"Congratulations. You're having a baby."
Shock ripped through my body. I was glad that I was already laying down.
"A baby?" It had been a possibility before, but this was reality right here, right now. "But I'm on birth control. Or I was."
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "If you don't take your pill regularly, you can get pregnant. Surely you know that."
I flushed a little bit. "How far am I along?"
"About two months."
It had to have happened when I was in Wisconsin. I was scared. "I've been drinking a lot. Do you think it's hurt the baby?"
"How much is a lot?"
"Every night."
"Yeah, that could hurt the baby."
"I don't drink that much. It's just often, I guess. I share my drinks with Amanda. The point of going out isn't to get drunk. It's more to have fun."
"All of the studies about fetal alcohol syndrome were done with mothers who were bona fide alcoholics. Yes, alcohol can potentially harm a baby, but a few sips won't hurt the baby. If anything hurts the baby, you would have already had a miscarriage in your first trimester. Is this your first pregnancy?"
I touched my stomach, still covered in gel. "Yes."
"You need to be aware of the high probability of miscarriage here." I cradled my minuscule bump.
"No."
"Yes. You could lose this baby. Expecting mothers need to be careful."
"I will be." I didn't want to do anything that would hurt my little one.
"Is he the father?"
Before I could answer, Jimmy blurted, "Yes, I am."
I glared at him. "It's complicated."
"Complicated, as in your relationship with this man is complicated, or complicated, as in you don't know who the father is?”
I cl
osed my eyes and breathed in a deep breath. "I know who the father is. It's him."
"Okay, then it's the first option. Here is the phone number of my old practice. They are booked a month in advance, but tell them that Dr. Hawker sent you, and they will find a way to squeeze you in." She gave me a piece of paper, and Jimmy snatched it out of my fingers to tuck away in a pocket. "You should have someone look at you soon. I'm just an urgent care doctor. Someone with the right equipment is going to be able to help you more."
Jimmy paid as we walked out, and I went and sat in the car with my mind absolutely dazed by the idea that I was going to be a mother.
Parents
Amelia
"We are going to be parents."
I looked at him. "Yeah."
"We need to get married."