Page 36 of JoJo

“Seriously? You’re going to be a perfect southern gentleman to the biggest gossip this side of the state? Hell, probably this side of the country.”

“Hell yeah, JoJo. Let her have an old lady crush on me all she wants, babe. While she’s talking about how nice I was to her, people will clue in to my connection to the garage.” He winked at me then. “Free advertising.”

I laughed, as did our nurse. “Bernice out there looking for the scoop again?” She shook her head and laughed. “I know I shouldn’t say this, but that woman either has more lady troubles than a whore in the big city or she has the hots for Dr. Mac.”

“Oh hell!” I laughed. “She used to try to get my dad to check under her hood after he checked under her car’s hood. I swear, he finally told her to buy a new damn car if that one was giving her so much grief.” The nurse laughed louder then.

“If your dad told her to buy a new car, I wonder what the good Doc is going to have to tell her?” Steel mused.

“You two are awful,” the nurse deadpanned before continuing on. “I love it!” Our nurse, Stacey, was an older woman. She reminded me a lot of what I remembered my mom to be like, and probably around the same age too. That was a comforting thought for me. “Okay, sweetheart, I’m going to need you to pee in this cup for me after I get your weight. Then you’ll come back in here, undress from the waist down, and we have these little blankets you can use to preserve your modesty while you wait.”

“Somehow, I think modesty probably goes out the window with pregnancy,” I muttered.

“You are not wrong, sweetheart.” I groaned at her response, took the cup, and went to fill it up for her.

When all the preliminaries were finally worked out and Dr. Mac finally showed up, he did so while wheeling in a portable machine with him. It looked like an old fashioned computer on a wheeled desk with some gadgetry attached. “Well, Cynthia-Jo.”

“Call me JoJo, or Jo, please.” The doctor smiled and made a note of that in my chart.

“Can I also get dad’s name for the records?”

“Romeo Briggs,” my husband answered proudly, understanding immediately what the doctor just slipped out. “So, I guess the test confirmed things?”

Dr. Mac grinned at both of us. “Congratulations, you definitely have a baby on board.” I couldn’t even groan at his bumper sticker style delivery. “Now, we’re going to take a quick look at things. This will help us get a better picture of how far along you are.”

“I’m pretty sure I got pregnant on our wedding night,” I mentioned. He smiled, looked at the chart in front of him, and then looked me in the eye.

“That very well may be judging by your last period, but we’re going to verify it with a transvaginal ultrasound.”

“A what exactly?”

He held up a wand looking device that maybe could have been found in any woman’s bedside drawer for lonely night usage. “Instead of looking through the belly, since everything is so small right now, we’re going to take a look from the inside using this.”

“You’re going to stick that inside of me?” I stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief. “Doc, no offense, but I really don’t know you that well.” Both Dr. Mac and my husband burst out laughing at my expense.

“I assure you both, you won’t even think about what I’m doing when you look at what’s going on up here on the screen.”

Nurse Stacey came back in about that time and the doctor got started probing my nether region with his wand. No double entendre meant, despite it sounding like some cheesy line from one of Angel’s bodice ripping books. Finally, the doctor smiled, hit a button, and this really fast whoosh, whoosh, noise came blaring through a set of speakers.

“That folks, is your baby’s heartbeat.”

Steel looked just as stunned as I felt. “Oh my God, are you for real?” The words slipped out of my mouth and the doctor just smiled again.

“This,” he pointed to a fishy looking blob in the middle of the black and white screen, “is your baby. You can see the heart beating in time with the sound right here.” Again he moved the cursor on the screen to hover over the spot quickly in order to point our way, and then he moved it again to give us a clear view. Jesus, I was watching my baby’s heart beat. Hell, I was hearing it beating. My whole being was overwhelmed with a steady influx of warm emotion that came spilling out of my eyes once more. It was a sensation that I was getting used to, but one that I wasn’t going to hate on in this moment. Especially when I felt Steel’s grip intensify on my hand, and turned to see his eyes filled with moisture too.

“That’s our baby,” he sputtered out when my eyes met his.

Dr. Mac was doing his thing, it looked like he was measuring different parts of the baby, and then he turned to talk to us. “The baby’s birthday should be around March 22, give or take a few days on either side of that. Many first time pregnancies run a little over our first guestimation. Nurse Stacey walked over and handed a few small sheets of something to the doctor. He, in turn, handed them over to me. “The first pictures of your little one,” he said happily as I took the flimsy little black and white images. “We’re going to get you set up with some good prenatal vitamins, and we’ll see you once a month in the beginning just to check to make sure everything is progressing as it should. As we go along, there will be special tests or more sonograms that are done for various reasons. They will always be explained to you on the visit prior to them happening, unless there are emergent circumstances. So far though, all is well. The baby had a strong heartbeat, and measures perfectly for your date of conception and the due date. Do you guys have any questions for me at this time?”

I was lost in the images before me so I startled a bit when Steel boomed out an excited, “yes!” He turned his full attention to the doctor. “Do we need to be careful with sex? I mean,” he cleared his throat, and I swear there was a blush on his cheeks. “What if we get a little excited and I toss her on the bed too hard or something?” That made me giggle. Steel looked slightly embarrassed. Dr. Mac just chuckled. He’d probably heard it all before from first time parents.

“Normal sex is fine. I basically recommend whatever the mother is comfortable with. As she gets bigger, you’ll probably have to experiment with positions to find what works best, and take it a little easier.” Oh dear lord, Doc most likely thinks we’re having rough kinky sex now. And cue my own rosey shaded cheeks.

“We’re bikers, can she still ride on the motorcycle?” I’m pretty sure Steel asked that question next in order to take the heat off his last question.

Doc looked at both of us before speaking. “There’s nothing inherently dangerous about being on the bike itself. I never recommend it though, because bikes are just more dangerous to be on than say being in a car if an accident should occur. At least there is a modicum of protection from the vehicle’s exoskeleton, so to speak. There is nothing on a bike outside of helmets and leathers. As pregnancy progresses it won’t be very comfortable for her, balance can be an issue, and of course during early pregnancy, just plain old morning sickness may require more time pulled over on the side of the road since a barf bag won’t exactly be easy to use with the wind in her face.” I snickered a bit at that imagery. Doc had valid points. “If she’s missing the wind in her hair, and she feels well enough though, I don’t see why she can’t do it if that’s what you choose.”

Well, judging from Steel’s resolved look, I was betting I wouldn’t be riding on my bike much for the next seven months. “You can always feel free to call or email the office if you think of any further questions. Either myself or Stacey will be more than happy to help you out. We’ll see you in a month, Stacey will get your appointment set up and your prescription for the prenatals before you leave.” He looked at me meaningfully then. “Take them every single day.”

“Yes sir,” I muttered. Doc patted me on my knee then shook Steel’s hand. “Congratulations, you two. I look forward to seeing you both next time.”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Steel told him.

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