Page 25 of Psycho

Chapter 11 – Maddox

Olivia’s leg bounced obsessively as she sat on the tall exam table, waiting for the doctor to come in. “Easy Storm, you’ll bounce yourself right off that table.”

She glared at me, adjusting the sheet covering her naked bottom and chewed her lip. “Why do you call me Storm?”

I raised my brows at her, surprised by the question. “Because your eyes are always so full of emotion when you look at me. They look like you’ve got storm clouds circling in there, waiting to let loose.”

She pursed her lips, and I was pretty sure she didn’t like that answer, but a soft knock at the door stopped her from telling me exactly what she was thinking and the doctor walked in.

“Hello, Olivia.” The woman said, walking over to the sink and washing her hands. She was probably in her sixties, with gray hair and glasses on her nose. There was something about her that just screamed, experienced. And I liked that. “My name is Dr. Pompano, I’m the head of the OB department here.”

“Hi.” Olivia smiled at her, though I could tell it was brittle, and took the older woman’s hand when she held it out to shake.

“Your chart was kind of empty, so why don’t you start at the beginning, and we can chat about what brings you in.” Dr. Pompano said as she took a seat.

“Um,” Olivia opened her mouth and closed it twice before her eyelids closed and she blurted. “I’m pregnant. But I’ve been in denial, and I haven’t started any prenatal care or vitamins.” She swallowed, “I’m sorry.”

My hands curled in my lap at the blame she was putting on herself, but before I could reassure her, Dr. Pompano stepped in gently.

“That happens more often than you’d think,” she smiled knowingly, “The only thing that matters is that you’re here now, and we’re going to get things on the right track.” The doctor flipped through the papers Olivia filled out when we arrived. “It says here you don’t know when your last period was, but your guess is three or four months ago, and you were irregular long before that. Do you know how far along you are?”

Olivia shook her head gently, “I only took a pregnancy test when the morning sickness got really bad.”

“Okay.” The doctor stood up, “No worries. Why don’t we start with an ultrasound, and we can at least figure out a due date and then we can fill in the rest as we go. Lay back for me and we’ll take a peek.”

I stood up, no longer able to just be a spectator, as I slid my hand into Olivia’s and she squeezed it tight as she lay back on the table as the doctor pulled the leg rest out. “Breathe, Storm.” I whispered, and Olivia took a deep breath and smiled at me.

“Thanks.”

The doctor smiled at me and then looked back at Olivia. “We’ll start with a tummy ultrasound, and if you’re not far along enough, we can take a peek with the internal wand.” I eyedthe long dildo looking thing on the ultrasound cart and almost snarled at the idea of that thing going inside Olivia before I ever did but refrained. The last thing I needed was to be kicked out for being jealous of a medical device. “Ready?” Dr. Pompano asked and Olivia nodded, pulling her shirt up to expose her abdomen.

I obviously didn’t know Olivia before she was pregnant, but I could tell by looking at her lying down that her baby bump was already showing. There was just a slight roundness down low that wasn’t natural when lying flat on your back.

Her baby was right there.

She squeezed my hand again as the doctor poured on the goop and ran the wand over it. There was a large TV at the end of the exam table on the wall for us to look at while the doctor looked at the screen on the cart. Before I could even mentally prepare myself, it suddenly appeared.

Olivia’s baby. Clear as day. Wiggling around like a perfect little angel.

“Oh, my god.” Liv whispered as we watched the very clearly defined features as the doctor scrolled over different parts of it, clicking away and taking different still shots.

“I’m just taking some measurements here,” The doctor explained, “The femur and the skull can tell us a lot about a baby’s gestational age.” She worked and the longer I stared at the screen, the more in awe I became.

“Sit down.” Olivia hissed at me, drawing my attention back to her, “You look like you’re going to pass out.”

“I’m fine.” I scowled at her, but the doctor pulled the wand from her stomach and pointed at the chair.

“Sit down, Dad. We have a strict no passing out rule here.”

Ah, fuck. I collapsed into the chair and leaned my elbows on the bed, clinging to Olivia’s hand in both of mine as that word rattled around in my brain.

Liv didn’t correct the doctor, and neither did I, but I stared at her and there were tears in her eyes as she silently stared back. We were in such uncharted territory, neither of us were prepared for that to happen. But I didn’t hate it.

I didn’t even dislike it a tiny bit.

“Okay,” The doctor went on, taking a few last measurements as we watched silently. “So, according to these measurements, you’re about eighteen weeks along.”

“Eighteen—” Olivia gasped and looked from the doctor to me with wide eyes.

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