I can’t believe he did that.I’m so furious and upset with him that I can’t look at him.I don’t say a word, just lie back and fume.We wait in silence until the female technician comes in.A middle-aged African American lady named Debra comes in with a smile and introduces herself as our new sonogram technician.She smiles at Nick when she sits down.He barely smiles back, but she doesn’t seem intimidated.
“I heard about you.You’re a piece of work.”
Before he can say anything to her, I grab him by the hand and stick my finger in his face.“Be quiet or I’m hopping off this table and marching out of here.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he says, his lips slightly pressing together.
“Great!”I whisper, lying back and trying to snatch my hand back from him, but he’s holding on tight so letting go is not an option.
Debra holds back a smile and turns around with a wink to me before she fully turns around to the machine.I can see it already.This man is going to drive me crazy for the next seven months.Finally the tech is ready.With Nick still holding my hand, she pushes the wand inside me slowly.It’s a little uncomfortable; I’ve never used a vibrator before, but I guess this is what it feels like without the good vibrations.A quick-pulsing swooshing sound fills the room.
“What’s that?”I ask Debra.
She turns back to face me.“That’s the sound of your baby’s heartbeat.”
“It’s so fast.”
“That’s normal.”She switches a few buttons below the monitor and looks around.She smiles at me and points to the screen.“That’s your baby right there.”
“Where?I don’t see anything.”She zooms in on the picture some more and I see it.“That’s the baby?”I ask in amazement.
“Yep, this is the head and this is the body.”
Enthralled by the sonogram, I don’t remember Nick is there until he gives my hand a little squeeze.He’s smiling down at me when I look up.
“That’s our baby,” he says.
“Yeah.We’re having a baby,” I say, still amazed at what I’m seeing.
Here comes trouble.A lot of trouble.
Cat
“You still upset with me?”Nick asks, pulling a piece of my hair down between two of his fingers to get my attention while he’s driving.
“Yes and no.”
“Cat, a stranger walks in, tells you to spread your legs, pulls out a condom, and I’m supposed to be cool with it?Yeah sure, go ahead, play all up in it.”
“He was perfectly professional.You were overreacting.And it was your idea to begin with.”
“Try to understand it from my point of view.If he was a doctor, I could deal.I wouldn’t be happy, but I could deal with it.”
“In the hour you were there, the whole hospital heard about your antics.”
He stops the car at a red light and leans his head back.
“Be honest, you weren’t a little uncomfortable with him down there?”
I was, but he doesn’t need to know that.I already see where this is going.He’s going to try to pick my doctor for me, and tell me what to do and when to do it.And that is not acceptable.He needs to understand I’m not going to fall at his feet and do everything he wants me to do because he thinks it’s what’s best for me and this baby.I have a mind of my own, and I am perfectly capable of making those decisions with or without him.
“You don’t have to answer, you taking so long to answer is the answer to my question.”
“Thanks to you threatening lawsuits and embarrassing me, I won’t be going back there again.”
“Damn right you won’t,” he mumbles, thinking I don’t hear him, as he pulls into the parking lot of his building.
He’s starting already.I need to put a stop to this before he gets carried away.I agreed to stay at his place for the next couple of days because I needed someone to keep an eye on me at least overnight.I spoke to the doctor again, and he said it wasn’t necessary for someone to stay with me continuously for forty-eight hours.I told Nick I would be fine, but he wouldn’t let me go home by myself.He threatened to call my family and tell them the whole story if I didn’t go home with him, basically blackmailing me.It got him what he wanted, as usual.
