Page 49 of An Unhinged Wedding

“The doctor is here. Be a good girl and lay on the bed. I’ll be right back.”

Mia glares at me but does as she’s told.

I walk out of the bedroom and open the door for the good doctor, “Hi Lara. She’s in the bedroom waiting for you.”

She nods, “I brought the portable ultrasound machine so we can get a look at the baby.”

I rub my hands together with excitement, “Good.”

Maybe that’s exactly what Mia needs.

“I have to tell you, Sir. This goes against everything I believe. It’s her body, she has the right to choose whether she wants to carry a baby or not.”

I arch an eyebrow, giving her a stern expression, “It is her body. But it’s my baby. You accepted this job knowing all the facts. Another word about it and I’ll fire you and find someone else to handle my wife’s care.”

She sighs, “Understood. Let's go see my patient.”

“Right this way.”

Dr. Gibb follows me into the bedroom, where Mia lies in the bed waiting for us.

“Mia this is Dr. Gibb. She’s an obstetrician.”

Lara reaches her hand out to shake Mia’s hand, “Mrs. Kincaid, it's lovely to meet you. I’d like to start by getting a look at the baby.”

Mia doesn’t argue but doesn’t bother acknowledging what the doctor said, either. I know she thinks she doesn’t want this. I know her. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know she’ll come around. She’s simply scared to death of becoming a mother. I sit on the edge of the bed beside my wife while the doctor sets up her portable ultrasound machine.

“Do you have any idea how far along you are?”

Mia shakes her head, “No. I don’t have regular cycles so it’s hard to know when this happened to me.”

Happened to me?As if it’s some horrible event that happened. I shake off my annoyance at her words. Her attitude isn’t what’s important right now.

“I’m going to try to get a look externally. However, if I can’t see anything then we’ll have to do a transvaginal ultrasound.”

Mia sighs, “Let’s just get this over with, please.”

Lara pulls her shirt up, exposing her stomach, and lowers her yoga pants to her hips, “This is going to be cold. I’m sorry.”

She squirts gel on Mia’s stomach and places the ultrasound wand on her belly. She gives up after moving it around for a few minutes, “We’ll need to do a transvaginal ultrasound. If you could remove all your clothing from the waist down, please. You can cover yourself with a sheet or towel.”

I go into the master bathroom, retrieve a towel, and bring it back to Mia.

She gets undressed and covers herself, “Ready,” she says to Dr. Gibb, who had turned her back to give Mia privacy. I did not give her the same courtesy. She’s my wife, after all.

The doctor covers this thing that looks like a dildo with a condom-like sheath and approaches Mia, “It won’t hurt, but it might be uncomfortable.”

Mia takes a deep breath as she glares at me while spreading her legs.

She moves the instrument around, and then I see it. Mia does too. I see it written all over her face. It’s a mixture of awe and pure fear. I hate that she doesn’t know she wants this child.

The doctor points to the small screen, “This is your baby’s head,” she points to the sides, “arms,” then to the tiny legs, “the legs.”

She prints two pictures and hands us each one, “I just need to take a few measurements and we’ll be done.”

Mia places her picture on the bed beside her as a tear rolls down her cheek.

Dr. Gibb finishes the ultrasound and removes the instrument from Mia, “You are eight weeks and six days. Everything looks great. The baby is developing on schedule. I’ll prescribe prenatal vitamins which need to be started immediately. I also need to do some routine blood work.”

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