Mend (Care Duet, #2)

20 | mend boredom

AVELINA JUST DIDN'T get it. Natasha wouldn't leave her alone no matter how hard Avelina tried to get away from her. Even what it was time for another check-up to see how the baby was doing, Natasha was right there. The only thing stopping her from shoving her out of the room was the way Adrik seemed so content with his sister being there. It was the first time she ever witnessed him in such a happy mood other than the times he would play music on his piano.

"Everything looks good! You're estimated to have your baby in exactly three weeks from today. Have we thought about any names?" Dr. Fitzgerald asked.

Avelina cast a glance over at Adrik to see he was already looking at her as if the answer would go flying out her mouth. The truth was, she hadn't thought of a name. When she was younger and naïvely fantasized about the day she was pregnant, she always believed that a name would be the first thing she came up with, but it wasn't.

"Are you having a boy or a girl?" Natasha asked.

"I don't want to know yet," Avelina told her. "I want it to be a surprise."

Natasha slowly nodded in a way like she tried to understand but just couldn't bring herself to. It didn't matter, though, Avelina didn't need her to understand.

The truth was that she didn't want to know what the gender was at first because a small part of her always believed Adrik would come back, and they could learn it together. Now, that they were back together, she still didn't want to know only because Natasha was present and Avelina didn't trust her. She especially didn't want Natasha to learn something so important about her life—if Vincent couldn't be there to know the gender, then neither could Natasha. It was fair.

Dr. Fitzgerald smiled as he began to clean up the area.

"I have a question..." Avelina began.

He stopped what he was doing to look at her. Avelina let out a sigh as she could feel all of her stress and curiosity bubbling up to ask him the question that had been on her mind for a while.

"How will the whole giving birth thing go?" she asked.

"Well, As I told Mr. Zolotov... next week, you and I will be heading back to America where we will await your labor. I feel as though it is most secure and safe having your baby in a hospital rather than here. That is, if it is okay with you," he explained.

Avelina nodded her head, holding back a sigh that was threatening to come out at any moment. She didn't want to go back to America, but she also didn't want to be without the security of a hospital. In case anything went wrong, she wanted to be prepared.

"Great! Do you have anymore questions for me?" Dr. Fitzgerald asked.

Just as Avelina shook her head, Natasha walked over to the image of the baby.

"Can I please get a picture of this?" Natasha asked the doctor who only nodded his head in response. She hurriedly snapped a picture just before he unplugged everything.

Avelina harshly pulled her shirt down and swung her legs over to the edge of the bed. Adrik was quick to her side where he grabbed ahold of her arm and gently helped her up from the bed. She was getting bigger by the second—so big to the point she could no longer get up from the bed without assistance.

"I'll see you all next week just before we head off the island. Have a good rest of your day," Dr. Fitzgerald said. He stuck his hand out for Adrik to shake, and once again, Adrik was very hesitant to shake his hand.

"You, too!" Avelina exclaimed, waving goodbye. He exited the room and made his way out of the house with Adrik's guard protectively guiding him. The guard was mainly there to watch over the doctor seeing as no one could be trusted in the business Adrik was involved in.