Whoa Baby

Chapter 18- Like It Never Happened

Whoa Baby

Chapter 18- Like It Never Happened

"Moving on doesn't mean you forget about things. It just means you have to accept what happened and continue living."- Unknown

The room was cold, just like how I remembered it. Cold tiles, cold bed, and cold medical instruments. It was quite, between my mom and I we barely said a word after we entered the room. Besides her encouraging, comforting reminders that everything was going to be alright and that she would be with me the whole time, we didn't say much else.

My mom came early this morning, even though my appointment wasn't until noon. Emma and Alice were happy to see my mom, and glad to know that she was in the loop with the news now. They had told me that night my mom left-and my dad, oddly, had fell asleep on the couch and no one had the heart to wake him up- that they had felt more comfortable knowing that everything would be in safe hands with my mom knowing what to do. It was a relief to me to finally being going to this appointment, like a weight coming off my shoulders and the constant linger thought of knowing I had to do this gone.

A knock on the door had heads turning. A lady with unruly curly red hair stepped through the threshold. She had fair skin, and brown eyes, and a small smile. She didn't wear the typical white lab coat, instead she looked sophisticated in black trousers and a purple blouse. Laptop and files on hand she sat on the chair with wheels and stuck out her hand to my mom introducing herself as Doctor Lahey. I shook her hands as well, grinning and telling her my name, though I figured she already knew.

"So read that this is your first ultrasound. Very exciting yet anxious, isn't it?" She comments to me, her small smile still plastered on her face, not faltering for one moment.

"Sure." I mumble, not being able to match her smile. She could sense my lack of enthusiasm, turning on her chair she began to mess with some machines.

"Well, some older women would be jealous in the position you're in. Women in their twenties, thirties, even early forties just realizing that can't ever get pregnant. Consider yourself somewhat lucky." She argued, a look in her eyes I couldn't exactly decipher because it was a mix of emotions, but I knew what still ran through her mind.

I looked down at the ring on her finger, and back up to her face. Narrowing my eyes at her observingly, "You're one of them, aren't you?"

"Paisley." My mother whispered, shaking her head slightly at me.

"It's okay." Dr. Lahey, grinned. "My sister has four kids, you'd think being from a big Italian family it'll be easy to pop some babies out." She said with a very faint chuckle, "But I'm not so lucky." She sighed, putting her stethoscope on my chest. Instantly I starting taking deep breaths because that's what doctors usually ask you to do.

"You could always get her to surrogate for you." I mention, looking at my mom quickly to see what kind of look she was giving me now.

"I could, but it's not the same experience." She tells me, putting the medial instrument around her neck then checking my eyes, ears, and throat. It was like a regular physical routine almost. "Did the nurse give you plenty of water when she brought you in?" She asked me, asking my mom to pass her something on the counter behind her.

"Yes ma'am." I responded, nodding my head as she lifted up my shirt.

"Good. Now this procedure is going to be a simple and painless. This gel is going to help me out, it might be a little cold, fair warning." She said, squeezing a good portion of it on my stomach. This transducer is going to be out device of the day, it's going to give me a picture of the baby. We're going to check the fetus's heart rate, how old, and to make sure there's no complications." She explained to me, rubbing the camera on my stomach and looking up to the screen in front of her. "And there we have it." She grins, staring at the screen. "And a beautiful, singular heartbeat. No multiples Paisley." She says squeezing my shoulder.