Coup De Grâce (Code 11-KPD SWAT 7)

Well, at least I didn’t have to sit here naked while I waited.

This visit was late.

Most women usually went in when they were four to six weeks pregnant.

Seeing as I was twelve, I wouldn’t have to have the normal vaginal ultrasound. I could have the one that would run over the outside of my belly.

Which also meant I wouldn’t have to get naked.

I busied myself with a magazine on birthing a child, all the while I tried to tell myself to calm down and not freak out.

Freaking out had been a major part of my life as of late.

How did I tell Michael?

Would he be okay with it?

Would he ask me to abort it?

I knew one thing, though, and that was that this baby was mine, and I loved it already.

And if I had to give up my relationship with Michael because he couldn’t see past his fears, then I’d do it.

It’d be hard as hell, but I’d do it.

And I planned on telling him tonight after we had dinner with our families.

Maybe I’d pour a few drinks into him, too.

Maybe that would help him stay calm and help him realize that having a child wasn’t the end of the world.

The door to the room clicked open, and I looked up into the eyes of an older man in his mid to late sixties.

“Hello,” Doctor Jones said, offering his hand. “I’m Doctor Jones. It’s nice to meet you.”

I smiled at him and offered him my hand, too.

The moment my hand touched his, I felt a little zing of discomfort pulse down my arm, but I hid it with a smile. “Nice to meet you, too.”

He took a seat on that little rolling chair, and I was never more thankful that I wasn’t naked than right at this moment.

Because if this man would’ve been doing stuff between my legs, I might very well have screamed.

There wasn’t anything that I could put my finger on that made me so nervous and uncomfortable.

He was normal looking for the most part.

He did have a slight bald spot at the very top of his head, and he had too much of a leer in his smile.

But other than that, he was a normal man for that age.

There was nothing that truly stuck out about him, but I knew I wouldn’t be coming back to this doctor if I could help it.

The way this practice worked, though, was that I had to see all of the doctors in case of the event that my primary OB/GYN was busy with another patient or out of town.

I had to meet with them all, and this doctor, Dr. Jones, was the first one available.

So I’d taken the appointment, even though he wasn’t the doctor that I wanted to speak with.

Luckily, I wouldn’t have to take another appointment with him.

“Alright, well your pregnancy test came back positive, so you are indeed pregnant. Today we’ll be doing a sonogram on you to double check the dates, but with what I heard about you being a midwife, I’m fairly positive that your calculations on your gestation are correct,” he grinned.

I hid my wince once again with a smile. “Yeah, I’m fairly positive myself.”

He nodded. “What does your husband do?”

Instead of telling him that I wasn’t married, I just smiled and told him, “He’s a police officer.”

Something in his eyes flared, but was gone just as quickly as I saw it.

“Well that’s nice, I bet y’all are excited,” he said, standing up and walking to the sink to wash his hands.

I leaned back and lifted my shirt when he came back to me, his hands moving to my belly.

He pressed into my abdomen, and I had to clench my core tightly when the movement made the state of my bladder go from bearable to Defcon One.

“Everything feels alright,” he said, moving back until he was standing at the sink. “I’ve written a prescription for prenatal vitamins, as well as some nausea meds if you feel that you’ll be needing some, since I read in your chart that you’ve been experiencing quite a bit of nausea and vomiting.”

I nodded, and he smiled, that leer tilting up just the corner of his lips once again.

“Alright,” he said, standing up and heading to the door. “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call if need be. Do you know where the sonogram room is?”

I nodded, and he winked. “Alright little lady, you’re more than welcome to go! See you next month.”

I held my shiver in check until he’d closed the door, and I let out a breath of air.

Then an irrational rage swept through me.

If that bastard boyfriend of mine didn’t have to be so irrational about children, then I wouldn’t be freaking out right now alone. I’d have him holding me, telling me we’d never see that fucker again.

Because I knew damn well that Michael would’ve felt the same coming from him as I had.

I left the little room, waving at Dalia as I headed in the direction of the ultrasound room.

I found the room, and immediately realized that I’d fucked up.

Because Memphis, the wife of another member of the SWAT team, was smiling brightly at me.

“I just knew it!” She crowed happily. “I knew it!”

I blinked.

“Knew what?” I asked carefully.

“When I saw your chart. I bet Michael’s so happy!” She cheered happily.

Wrong. Michael didn’t even know!

“Umm, Michael doesn’t know,” I told her softly.

Her eyes cleared of their happiness.

“What?” She asked.

I was sure that was a shock to her.

Downy, her husband, was a really good man who’d been over the moon at hearing that Memphis was pregnant.

She probably didn’t even realize that some men didn’t feel the same way that hers did.

“Yeah, I haven’t told him yet,” I informed her. “And I’m not sure I want to…or how to.”

She blinked. “But why? He’s Saint. He’s the baby whisperer. He loves children.”

Yeah, I could see this going really wrong. “Michael doesn’t want kids,” I finally said. “I don’t know how he’ll react to hearing that I’m pregnant, nor if he’d be happy about it. If I’m being honest, I’m fairly sure he’s going to flip out and leave me.”