Page 91 of Zone Protection

“Hi, Emma, Archie. Good to see you both here. I’m going to get right to it because I have to head out for a delivery. Emma, you look great. Baby looks great. All of your blood work from previous tests and the one from Arizona all look normal. We do see a small secundum—which is a hole in the heart—located in the upper part of the baby’s heart, in an area called the atria septum. This type of defect does typically close on its own without medical intervention. Because of the size, I don’t see any reason to believe that in this case, it won’t close on its own after birth. But due to your family history and this development, we will have you monitored by one of our high-risk OBs in our practice and continue the fetal echoes. Do either of you have any questions for me?”

Emma shakes her head. “No, I think I understand everything.”

“Archie, how about you? You have any questions or concerns?”

“Well, I mean, I’m sure I’ll have more after I do a little more research on this, but my primary concern is if Emma is okay. Is the baby okay and not in any type of pain?”

“Of course. Good questions. Emma is doing great. I have no further concerns about Emma. What happened in Arizona was most likely caused by dehydration, but also, as your baby grows, you may experience spotting from time to time. We want to know if that happens, but it is pretty normal in most cases. As for the baby, the baby is growing nicely; measurements are all good. Even though you’re on the smaller side, it’s still within range. The heart rate is strong, and I don’t see any murmurs or problems with heart function. But because of Emma’s family history, we need to monitor the heart closely.”

“Thank you. That’s helpful. I just want to make sure I cangive them both anything they might need, and the more I know, the better.”

The doctor smiles at me, points at me, and then looks at Emma. “He is one of the good ones, Emma. Hold on to him.” She looks back at me. “Try to enjoy the last few months of the pregnancy. Once the baby arrives, your lives will change completely.”

I smile my signature smile. “Why, thanks, Doc. I appreciate that and also agree with you. One more question: is it safe for us to have sex? I don’t want to do anything to hurt Emma or the baby.”

“Archie, Jesus.” Emma looks at me, then at the doctor. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you asked. You can absolutely have intercourse over the next few months. Emma, you can really do anything you want as long as you feel good. So, take good care of her, Archie.”

“Yes, ma’am. I fully intend to.” I stand from my chair. “Thank you, Doctor.”

“I’ll see you in two weeks. We’ll start seeing you every two weeks, and then once we’re in the last month, we’ll want to see you weekly. Now the high-risk OB will set a schedule with you, but we’ll try to schedule your appointments on the same day to make it easier on you.” She touches Emma’s arm on her way out.

“Thank you, Doctor,” Emma says.

After the door closes, I reach out to Emma and help her move off the table to get dressed. She accepts my hand, but releases it right away once she stands.

“You can go out and see if you can schedule the appointments with the high-risk doctor. Might be easier for you to do it because I don’t know your schedule yet for when you’ll be here and when you’ll be in Texas for training.”

I watch her as she takes her gown off and starts to dress. She won’t look at me.

“Sure, I can do that. We should probably talk about my schedule soon. I would like you to be with me as much as possible. Do you know when you have your meeting with your coach yet?”

She shakes her head. “Not yet. I should hear something by tomorrow.”

“If you want me to go with you, I can do that. Just say the word.”

“I’ll let you know, but I’m sure I’ll be fine. I’m gonna run to the bathroom real quick, so I’ll meet you at scheduling.”

She opens the door and walks out. And I just stand there for a minute, hands on my hips. I don’t do well with guessing games. I know she’s going through something right now, and I’ll be as patient as I can be, but I won’t be able to deal with this for long. I need her to talk to me so I know what she needs.

After we get the next appointments scheduled, we walk out to the parking lot. I walk her to her car, and before she opens the door, she turns to face me.

“Arch … I …” She grabs on to my shirt with her hands.

I pull her into me and wrap my arms around her. “Tell me what you need, Em, and it’s yours.”

She shakes her head into my chest. “I’m not really sure. I feel like everything is happening at rapid speed now, and I just need to process it all, I guess. I mean, we’ve been living in this nice little bubble where everything is perfect. You went from being one of the most notorious players on campus to basically living with me. But, Archie, you’re leaving, and then after that, you’ll be gone a lot. I can do this alone. Hell, I’ve been alone for so long that I don’t think anyone realized it. I’m just thinking that maybe we need to?—”

“Don’t you start pulling away from me.”

“It’s just a lot of pressure. You need to get through the draft, and I need to figure out what I’m doing. It’s just a lot.”

“I see.” And I do. “It is a lot. But I know we can work it outbecause I think we’re worth trying for, but also, I will be there for my baby. Yeah, it’s not always going to be easy or go according to plan, but we’ll figure it out.”

“How do you know though? Like, how can you be so sure that we’ll still like each other once the baby is born? I don’t want either of us to feel resentful of each other, you know. Like what if we’re just caught up in this baby bubble?”

“Are you only with me because of the baby bubble?”

---