the medicine marcus had brought me yesterday helped my stomach so I was feeling better. I should have been able to sleep, but I couldn’t. I was too excited. Our appointment was in just a couple of hours, and then we’d get to see our baby.
I crawled out of bed, careful not to wake up Marcus, and made my way to the bathroom. After undressing, I turned on the water. This made my third shower since yesterday morning. All I could think of was the exam the OB would give me, and I worried about not being clean enough. Luckily, my OB was a woman, and that made it slightly easier for me.
Once I was sure I was thoroughly clean yet again, I turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the rack for my hair and one for my body. Wrapping my hair in the towel on top of my head, I took my time drying off before making my way back in the bedroom to get dressed for the day.
Marcus was still asleep in bed, and I couldn’t help but smile. We’d been up pretty late talking about the appointment today and how excited we were. Marcus talked to my stomach a few times, and we finally fell asleep together. I was too anxious to stay asleep and couldn’t wait to get there. I wanted to see my baby.
I got dressed in my red sweater and my favorite jeans, glad they still fit even if they were a little snug. They were calling for snow later. After breaking down on the way to Marcus’ house last winter in nothing but a t-shirt and my jacket, I knew to at least take layers if I didn’t want to wear them at the time.
Feeling good for the first time in a few days, I decided to make breakfast. I wasn’t the best cook, that was for sure, but I could make a few things. I was in the mood for French toast, and I hoped Marcus would be too.
It didn’t take long for the smell of breakfast to wake Marcus from his slumber. I grinned when I saw him walk into the kitchen while I was finishing the eggs. I was slightly disappointed to see him fully dressed in his one pair of jeans that didn’t look worn and a blue button up that brought out the color of his eyes. He looked good, but I wouldn’t have complained had he been in his boxers for a while longer. Or naked.
“Morning, sunshine,” I greeted him without turning around.
“Good morning,” he said from directly behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. “Is any of this edible? Because it smells delicious.”
“Hey!”
He backed away when I tried to elbow him, laughing as he went to get the orange juice out of the fridge.
“I can cook. Some things.” I glared at him.
He gave me a smirk while drinking straight from the jug. “Yeah. Cereal. Maybe peanut butter and jelly.” He laughed, dodging the towel I threw at him. He winked, getting a couple of glasses and poured us some orange juice. “Okay, so maybe you can cook some things.”
I put a couple of pieces of French toast on a plate along with some bacon and scrambled eggs before taking it over to Marcus where he sat at the bar. I glared at him again, and he smirked before going to get my own plate and joining him.
“This is actually really good, Han,” he said in between bites, nudging me with his elbow.
I tried to pretend to stay mad, but I couldn’t help but grin a little as I ate. “Told you I could cook.”
“I knew you could.” He stood with his plate and kissed my head before taking it to the sink.
I snorted and shook my head, amazed at how quickly he could inhale his food.
“Hurry up. We have a date,” he said, winking before disappearing back in his bedroom, maybe to finish getting ready.
I looked down at my plate of half-eaten food and suddenly felt too stuffed to finish. Marcus’ enthusiasm made me that much more excited, but it also made me more nervous.
As I got up to clear my plate and add it to Marcus’ in the sink, I thought about all the things I’d foolishly read online. About how high the chances of miscarriages were in the first trimester. About how a number of those miscarriages went undetected because it was so early. So many things could have went wrong already, and we wouldn’t know until we got there. I hadn’t realized how big of a hypochondriac I was until I got pregnant. All the things my mind could come up with were awful.
I hadn’t told Marcus about any of the things I’d read about. He was doing his own research, but he didn’t tell me anything bad so I gave him the same courtesy. Maybe if we didn’t speak of them out loud, it would make the bad feelings go away.
I could only hope.
“You ready?” Marcus asked from behind me, making me jump.
“Yeah,” I said as I turned to face him to find him grinning at me. That man loved to startle me for some reason. “Oh, stop.”
“What?” He laughed but followed as I went to grab my purse from the table before heading to the front door.
it felt like we’d just walked out of the front door when Marcus pulled into the hospital parking lot. I was grateful that my OB’s office was located right where I would deliver. We’d decided on Rita Lopez. She was the only woman in this office, so the choice for me was easy.
“Are you nervous?” I asked Marcus.
“A little, I guess.” He gave me a small smile. “But it’s a good nervous.”
I laughed, shaking my head. Good nervous. Was there even such a thing?
“I can’t believe this is it,” I admitted.
Marcus reached over to squeeze my hand. “Let’s go.”
The walk seemed to pass in a blink. Marcus held my hand the entire way and smiled as he took a seat so I could sign in and get all my paperwork to fill out. It all just happened so fast.
I sat there next to him, staring at all the paperwork like it was going to spontaneously combust at any moment.
Did I smoke? No. Did I drink alcohol? No. Have I ever or do I currently abuse prescription drugs? Um, that would be a no. Have I ever or do I currently use heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines, or any other recreational drugs? Definitely a no as well. Were people actually honest when filling out these papers?
“You misspelled your name.”
I blinked at the sound of Marcus’ voice. “What?” I looked over at him, confused.
He tapped the clipboard holding my papers in my hand. “Your name. It’s misspelled.”
I frowned and leaned in to look again. Of course, I had spelled my name correctly.
His laugh brought my attention back to him. “You looked like that thing was going to sprout horns and teeth. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I sighed, looking back at the paperwork. “It’s just a bit overwhelming.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him, drawing strength from him.
Just then, I heard my name being called. I looked up and saw a pretty, petite, blond nurse wearing pink Minnie Mouse scrubs smiling at us. So soon? I wasn’t even done with my paperwork yet.
“You can finish that back there,” she said, and I wondered if I’d actually spoken that last bit out loud.
Marcus stood and took the clipboard from me before taking my hand and pulling me up with him. I smiled up at him, silently thanking him for taking the reins when it was obvious I needed it.
We followed the nurse through the door to the hallway that lead to the exam rooms, and she stopped by a set of scales. After getting my weight, showing that I had gained about five pounds more than I was expecting, she led us back to the exam room where we would wait for Dr. Lopez and told us someone would be in to get my vitals in just a minute.
I took a deep breath and sat down on the exam table, the sound of the paper underneath me seeming louder than it should. I couldn’t stop moving, which made the sound that much more annoying.
Marcus went to take a seat in one of the two chairs by the wall, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him to my side. Without question, he leaned against the exam table and wrapped his arm around me once again.
It seemed silly to be as nervous as I was, but I couldn’t seem to help it. I knew Marcus well enough to know he was trying his best to hide his nervousness for my benefit. His teeth were working the inside of his cheek, and he was trying to avoid eye contact with me. If he were anyone else, I’d have taken offense to his seemingly uncaring mannerisms.
I’d just remembered I should have been doing the paperwork when there was a knock on my door.
Another equally pretty, petite blond nurse came in wearing a solid blue pair of scrubs. What? Did they only hire pretty blondes to work here? I had no idea where the sudden hostility came from, but I could only blame my nerves. Not that I’d have made a comment like that out loud.
“Hi, I’m Heather. I’m just going to get your vitals and ask you a few questions,” she sat what I assume was my chart on the counter before coming to grab the blood pressure cuff. “Can you state your name and date of birth for me?”
“Hannah Combs. June 6, 1990.”
She glanced at my charts for confirmation. “Great. Could you roll your sleeve up for me?”
I did, and she put the cuff on my arm, put her stethoscope in her ears, and started squeezing the balloon in her hand.
“Blood pressure is good,” she said, pulling her stethoscope back down around her neck and replacing the cuff to where it was kept on the wall. “Now you’re temperature.”
I glanced over at Marcus, just because, and he grinned. Before I knew it, the thermometer was in my mouth. A few seconds later, the beep sounded, and Heather wrote down what the machine said.
“Temp is good, too.” She grinned, taking a seat on the stool in front of where she placed my chart. She glanced back over at me and then at Marcus.
I didn’t miss the quick once over she gave him before going back to my chart. One glance at Marcus told me he didn’t miss it either. I elbowed him in the ribs, making him laugh. At least that eased some of the tension I was feeling.
I was used to women looking at Marcus. I may not like it, but Marcus was a faithful man. I trusted him and knew he’d never do something like that to hurt me. He wouldn’t do something like that to anyone. He was a gentleman, through and through.
“I understand you’re here for your first ultrasound.” She looked up at me with a big smile. “How exciting!”
I could tell she meant that and that relieved the rest of my tension.
Another knock at the door had all of us turning towards the sound. Another nurse poked her head in and apologized to us before telling Heather she needed her for a minute. Heather apologized as well and excused herself.
I looked over at Marcus, and he shrugged.
“I guess I can finish my paperwork now.” I held out my hand for Marcus to hand it to me, and he did before taking a seat.
I didn’t really have that much left to do so I finished fairly quickly. It had just been a lot to take in, but my nerves were somewhat calmed now, and I was able to get it done before Heather came back into the room.
“Sorry about that,” she said before taking her seat again. “It seems Dr. Lopez is in delivery right now and might be awhile. We’ll go ahead and get your information in the system, and I can take you back for your ultrasound while we wait.”
Music to my ears.
“Sounds good,” I said, relieved I wouldn’t have to sit here and wait for the doctor to be finished to get anything done.
Marcus was grinning. He really couldn’t wait for this ultrasound either.
“All right. Let’s get some information from you.”