Page 74 of Unexpecting

″Probably if I knew what you were talking about,” I replied irritably, trying to avoid a book to the head.

″This. This huge needle thing!” J.B. showed me the page, and I got a quick glimpse of the heading Doctor’s Visits. “They have to stick this needle into the baby! Do you know about this?”

″Amniocentesis. Yes, I am well aware of that, thank you.”

″They stick it in the baby!” I wasn’t sure if this was coming from a hidden fear of needles or if he was really concerned about the baby. “It can cause a miscarriage!”

″Yes, but it’s important in determining whether there may be a birth defect, which can be more prevalent in older mothers. And they don’t stickit in the baby; they just need to get some of the amnio fluid. They do stick it in me, though, in case you’re wondering.”

″Oh. So you did know. Aren’t you worried?”

″I’m actually hoping I won’t need to get one since I’m still thirty-five and normally they don’t give them until the mother is older. I’ve got to talk to the doctor about that.”

″Oh. So you might not have to have one?”

″I’ll have to ask the doctor,” I told him patiently.

″Oh.” Some of the steam went out of J.B., and I hid my grin as he sat down. “I just wanted to make sure you knew about it,” he told me lamely.

″I know a bunch of things,” I said. “But if you find something you don’t think I know, you can come talk to me about it, okay?”

″Okay.” Emma set a plate down in front of him. After he thanked her, she turned to me and mouthed, So cute! “How come you didn’t come with the others last night?” J.B. asked me.

″Where?”

″The club. Morgan and Brit, all those women,” he grimaced. “Drunk, dancing on tables, and trying to make out with boys young enough to be their kids, women. You missed out on a great time.” His expression told me differently.

″So Brit told me.”

″I think they hit a couple of places before they stumbled in. What happened to you? Everything okay with…” His eyes shifted lower, to my midsection, before they met my surprised gaze again.

″Fine. It’s just—I just got tired. I didn’t really feel up to a lot of rumpusing with the wild things last night.”

I got up and took my plate to the sink. “That sitting all right?” Coop asked when he noticed the plate was empty. I’d left nothing for Sebastian this morning. He was weaving around my ankles, threatening to trip me in hopes of getting some scraps.

″Not bad. So far anyway. The fact that there was only a little bit helps.” I rinsed my plate and set it in the dishwasher. “Thanks.”

″Anytime. What are you up to today?”

″Not much. Laundry to start. Then maybe a nap.” I laughed.

″Oh, the life of a mother.”

“That sick stuff,” J.B. ventured suddenly, “I read that won’t last too much longer, right? It’s supposed to end in the second trimester, and what? You’re ten weeks now?” I had to say I was a little startled hearing thosewords coming out of J.B.’s mouth. Referring to the pregnancy in weeks, not months, and talking about trimesters?

″I’m eleven weeks along,” I corrected. “And yes, the nausea is supposed to end at the end of the first trimester.”

″I forgot to tell you,” J.B. said as he opened the newspaper to the sports section. “My sister told me about this weird combination of stale Coke, ginger, and something else you freeze that helps when you feel sick.”

″You talked to your sister about me?” I asked in amazement.

″Yeah, I called her about a month ago. I meant to tell you—”

″A month ago? Before you talked to me?”

″Well, yeah, I thought I’d let her know that she might have a new niece or nephew coming, and she—”

″You talked to your family before you talked to me? You told your family that I—that we were having a baby before you talked to me? Before you apologized for being such an ass? What if I told you to fuck off?” I cried.

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