Page 39 of Love is Grand

My eyes wide and my breath caught in my throat, I had to remind myself not to fall for his spiel. They were just words.

“Are you with me?” I asked quietly.

Cal gave me a serious glance. “I’m here.”

The next morning, Cal picked me up himself in a Jeep. Adam’s, he said as he walked me to the passenger side. The night before, he’d sat at Camila’s all night keeping an eye on me as I worked, ordering food and asking that I join him.

The whole thing was absurd. He’d gone way over the top in an effort to self-correct. I didn’t have to be a genius to understand.

“Do you know the address? I can put it in the GPS,” Cal said, interrupting my walk down last night’s memory lane.

“I’ll just direct you.”

This way, our ride was filled with a lot of make a right, go around the roundabout, take the second exit, and right up there instead of false promises. I knew Cal was going to make some kind of declaration, and all of a sudden, I didn’t want that.

Parked in the small lot next to the hospital building, Cal turned. “I’m trying, Shell. This is new to me. A shock.”

I nodded and got out of the car.

He rounded the front to catch up with me, and we went inside. The nurse hadn’t understood when I called and asked for an ultrasound because I’d just been in for one. She kept asking if there was a problem. When I’d said we would self-pay for another, she’d immediately booked it and said to bring a check or credit card.

“Welcome back, Mrs. Light. Glad we could accommodate you,” the nurse said when registering me.

While we waited, I explained to Cal. “I’m about nine or ten weeks along. In a few weeks, they’ll be able to hear the heartbeat through the belly, but last week when I was here, they used a vaginal wand. I don’t want you to be alarmed.”

He looked pale but nodded.

“You can look away and just listen.”

This time he shook his head.

“Mrs. Light?” a technician called out in the waiting room.

“Are you going to get rid of his last name?” Cal whispered as we walked through the door.

“I don’t know. It’s Weezie’s name too.”

He nodded then and looked straight ahead.

In the exam room, seated next to my head, Cal looked like he might faint. A green hue had colored his skin. His fist was clenched at his side, and I made a note to have the birth without him present.

“There it is. There’s your baby’s heartbeat. Listen to it, strong and fast,” the tech said with a smile.

I watched Cal’s profile and saw what I thought was a smile, his eye crinkling in the corner.

“Is that normal?” he asked. “It’s so fast.”

“It is, Mr. Light.”

“That’s not my name.” Cal obviously tried to soften his clipped tone, but it didn’t help.

The technician looked up, frowning. “Oh, I’m sorry. I assumed ...”

“Stern. Caleb Stern. Thank you for explaining. Can we hear a bit longer?”

She nodded. After a minute or so, I was starting to feel uncomfortable lying there with a vaginal wand stuck up my hoo-ha.

“I’m finished,” I finally said.

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