Page 18 of This Memory
Brystol
Gavin reached over and touched my knee, causing me to jump. His touch left me feeling like I’d been prodded with a hot poker.
“Stop bouncing your knee, Brystol.”
I lifted a hand and started chewing my thumbnail instead. When he reached up and pushed my hand down, I got up and began to pace. They had called us back into a room and we were waiting on the doctor.
“What if it didn’t work?”
“Then they’ll try again.”
I closed my eyes and moaned. “Wouldn’t Ifeelpregnant?”
“I’m not an expert by any means, but I don’t think so this early on.”
Opening my eyes, I looked at Gavin. He was sitting in a chair reading a magazine, looking utterly calm as a cucumber. The bastard.
The pacing started again. “They only have so many eggs, and this isn’t cheap. I know Denny and Evelyn are both lawyers, but it’s still prettyexpensive.”
Gavin abandoned the magazine and stared at something on the coffee table. “It will work.”
“What is that?” I asked, following his gaze.
“It’s like a puzzle piece of the anatomy of a woman’s uterus, I think.”
“What?” I asked, as I moved closer. Gavin reached out to touch it.
Grabbing his arm, I whisper-shouted, “Don’t touch that!”
“Why? It’s here for us to learn, is it not?”
Sitting back down, I leaned in, staring at the 3D model…and drew in a breath at the sight before me. A lump formed in my throat as I imagined somethingthatsize coming out of me.
“How in the hell isthatthing supposed to fit throughthat?” Gavin asked, pointing at the model.
I swallowed the sudden bile rising in my throat. “Do you think this is anatomically correct? The size of the baby and…vaginal opening?”
Gavin slowly looked at me. His eyes moved down my body, then back up, then to the puzzle. “Fuck, I hope not, because if it is…ouch.”
Taking hold of his arm, I started to shake him. “How is that possible? How is that head supposed to fit through there? I’m going to be ripped apart!”
A soft chuckle came from behind us, and we both jumped. Gavin must have somehow knocked into the model because it tipped over. I let out a small scream when I saw the baby falling to the floor, but Gavin caught it in time and held it up like a prize.
“I didn’t let it fall!”
The doctor standing in the room grinned. “You’ll make a great father.”
Gavin choked. “Oh, no.” Holding up his hands, he went on, “I’m not the father. I’m just a friend. Well, a friend who has been taken off the enemy list and put on the friends list, but only a little bit ago. Like an hour ago, after years of being on the not-friend list. We could actually be classified as frenemies right now, not really friends. It’s a whole new thing.”
My mouth fell open as I stared at Gavin. “How do you even know that word, frenemies?” I asked.
Gavin shrugged. “I think I heard Aurora and Cadie say it, maybe?”
The doctor cleared her throat. “Dr. Thompson had to leave for a family emergency, so she asked if I would review the blood test results with you.”
Before I knew what I was doing, I reached for Gavin’s hand and squeezed it.
“Oh wow, is this a preview of childbirth, because I’m pretty sure you’re about to break my fingers.”
