“Are you doing alright?” Emme asked?
“Yeah. Little bit of indigestion. A lot of foot.”
“Eighteen weeks, right?”
“Right around that,” Gilly said.
Emme stared at her sister-in-law’s belly. She was kind of big for eighteen weeks. “Have you had an ultrasound yet?”
“We have an appointment in three weeks,” Doug said.
“Have you heard the heart beat yet?”
“Not yet,” Gilly said. “We’ve only been to see the doctor once for our initial appointment.”
“Wish I had my stethoscope to see if I could find the heartbeat,” Emme said.
“There’s a box of your stuff up in the closet in the guest room,” her mom said. “The NGO sent it when—” She swallowed hard and looked down at her wine. “Well, the NGO sent your things here.”
Emme wrapped her hands around her mom’s, resting on the table. She became teary eyed and her grip on Emme’s hand tightened. With a tight smile, she said, “Why don’t you go see if there’s one in the box?”
She stood and wrapped her arms around her mom’s neck, kissing the top of her head. Her mom returned her hug and patted her arm. Letting go, she jogged up the stairs and into the spare bedroom — the one she hadn’t napped in — and into the small walk-in closet. She found the two moving boxes addressed to her care of her parents and tore the tape off the first one. The smell of old and musty clothes assailed her. Guess they hadn’t washed any of her things before they boxed them up. Maybe they thought her mom would want to be able to smell her scent if she hadn’t made it back.That’s a morbid thought.
She pulled up the layers of folded scrubs, shorts, and t-shirts, but didn’t find a stethoscope. The second box held all the non-clothing items — her iPod, the few pieces of jewelry she’d taken with her, some shoes, her phone, and at the bottom, three stethoscopes. She didn’t remember having three, but it was possible they had grabbed a couple from the clinic. It worked to her benefit anyway.
She dug around some more looking for her phone charger, finally it finding in a box of other cords. Plugging the phone in beside the bed, she grabbed two of the stethoscopes and went back downstairs.
Boisterous laughter, including Jordan’s, greeted her at the bottom of the stairs and she smiled. Dorothy was right — there was no place like home.
She motioned to Gilly when she entered the dining room, indicating the other woman should turn in her chair. “Doug, let her lean back on you a little.” Kneeling down in front of Gilly, she set the second stethoscope on the table.
“Is the other one so we can listen?” Doug asked.’
“Not yet.” She placed one the earpieces in her ear.
“Then what’s it for?”
She gave her brother an exasperated look. “Echo location. Shh.”
“Really?” His look of shock was comical. “You can do that?”
Emme rolled her eyes. “No. Now shush.” She placed the diaphragm against Gilly’s stomach, moving the small circle from spot to spot. It might still be too soon, but she was hoping she’d be able to find it. There! Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the small, yet distinct sound. Moving the stethoscope to the other side of Gilly’s belly, she tried to find the proof of her suspicions. Maybe…right there.
Opening her eyes, she pulled the earpiece out of her left ear, setting it in the hollow behind her earlobe. Picking up the second stethoscope, she put one earpiece in and set the other one in the same spot behind her right ear. Taking both ends in her hand, she set one on each side of Gilly’s belly where she had heard the heartbeats and closed her eyes.
The soft echo of two strong and steady heartbeats sounded through the stethoscopes. She smiled, opened her eyes, and met Gilly’s gaze. Her eyes shone with equal parts happiness and trepidation. Emme took the earpieces out.
“Why were you listening to both sides of her belly?” Doug asked.
“Really?” Gilly asked, a little breathless.
“I’m ninety-five percent sure,” Emme said.
“Oh my god.” Gilly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide. “I thought I was just getting really fat.”
“What are you sure about? What’s going on?” Doug asked.
Emme ignored him. “You need to call your doctor tomorrow and have an ultrasound as soon as you can.”
