one
Jade
Christmas carols play softlyin the waiting room—almost as if the doctor’s office thinks it will fill the other women and me with holiday cheer. Pretty hard to accomplish when my to-do list is a mile long, but this is what I wanted, right? The happily-ever-after with the man I love and the family we’re building. I feel like the Grinch with how stressed and annoyed I am, when so many people are going without, especially this time of year.
The door to the hallway that leads to the exam rooms opens, and all of us waiting women glance up, hope filling us that we’re next to be called. Everyone wants to get their appointment over with so they can move on with their tasks for the day.
Thankfully, the nurse calls my name. Guess I’m the lucky one. If I weren’t five months pregnant, I’d hop up and run over to her, afraid she’d called the wrong person.
But this is what happens at the OB-GYN office—babies need to be delivered, so we wait because we want the doctor there at the hospital when our little bundles are born too.
“Hello, Jade.” Even the nurse has Christmas spirit—her scrubs are covered in tiny Santas. “How are you today?”
My hand runs over my stomach as I shift my purse higher on my shoulder. “Finally warming up from outside.”
She glances over her shoulder as she leads me to the dreaded scale at the end of the hall. “Is it still coming down out there?”
“It’s tapering off now, but I heard we’re due for another few inches before it stops.”
“Good for the kids, I suppose. A white Christmas, snowmen, snow forts.” She stands beside the scale, waiting. “It’s all ready when you are.”
I set my purse and coat on the table. I’d love to bend down and unlace these boots. That’d knock off five pounds, maybe seven. “I’m never quite ready to step on a scale.”
She chuckles, clearly used to the joke made by almost every woman who comes through this office.
I watch the number climb higher, reminding myself that this is a good thing. I’m making a home for our baby. Still, when I see the final number, my stomach drops. It’s such a weird feeling to have no control over all the changes happening to my body.
“Yeah, those Christmas cookies are yummy,” I mutter. “And packed with calories, apparently.”
She laughs again. “Let’s get you to the exam room. The doctor is just returning from a delivery and will be here in about five minutes.”
She escorts me into one of the rooms, checks my vitals, and tells me to wait.
I scroll through my texts from Henry where he apologizes again and again for being delayed at an away game and for missing today. He thanks me for waiting to find out the sex of our baby. What else would I do? Where would I be without him? This is our life. This is the unpredictability of him working in the NHL. One storm can change every player’s plans.
I send back a heart emoji, tell him I love him, and that we’ll celebrate together as soon as he gets home.
A knock sounds on the door and my doctor walks in. She glances at the empty guest chair and frowns. “No Henry? I suspected, since I heard the Falcons away game was postponed.”
I give her a small smile. “Yeah. Unfortunately, the game was delayed, so they’re playing tonight. Do you think you can determine the sex of the baby today and write it on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope so we can open it together when he gets home?”
“Of course.” She pats my knee. “You’re not the first I’ve done that for, and you won’t be the last. I know how excited you both are to find out.”
“Turns out I’m a planner when it comes to things like this, which is odd, because I would’ve thought I’d want it to be a surprise.”
As she washes her hands at the sink, she looks at me over her shoulder. “I was the same. As soon as I could find out, I did.” She grabs the paper towels and dries her hands. “Any plans for Christmas?”
“We rented a big cabin with our friends. We’re going for a long weekend, right before the holidays.”
“A little getaway before the chaos, huh?”
I laugh. “It’s made my Christmas list ten times longer, unfortunately. Now I have to pack and have everything set for when we return.”
She grins. “It’s good to get away. This is actually my last day before Christmas. I’ll be completely off, no on-call or anything. My husband demanded we go on a vacation. We’re going to be away for the entire holiday.”
My eyes widen because, as long as Henry’s with the Falcons or another team in the league, that’s not an option for us. “That’s amazing. Where are you going?”
“I wish I could say somewhere without snow, but he loves skiing, so we’re heading to the mountains. I’ll be in the hot tub or in front of the fire with a book.”
