“I know,” I laughed.
**
The next day, I was walking into the hospital to see Dr. Gray. I’d made an appointment with her even though she wasn’t my OB. After I checked in, I sat in the waiting room looking through a magazine.
“Ms. Forrester?” her nurse called my name. I looked up, and she waved me over. I put the magazine down, picked up my purse, and followed her to the back. I was grateful she wasn’ttrying to hold a conversation with me and immediately escorted me to Dr. Gray’s office.
“Hey,” Dr. Gray said when I walked into her office. She stepped around her desk and pulled me into a hug. “I was worried when I saw your name on my schedule today.” She stepped back and pointed to the chair across from her desk. “Have a seat.”
“Thank you,” I said as I sat.
“So, what’s up?” She rounded her desk and sat. “Is everything okay? You feeling okay?” She turned to her computer and started typing. “All your labs and everything look good, and you’re not due for an appointment for another two weeks.”
“I’m good, Gray,” I laughed, shaking my head. “I just wanted to ask you something in person, and since I know you’re busy, I decided to make an appointment so we could have time to talk.”
“Ma’am, you could’ve gotten my number from Amethyst and called me.” She started looking around her desk. “As a matter of fact, give me your phone so I can put my number in it.” She put out her hand, and I took it from my purse and handed it to her. Gray made quick work of putting in her number and then handing it back to me. “Now you can call or text me whenever.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, shaking my head.
“Please, you’re Amethyst’s best friend, which means you’re good people. He doesn’t trust too many, and if he does, then I know they are worthy of being trusted.” She sat back and moved her chair back and forth. “Now, what’s the question you have to ask me that made you set up an appointment?”
“Well,” I sighed, then licked my lips. All of a sudden, I was nervous. “I was wondering about something.”
“Which is?” she questioned.
“How did you know my husband?” I asked her, and Gray stared at me with an unreadable expression. The first interaction she had with Grant replayed in my head over and over. Sheknew him. I wasn’t sure how or why, but I knew that she did. There were too many awkward moments and uncomfortable pauses when we were all together. Plus, the way she wouldn’t address him when she was speaking about the baby. I knew her loyalty was to Amethyst, but this went beyond that. There was a personal hatred there that I wanted to know about.
“Listen, Yale,” she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what Grant told you.”
“He didn’t tell me anything, nor did I ask him,” I clarified. “I learned that before he died, Grant had a lot of secrets, more than likely the majority of them, I will never find out about, and I’m good with that. But you helped me fulfil one of my biggest dreams by getting pregnant. I want to make sure that the woman who helped me get there isn’t one of my husband’s side pieces or something.”
“I have not and would never fuck Grant Kilmore,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t stand him when he walked into my life years ago, and everyone around us knew that.”
“So, you do know him?” I asked, and she nodded. “How?”
“My sister,” she answered and sat back in her seat. “She’s been an on-again-off-again girlfriend to someone he knows, and we were introduced at a party. Grant was there with his girlfriend, or who I thought was his girlfriend. I hate to be the one who tells you this, but Grant had a few kids.”
“I found that out at his funeral,” I said and rolled my eyes. “So, you and he didn’t mess around at all?”
“Hell no,” she denied. “The last time I saw Grant before he came to your appointment was years ago. His girlfriend went into labor, and my sister called me because she didn’t want to go to the hospital. Grant was out of town, and he told her not to leave the house. My sister panicked, called me, and I rushed over to try to help her. By the time I got there, the baby had been born, and Shelly, that’s the girlfriend’s name, was lost inher own world, bawling. I thought it was from the excitement of having a baby, but then I heard her crying, saying that he wouldn’t leave his wife because the baby was a girl. He wanted a boy. That was the stipulation for him leaving his wife. She had to give him a boy. When he strolled into the house after she’d had the baby, he really wasn’t out of town and wanted to see if she would follow his instructions. He looked down at the baby that was lying in the bassinet. He looked at Shelly and, without hesitating, started beating her ass. I jumped in, trying to stop him, but the guy my sister was dating stopped me. He held me back as Grant beat Shelly. After he was finished, he dragged her into the room and raped her. I heard her scream in pain for what felt like forever. When he was finished, he came out and told me that if I snitched, he’d kill my sister and me. I begged my sister to leave his friend, but she wouldn’t. I saw Shelly a few weeks later at the store, and I offered to help her, but she said she was happy with Grant and wasn’t leaving him. I’d seen the look she had in her eyes before; she wasn’t going anywhere. So, I left it alone. I said a prayer for her and washed my hands of them all.”
“Damn,” I said, shaking my head. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the story, but I was. Grant being that heartless would never sit right with me.
“Right, after that, I vowed to never deal with him---my sister, either, for that matter, because she was cool with what was going on.” Gray rubbed the back of her neck and looked away. “It’s one more thing I need to tell you.”
“Is it about Grant?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. She looked so uncomfortable that I wondered what could be as bad as what she told me. “It’s about Amethyst.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re in love with him,” I said quickly. “I can handle Grant not being shit and knowing that he wasn’t theman I thought he was, but I can’t deal with shit when it comes to Amethyst.”
“I’m not in love with Amethyst,” she reassured me.
“Okay,” I said slowly as I tried to calm down. “Then what is it? And please remember that I’m six months pregnant and can’t handle too much more stress.”
“It’s about your pregnancy,” she said, and I nodded. “Grant never left his sperm.” She sat forward and rested her elbows on her desk. “My office called, twice, and he never showed up to either appointment.”
“So, whose baby am I carrying?” My hands went to my stomach just as my baby kicked.
