Come Away with Me
The doctor looks at my ring and smiles broadly. “Maybe it’s just a shock. We ran both your urine and blood to confirm. I’d like to do an ultrasound to determine how far along you are.”
Nurse Mo steps out of the room and returns with a little ultrasound machine on wheels. Instead of putting a probe on my flat belly, the doctor has me put my feet in the stirrups so she can use a vaginal probe.
“The baby is too small to see with the external probe,” she explains.
Baby? Oh. God.
The nurse turns out the light and we all look at the screen of the machine.
Suddenly, there is a little black circle, about the size of a quarter, and inside is a flutter.
“There we are!” Dr. Anderson smiles. “I’d say you’re at about six weeks along.”
Jules grabs my hand and we stare at the screen in awe.
“Is that the heart?” I ask, pointing to the fluttering on the screen.
“Yep. It’s hard to make out much more on this machine, but the black area is the amniotic fluid, and that flutter is the heart. You’re nausea and vomiting is something
we
call
hyperemesis
gravidarum. It’s morning sickness times a hundred. You’ll probably be pretty nauseous during this pregnancy, so I’ll prescribe you some anti-nausea meds to use at home. They won’t affect the baby. Also, stop the Pill immediately, start taking some prenatal vitamins with folic acid and make an appointment with your OB doctor in the next four weeks.”
She hits a button on the machine and a photo of the ultrasound prints out.
“Here, something for you to show off.” She winks at me. “We’re going to keep you for a while, push another bag of fluids and make sure your vomiting is under control, and then you can go home.”
“Okay.”
She leaves and Jules and I just stare at each other.
“Are you okay,” she asks.
“No.” I feel numb.
“I love your ring. The picture you texted me Saturday night didn’t do it justice.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay,
let’s
talk
about
this
rationally.” Jules takes my hand in hers and looks me in the eye. “He loves you.”
“He’ll think I’m trying to trap him.”
She laughs – laughs – and squeezes my hand. “Natalie, that won’t even cross his mind.”
“His family will think that.”
“Who gives a fuck?”
“He just barely proposed.”
“Now you’re just babbling. Natalie, look at me.”
“It’s too soon.” My eyes fill as they find hers. Thank God she’s here with me. “We just met, we’re still learning each other, Jules. We’ve been engaged for less than a week. It’s too soon.”
The tears come in earnest as my phone rings again. I send it straight to voice mail.
“Nat, you have to talk to him.”
“I’m not telling him this over the phone.”
“No, he’ll worry if you don’t answer the phone, silly.” My phone rings again, but I’m crying too hard now to answer it.
“You answer. Tell him I’m in the bathroom or something.”
“Natalie’s phone,” Jules answers.
“No, sorry Luke, she’s in the bathroom.
Want me to have her call you back? Uh huh. Oh, okay, I’ll tell her. Bye.”
“Well?” I ask when she hangs up.
“He’s going into another meeting but he’ll call you later.”
“Good.” I let my head fall against the bed. “Oh, God, what am I going to do?”
“What are you talking about? You and Luke are going to be parents.” Jules takes my hand again. “Nat, you’ll be awesome parents.”
“It’s too soon,” I whisper and put both hands over my face and weep.
Chapter Thirty-Two
My crying jag subsides and I take a deep breath as Nurse Mo returns to change my I.V. bag.
How am I going to tell Luke that I’m pregnant? I know he wants kids, and so do I, but not yet. We’re not even married yet. I couldn’t bear it if he thought I was trying to trap him into something he doesn’t want.
Jules turns on the TV and flips through channels, pausing when she finds a nightly entertainment gossip show.
“We spotted Luke Williams out today.”
Holy shit!
“He was having a romantic lunch with Vanessa Horn, one of his former co-stars from the Nightwalker movies. Has Luke finally come out of hiding to rekindle his romance with the lovely Vanessa? They were engaged to be married for over a year before their split early last year.
We smell love in the air! We will be sure to keep you updated on Luke and Vanessa as we get more details.” There is a series of photos rolling across the screen, taken today. I recognize the black t-shirt and jeans he wore on the plane. He and the beautiful blond Vanessa are indeed leaving a restaurant, his arm is around her shoulders and he’s smiling down at her, his nose pressed against her ear. Then there’s a photo of him wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her in for a kiss.
The camera is angled badly, so I can’t actually see the lip lock, but it’s obvious that’s what they’re doing. In the next photo, she’s getting into a car and he’s holding the door for her. In the last photo, he’s getting into the driver’s side of that same car.
“Holy fuck, he’s cheating on me.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I just saw it with my own eyes!”
“Nat, it’s the fucking paparazzi. They make everything up.”
“Pictures don’t lie. I know that better than anyone. You saw the way he was touching her and looking at her. He kissed her.”
The jealousy running through me is primal. My heart is hammering, I’m breathing hard, and I feel my face heat.
If I didn’t have anti-nausea meds on board I’d be hurling again.
“Natalie,” Jules murmurs and takes my hand. “I’m sure it’s not what you think.”
I shake my head and give in to the tears. “It’s over.”
“No, Natalie. No. Talk to him about it tomorrow.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” I shake my head again, unable to believe what I just saw. “I can’t trust him. I can’t live this celebrity life with him.”
“You’re being silly.”
“Shut up! You’re supposed to be on my side! You’re my goddamn friend, not his. He’s fucking around on me! I just saw proof, so show some fucking loyalty, Jules.”