Page 178 of Sebastian's Baby

I whip my head around to stare at her. Is she really suggesting that we move to Chicago instead of Los Angeles?

“Sorry? Chicago?” Dr. Sanders doesn’t seem to understand what she’s asking.

“Yeah, obviously, that’s where Sebastian’s from. I’m from Seattle, but if we’re talking about seeing a different specialist in Los Angeles and with how often I need to see them, it means relocating anyway, doesn’t it? Staying in Chicago for the rest of the pregnancy makes way more sense than staying in Los Angeles where we don’t have any support.” Lita shrugs as if it’s nothing.

“Oh, I see, that does make sense. Yes, the surgery could certainly be performed at this gestation in Chicago. Would you like me to refer you to a specialist there instead?”

“Yes, please.”

Lita smiles at me, and I stroke the skin of her hand with my thumb. I can’t believe I didn’t think of this myself. Just the thought of dealing with the stress of the surgery while at home is immediately calming to me.

“We’re actually flying to Chicago tonight; we were going to spend the weekend there and come back. So, we could see a doctor there any time from tomorrow,” Lita tells the doctor.

Our appointment with Dr. Sanders ends after he explains that he’ll send the referral through to a specialist in Chicago with all of the details on Lita’s case. He warns us that the new doctor taking on the case will probably want to do their own scan either tomorrow or Friday to have their own baseline for the tumor’s size and growth.

Once we’re safely through the paparazzi and in the SUV, I turn to Lita and ask, “Are you sure about moving to Chicago for the rest of the pregnancy?”

I don’t want her to do it if she’s just doing it for me and she’s not really comfortable with it.

“I really am.” Lita smiles at me. “As soon as I said it, I realized that it was the obvious solution. I want to know the doctor that’s going to operate on me if it needs to happen. I can’t live in limbo, wondering if one day I’ll have to meet someone new, and the thought of relocating to Los Angeles was awful. Why do that when you have a place in Chicago?”

“But your family and your friends and your life are here,” I point out.

Lita shrugs. “It’s not forever, and it’s not like I can’t come back here and visit. A huge part of my life is my job, and, well, it’s not like that’s an issue at the moment. I just want some stability in all of this. We’ve already had two doctors for this pregnancy, and I want to know the doctor who is going to keep Mirabella safe.”

I pull her close to me and kiss the top of her head. “Thank you, princess. Hopefully, the new doctor can do the surgery and everything will be okay.”

I hold her close for the rest of the drive to the apartment. We’d already packed for the flight to Chicago before we left for the appointment because we have to leave soon, but Lita wasn’t planning to spend longer than the weekend there.

“I don’t have enough maternity clothes for a long trip. The ones I bought are already getting too tight around my bump,” she complains.

“You could buy some more maternity clothes in Chicago,” I tell her.

“Makes sense. It’s not like I have time to go clothes shopping today anyway. I suppose I should let my family know, though,” Lita says with a heavy sigh.

“Do you want me to talk to them with you, or do you want to do it on your own?”

“Can you…” Lita trails off, swallows heavily, and starts again. “Can you just be with me while I’m telling them?”

I nod, then walk over to her and pull her into my arms. I know it’s going to be hard for her because she got overwhelmed when she was trying to tell them about the pregnancy issue. We told everyone after our first appointment with Dr. Sanders, but I had to handle most of the conversations.

“I wish nothing was wrong with her,” Lita whispers.

“I know, princess.”

I hold her tightly and inhale her floral scent. I love her so much, and I wish that I could make this better for her. We stand together for a while before Lita moves over to the sofa. I sit down next to her and put my arm around her to hold her as she calls her parents with the call on speaker, so I’m prepared to take over if I need to.

“Good afternoon, bella,” Lita’s mom answers in a concerned voice.

“Hey, Mamma.”

Lita’s body is stiff and her jaw is tense as she looks at the screen of the phone on her lap.

“How did your appointment go today?” her mom asks.

Lita doesn’t say anything, she just takes a deep breath and rocks back and forth in her seat. I stroke her arm gently with my hand and watch her.

“We have to see a surgeon,” she chokes out before bursting into tears.

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