at him, and he puts his hand in mine and squeezes it. I have to think he’s probably just as nervous as me. I mean, it’s not every day that your life is thrown into chaos because of a random hookup.
She takes out a tissue exam sheet that covers me from the waist down. She tucks it into the top of my shorts. “Ready?” she asks me. Theo squeezes my hand, and I squeeze his back. She squirts the gel onto my stomach, then takes the transducer and presses it down.
My eyes go to the screen, waiting to see the baby. She presses a couple of buttons, and a sound like a bunch of horses galloping in a field fills the room. “That’s the baby’s heartbeat,” she says, and Theo gasps. It’s fast.
“Is that normal?” he asks, looking at me and then at the doctor.
“Totally normal,” she says. “Okay, so you’re ten weeks and three days.” She moves the transducer on my stomach to the bottom and then clicks a couple of buttons. “The baby is about 1.25 inches long.” She smiles. “Looks like they’re a bit big.”
“Great.” I look at the screen and see the baby, tiny arms and legs moving. A sense of unconditional love soars through me.
“Is that the baby?” Theo moves his head closer to the screen. “It’s official? She’s having my baby?”