Page 96 of Exposed Ink

“And how’s your mom?” she asks, looking up at me.

The thing about living in a small town is that everyone knows everyone, and since there are only a few gynecologists in Brookside, all of whom are part of the same practice, the women in my family—who live in town—come here.

“She’s good. I think my dad is close to retiring for a second time,” I say with a laugh. “She mentioned them doing some traveling since all of us are grown and out of the house.”

She told me this after I told her I was moving in with Shane. I think she’s been wanting to travel, but she was afraid to leave me. I’m glad they’ll finally get to enjoy their retirement. They deserve it.

“That sounds like fun,” she says, “but I expect she won’t be going too far since she’ll be a grandmother soon.”

She smiles warmly, and I look at her in confusion.

Did my sister get pregnant and not mention it? I didn’t even know she was serious with anyone.

Oh my God, did my brother knock someone up? No way. Mom would’ve told me.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I think you’re confusing my mom with someone else because nobody in my family is pregnant.”

Dr. Greenburg’s brow furrows. She looks at her laptop, types something, and then murmurs, “Oh, dear.”

“Everything okay?” I ask, getting a little antsy.

“Yes, I thought you were here for a new pregnancy appointment, but I misunderstood.”

“Oh, no,” I say with a laugh. “The opposite actually. I’m planning to get on birth control.”

Dr. Greenburg stands and walks over to me. “The reason I thought it was a new pregnancy appointment was because the urine sample you gave tested positive for pregnancy.”

It takes me a moment to wrap my brain around what she’s saying, but once I do, I shake my head. “That doesn’t make sense,” I tell her. “I was told that due to the accident and the placental abruption, it would make it harder for me to get pregnant.”

Dr. Greenburg nods in understanding. “How about we do an ultrasound, and that way, we can know for sure and go from there?”

She pushes the ultrasound cart over to the side of the examination bed, and suddenly, I really wish Shane were here with me.

“Since you didn’t know there was a chance you were pregnant, I’m going to assume you wouldn’t know how far along you are?”

I try to do the math in my head, but Shane and I have never used protection—despite saying we would start—and my periods have always been irregular. I was on birth control for it when I was younger, but after I lost Brenna and Brandon, I wasn’t in the right state of mind to deal with it.

“No, I have no clue. It couldn’t be more than a few weeks … maybe a couple of months? I’m sorry.” I sigh. “I sound so irresponsible.”

“No, you don’t,” she says. “You sound like most women who aren’t keeping track. Since you aren’t sure, I’m going to do a transvaginal ultrasound. Let me just grab the nurse.”

While she’s gone, I lie on my back and stare at the ceiling, refusing to believe that I’m pregnant. There’s no way. I mean, sure, we never used protection, but to get pregnant that quickly … no, there has to be something wrong.

A few minutes later, Dr. Greenburg returns with a nurse. She goes about checking me and then grabs the probe to do the ultrasound.

The screen is gray and fuzzy at first. I have no clue what I’m looking at, but I try to stay focused on what she’s doing, not wanting to think about the last time I was in this position. I was married, and we were so excited. Brandon held my hand while we both held our breaths, waiting for the doctor to confirm I was in fact pregnant.

“And that’s the heartbeat,” Dr. Greenburg says, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Wh-what?” I stammer, blinking back the tears that are filling my lids. “Say that again.”

“Based on the size, you’re roughly seven weeks pregnant with a due date of December 16. Looks like you’ll be getting the best Christmas gift.”

“Are you sure?” I ask even though I can tell she’s not messing with me. No doctor would be that cruel.

“I am,” she says. “I know this is a shock to you, but you’re only seven weeks, so you do have options.”

Oh my God, she thinks …

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