Page 70 of Utah

Twelve minutes after I arrived, Ria pulled into the space next to me. I hopped out and was opening her door before she turned off her engine.

“Thanks.” The smile on her face appeared tentative, and I had a feeling it didn’t have anything to do with me.

“Everything will be fine.”

“I know.” I squeezed her hand. “I know,” she repeated, that time with a bit more conviction.

Every room we were ushered into was smaller and smaller. Or maybe that was just me because I didn’t like any kind of confined space.

After asking Ria a series of questions, the nurse pulled out a thin sheet and placed it on the exam table.

“You don’t have to fully disrobe, just your bottoms. Place the sheet over your lap, and the doctor will be in shortly.”

“You seem nervous,” she said to me after the nurse left.

“You know I don’t like doctors.”

She kicked off her shoes and popped the top button of her jeans. “It’s a good thing she’s not gonna have to insert something insideyou,then.”

“What do you mean? Never mind. Don’t tell me.” She laughed as she started to tug on her pants. “Do you want me to leave while you get undressed?”

“I think you’ve seen everything already. How else did I get into this situation?”

The smile that graced her lips melted my heart. How did I get so lucky to not only have this incredible woman in my life, but also have her as the mother of my child?

After she sat on the table and placed the sheet over her legs, she exhaled. “I hate this part.”

“What part?”

“The waiting for the doctor to show up. Will she be two minutes, five minutes, ten?”

No sooner did she finish speaking than the door opened.

“Looks like it was only one minute,” I said, stepping to the side so I wasn’t in the way.

A woman in her mid-fifties with short black hair and glasses appeared. “Hi, Ria.”

“Hi, Dr. Fulson.”

The doctor’s gaze swung my way. “Hello. I’m Dr. Fulson, as you might’ve heard.” The warmth of her voice put me at ease. “Can I assume you’re the dad?”

“I am.”

Ria pointed toward me. “This is Utah.”

The doctor nodded in my direction before she sat at the computer. Several keystrokes later, she wheeled her stool in front of Ria.

“I see here you went to the ER two days ago because you were bleeding. Is that still happening?”

“No. It stopped yesterday.”

“Good.” She retrieved some sort of device that reminded me of one of Ria’s curling irons. “Let’s just have a look to make sure everything is still okay. Scooch down a bit for me. A little more.”

I stood by Ria’s shoulders and grasped her hand when she reached for mine.

“Is that gonna hurt?” I asked when she moved the odd-looking device between my woman’s legs.

“No. Just some pressure.” I must’ve looked like I had more questions, so she explained further. “This is called a transducer. It’s inserted vaginally, and we can see the images right here,” she said, pointing to a monitor.

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