Chapter 48: Dr. Kate Hudson

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~Eleanor~

Dr. Kate Hudson is older than I expected her to be. I thought people named Kate were about thirty to forty years old, but my new OB-GYN looks about sixty. Her brown hair makes her look younger but the wrinkles beside her eyes when she smiles betray her. She's wearing a pink silk blouse and black dress pants that also show her age. We've been listening to her talk about what I can and can't eat, what I can't do, what's safe and what's not for about an hour now.

"And I will also give you another prenatal vitamin prescription since the one you have was made in British-Columbia. This way, you won't have renewal problems," she says with a smile showing her many years of experience. It's the kind of smile that makes you trust her as soon as you see her pearly white teeth. "Why see a doctor in Vancouver if you live here? I'm just curious," she adds after I nodded. I look over at Ben whose eyes are fixed on the doctor. I don't want to say too much because bringing back my hidden escape to our hometown isn't something I want.

"He's my brother. But he's a psychiatrist, so..." I don't know what to add so I stop my sentence there. Dr. Hudson gives me another one of her fond smiles, but this one seems to revoke me to a child status as if she thought I was cute or something.

"So, you two are from British-Columbia. What are you doing in Windsor?" So small talk, huh. I didn't think we would get this personal today. But, hey, this woman is about to see my vagina, she might as well know a little bit about us. Ben begins to tell her parts of our backstory. She nods in between his sentences, taking notes at the same time. Why is writing that we moved here for hockey in my file important, I'll never know but she writes it anyway. She asks a few other questions that Ben answers while I look at the anatomical posters on her office walls. The one with the big closed-up uterus freaks me out. At least she doesn't have one of those in 3D like ophthalmologists have big plastic eyes on their desks. That would have been weird. I turn my head to the other side to see what I dreaded. There is a big 3D representation of the three stages of birth on the counter. Yep, that's weird. I make a mental note to show it to Ben later when Dr. Hudson's voice reaches a higher pitch.

"Okay, that's it for the interview. The first appointment is always the longest since we have to go through all of those questions. Benjamin, would you give Eleanor and me a minute?" Ben's head turns in my direction. "Don't worry, I'll call you for the good part." It's his turn to receive a Dr. Hudson special smile. I don't know if he feels lucky. The thought makes me laugh. He leaves the room, giving me one last glance before closing the door.

"How are you feeling Eleanor?" she asks with a soft smile with no teeth this time.

"Good, how are you?" Why did I say that? Professional quirk, I guess.

"I'm asking because you seemed distant during the interview. I just want to make sure that you want to be here and that no one's forcing you to keep this baby." I freeze in my spot.

"Who could be forcing me? I don't understand." She gives me another one of her condescending smiles. She's clearly not thinking that Ben is forcing me to have a baby because that would be absurd! Only, she doesn't know us. She doesn't know Ben would never do something like that or that I would never let him tell me what to do like that. "Ben's not forcing me, no one is. I want this baby, I want his baby, we want it," I add to reassure my new doctor.

"Okay, I believe you. I just wanted to make sure, you have no idea what I've seen in this office, especially when it comes to people as young as you two." I nod because no, I can't imagine, and I don't want to know. I ask her if that's why she asked him to leave, and it's her turn to nod. Apparently, many women confess more truthfully when the dad-to-be isn't in the room. Even if it's the simplest thing like admitting to drinking two cups of coffee when he's at work or forgetting a couple of vitamins. Then, it's time for her to insert her fingers in my vagina so she asks me to undress. All I have to do is knock on the door when I'm ready and she walks in Ben right behind her. Dr. Hudson sits on the stool in front of me and Ben is beside me, holding my hand.

We leave her office thirty minutes later with a brand-new picture of our nine-week-old fetus who is as big as a cherry. That picture, decided Ben, is going on the fridge. The doctor had to do three more tests before letting us go. When we got the all good, I got dressed and we left, but not before she gave me another appointment in about six weeks for the amniocentesis. Ben opens his mouth for the first time since we left the doctor's office when we pull up in front of our building.

"Hey, why did she want talk to you alone? Did I do something?" he asks, his uncertainty hidden behind a confident tone. I wait before answering, choosing my words very carefully. If I say the wrong thing, he'll get upset and I don't want that. We're finally in a good place after what we did yesterday, and I don't want to ruin that. We had a great talk this morning and we resolved many remaining issues without screaming. Is that what you would call adulting? If it is, I like it.

"Nothing in particular, just some more questions." He nods and I continue. "Do you think she called us by our first names because we're young?" A smile creeps on his face and I sigh in relief. He doesn't seem to want to push the subject further. I don't see his face when he answers as we are walking up the creepy wooden stairs that I hate more every single day.

"Maybe. Or maybe she calls everyone she's seen naked by their first name. The woman will get very familiar with your vagina, I'd want her to call me Ben if she was about to see my penis every three weeks." The man has a point. Anyway, I think that if she would have called me Miss Martin, it would have been weirder.

"Do you have to go to the arena today?" I ask as he unlocks our front door. He nods, saying that he has an appointment with the team doctor about his concussion. I secretly hope that she doesn't allow him to play just yet. I like having him around all the time. I love not having to worry about game schedules and bus rides. I know it's only been a week, but I have gotten use to his constant presence in our apartment.

"If you're leaving, then maybe I'll attend my afternoon class. Could you give me a lift, so I don't have to take the bus?" I know I have missed to much school these past few days and that I have to make up for it. Ben agrees to drop me off on campus before his two o'clock appointment with his doctor.

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