“Honestly, I’m doing okay. Like I don’t know if I’m ready to be a dad, by any means, but I don’t feel like I’m having a crisis.” I sigh. I think weirdly enough, knowing that it’s Darcy who I’ll be tied to for, at minimum, the next eighteen years soothes some of my anxiety.
Chapter3
The Blob
Darcy || 8 weeks pregnant, August
Walking into the OBGYN office with Tatum in tow, nerves have officially set in along with more nausea. The good news is, although I’m not pukingquite that much—I feel like I am right on the edge about eighty percent of the time.
“You ready to see the little blob we created?” I ask Tatum, attempting to lighten the mood.
“Blob?” Confusion is sprawled across his face.
“Yeah, the baby won’t start looking like a baby on these things for weeks. It’s essentially just going to look like a blob.”
“Let’s go meet our blob then.” He states as he opens the door to the office for me, a small smile gracing my lips.
“Hello, do you have an appointment?” A small and peppy blonde asks as Tatum and I approach the reception desk. I notice that she looks Tate up and down, which,how dare she. Her visual pat down shouldn’t bother me, but it does. What if he and I were married or he was my boyfriend?
Clearing my throat, I tell her, ”We do. Darcy Whitestone. Birth date, May eighth, nineteen ninety-nine.”
“Alright, looks like you’re all good to go. A nurse should be out to grab you soon, please have a seat.”
“Thank you, we are looking forward to this appointment. First-time parents and all.” Tatum pipes up as he guides me away from the desk with a gentle hand on my back. It feels like he wanted the receptionist to think we were together.
“Not interested in the bubbly, young blonde?” I inquire, unsure if I should feel peeved or proud.
“That bubbly, young blonde? No.” He chuckles before adding, “Another young, bubbly blonde, maybe.”
“What’sthatsupposed to mean?” There’s no way that I am the blonde he’s referring to, so his denial proceeds to rile me up further.
“That’sfor me to know, and you to find out,” He responds, as we take a seat in the brown, vinyl chairs that are just wide enough for one person. The waiting room is filled with chatter, and an occasional squeak from our chairs as we try to make ourselves comfortable.
“Hey! We are about to be co-parents. You can’t keep secrets from me.” I feign offense.
“I didn’t say it was a secret, I just said that you would find out... Eventually,” Tatum teases, flashing me his perfect ivory smile.
“Darcy.” Calls a nurse with bright pink scrubs, introducing herself as Vic.
Another blonde,because of course, this time in her mid-thirties. We stand and follow her into a small, sterile room. Vic checks my blood pressure, takes my weight and height, and asks questions about my family, sexual, and cycle history. She then has me pee in a cup down the hall to make sure, for thesixth freaking time now, that the pregnancy test comes back positive. I haven't even seen the doctor yet and this appointment has taken a lot out of me. Is this what the next nine months will look like?
Moving on, she guides us to a larger room, hands me a gown, and directs me to strip from the waist down. Once disrobed I can get into the stirrups for the technician to perform the first ultrasound. Vic exits the room, and Tatum turns to the corner of the small space, remaining there until I am settled in.
A light knock comes from outside and a woman named Penny introduces herself and immediately begins explaining how the intravaginal ultrasound will work, asking for confirmation that she can begin.
“I’m ready when you are,” I laugh nervously, my fingers rapidly tapping the bed beside me. I should have borrowed one of Kodi’s fidget rings for today. From the time that Penny explained how the intravaginal ultrasound worked to right now, my unease has only grown, and I am on the verge of tears. As if he could sense my discomfort, Tate protectively steps closer to the bed, his soothing ocean scent washing over me. “Tate?”
“Yeah, D?”
“Can I hold your hand?” I look into his eyes, my welling eyes betraying just how much I need support from him right now.
“Absolutely.” The warmth of his hand engulfs mine, his thumb rubbing over the back of my hand. I hear Penny squeeze some ultrasound gel onto the probe, followed closely by the feeling of the probe being inserted, which is a little uncomfortable at first.
“Alright, ready to see your little one?” Penny pipes up from where she’s taken a seat between my legs. A faint bum bump bum bump echoes throughout the room. Looking at Tate one more time for confirmation, he smiles and nods.
“Let’s do this,” I confirm.
“Ah, there they are,” Penny coos, turning the screen so we can all see. I keep my eyes glued to the ultrasound screen as if I can decipher what I’m looking at. The sudden realization I am creating a tiny human within me crashes over me, and tears sting my eyes as I look at the screen, squeezing Tates hand. He mirrors mine with a gentle squeeze, and I find myself tearing my eyes away from the screen to look up at him. His baby blues are focused squarely on the screen, and I don’t think he notices me staring as he quickly swipes a tear from his eyes. “I’m going move you to another room and Dr. Freyer should be in shortly after to talk to you about what comes next. It was nice to meet you two, congratulations. I’m sure you’ll be seeing me again,” Penny says as she cleans me up, covering my legs and stepping out of the room so I can redress.
