Page 60 of Calamity Rayne Knocked Up

When we left, she gave us several printed pictures from the ultrasound and told us we could review the rest on the patient portal when we got home. I couldn’t wait that long, so I signed into the portal on my phone as soon as we were in the car. I could stare at those pictures forever.

I breathed a sigh of relief. My baby was developing properly, and everything was great. I was a happy camper.

Hale and I stopped at a little pizzeria on the way home to get cheddar cheese fries, but as we were leaving with our order, he veered into a small boutique in the shopping strip.

“Hale, my fries. They’ll get cold.”

“I’ll only be a minute. I need to grab something.” He walked over to the display of picture frames and selected a ten-by-ten-inch square silver frame with white velvet matting. As he took his time paying, I snuck a few fries.

“Ready?”

“Mm-hm,” I said around a mouthful of cheese and potato.

When we got home, he went to the dining room with his bag from the boutique. He stared at the vacant placehis fifty-thousand-dollar work of ruined art used to hang and lifted the ten-by-ten frame.

My lips parted when I saw what he’d done. There, in the center of that little silver frame, was our baby.

“Priceless,” he said, hanging it on the small hook in the wall.

I smiled and agreed, “Priceless.”

Gold diggers, gowns, and saggy balls, oh my!

“Ihave to pee.”

“We’re about ten miles from our exit,” the driver commented not fully understanding the severity of the situation.

“Um…” I looked at Hale and whispered, “I have to pee.”

He frowned. “Can’t you hold it?”

Did no one understand how these things worked? “There’s a human on my bladder, and I haven’t peed since we were on the jet. No, I can’t hold it.”

He glanced at the barren highway rushing by. “Rayne, there’s nothing for at least six miles.”

“I see trees and grass.”

He looked appalled. “You want us to pull over?”

“That’d be great.”

Hale cleared his throat. “Pull over up ahead, please.”

“Sir, I’d much rather wait until we’re on a safer road.”

He looked at me, and I shook my head. I wasn’t going to make it.

“I’m afraid it’s an emergency.”

As the driver eased onto the shoulder, I dug through my purse for some tissues. At least New England was woodsy.

Elara roused from her nap as soon as the car stopped. Hale handed her Meep Meep, but she tossed the sheep on the floor to her left and moaned to get out of her car seat.

“Not yet,” Hale said. “I have to help Mommy.”

This wasn’t a group activity, so I scooted past him and darted for the trees. “I’ve got it from here.”

“I’ll block you.”

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