yesterday morning, Tony had been going out of his way to be more attentive. He woke her with breakfast in bed, then, while she was in the shower, he ran a steamer over her clothes to freshen them up. It was sprinkling when they left, and though she didn’t mind getting a little wet, he insisted she stay by the door while he went and got the car, which was parked a block away. At the doctor’s office he dropped her by the door, where she waited while he parked, and all she could think was that this all seemed a little too good to be true. She wasn’t used to being pampered this way, or any way for that matter, so she couldn’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop.
“I’m curious,” Lucy said, and Tony looked up from his phone.
“Like this is news to me?” he said with a grin.
“Do you miss her?”
He looked at her blankly. “Miss who?”
Really? He couldn’t figure that out? “Your fiancée. Alice. ”
“Oh, her,” he said, as if he’d forgotten all about her. Out of sight out of mind? Had he forgotten Lucy that quickly?
“It’s been two days since you two split up and you haven’t said a word about her.”
“Nothing much to say.”
“Is it true that you didn’t like her much?”
A frown tugged down the corners of his mouth. “Let me take a wild guess. My mom told you that.”
“She didn’t seem to like Alice much.”
“Don’t look so happy about that.”
Who, her? “I’m not. I swear.”
His look said he thought she was full of it.
“Okay, maybe I am a little.” Especially since Sarah did seem to like Lucy. For now anyway. “It’s just a little...confusing.”
“What is?”
“Why you would marry someone you don’t love. I mean...in our case it’s different. There’s a baby involved.”
“It’s a long story,” he said, eyes on his phone. One he clearly didn’t want to tell her. It might have been awkward if the doctor hadn’t chosen that second to open the door.
He was an older gentleman with thick silver hair and a kind face. He introduced himself and shook their hands, addressing Lucy as Mrs. Caroselli.
In her dreams maybe.
“It’s Ms. Bates,” she told him. “But you can call me Lucy.”
“All right, Lucy,” he said, skimming through her chart, which, unlike the clinic in Florida, he accessed on a laptop computer. Which reminded her that she had left her laptop in Florida. There was no point in asking her mom to send it. She’d probably already pawned it. It was outdated and on its last leg anyway. Maybe Tony would let her use his computer from time to time. If only to access her online journal. She tried to write it in every day.
“Lie down, feet in the stirrups,” the doctor said. “Let’s do an exam, and then we can talk in my office.”
He examined her, poking and prodding, firing off questions. Many of them the same questions the nurse had asked as if maybe they were trying to trip her up and catch her in a lie.
Any nausea? Not really. High blood pressure? Never. Prenatal vitamins? Just the over-the-counter kind. Does the baby move around a lot? Like an Olympic gymnast.
Dr. Hannan was incredibly thorough.
Tony stood by the head of the table, absently rubbing her shoulder, looking fascinated and a maybe little horrified as the doctor did the internal exam, then measured her tummy and listened to the baby’s heartbeat.
Then he was done.
He made a few notes on her chart and said, “Get dressed and meet me in my office down the hall, last door on the left.”
“That was interesting,” Tony said, when he was gone, turning away so Lucy could get dressed in private. “I didn’t think it would be so...invasive. You have to do that every month?”
She tugged on her jeans. “Probably not until I’m closer to my due date. Typically it’s just a tummy check.”
When she was dressed they walked down the hall to Dr. Hannan’s office. He offered them a seat, then Lucy waited for the usual report. She was fine, the baby was fine. Yada
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