Ella’s eyes almost bugged out of her head.Margie had not mentioned anything about any special favor of getting her in early.But it would not have mattered because she would never have felt comfortable with such a gorgeous young doctor delivering her baby—especially one Ben grew up being friends with.Some things, like her private parts, needed to remain private.However, if she had known the doctor had gone out of his way for her, she would have expressed her appreciation to his office when she canceled the appointment.If she had known.Which she didn’t.Because no one ever told her anything.
The gorgeous young doctor gave Ben a sheepish look.“Well, I saw a Carrington on my chart list earlier in the week, but the appointment was canceled.I guess there must have been some kind of mix-up.I will get my nurse to look into it on Monday.”
At that moment, Ella tried suppressing a yawn as Ben’s cake was delivered, but it came out like a roar.Looking at Ella, Ben said, “Oh my, I am so sorry.I bet you are exhausted.It has been quite a busy few weeks.If you will excuse us, Jordan, I need to get this little lady home.”Ben sounded all sweet and concerned for her.After two pieces of cake, his “sweetness” almost put Ella into a diabetic coma on the spot.
Understanding how tiring pregnancy was, Ben’s doctor friend replied, “Sounds good.See you soon.”Then he turned and walked away.
Helping Ella into her coat, Ben said, “It is raining.I’ll get the car so you don’t get wet.”Handing her his cake, he took off at a jog through the mist.
As Ella stood waiting, her irritation meter hit overload.Tonight was the last straw.Her anger at being dismissed, overlooked, and basically ignored over the past few weeks built to a boiling point.When Ben pulled up the car, Ella got in and slammed the door hard, letting her frustration speak for itself.
“Whoa!What was that about?I got the car as quickly as I could.”Ben could plainly see that Ella was pissed.He had seen her upset, sick, and a hundred other ways over the past few months, but he had only seen her pissed one other time—after they had sex in the shower without protection, the incident he had come to think of as CondomGate.Whatever Ella was pissed about, it couldn’t be as bad as that.Maybe it was just pregnancy hormones.Ben was confident that he had not done anything for her to be mad at him about.He had gone out of his way to make sure she had had the best of everything he could give her since they had married.
In true Ella fashion, she did not respond for a moment.When she did, she said, “I am not ticked about how long it took you to get the car.That was fine.”
“Okay, well what are you ticked off about?And don’t say nothing because I can see you are plainly mad about something.”
Giving him a look that said she wouldn’t spit on him if he was on fire, Ella swallowed hard, considering her words.When she spoke, she was shocked at how calm she sounded given she was about to explode from the inside out.“You really want to know what I am mad about?”
“Yea, or I would not have asked.”
“Okay, I will tell you.I am ticked, like really ticked.Like the second maddest I have ever been at you.”
“Okay,” said Ben, waiting for her to say more.When she didn’t, he prompted, “Tell me why.”
Giving Ben another angry look, Ella all but shouted, “How dare you have the audacity to pick my doctor without even discussing it with me first?Or worse, having your assistant do it.I get that you are super busy and super important and consumed with your internship and your meetings, but this is my body and my baby, and I will decide who delivers it.Not you.Not her.No one but me.Got that?”
The fire Ben saw flash in Ella’s eyes was real.His first instinct was to fire back at her.Thankfully, he resisted.This was his Ella.He loved her.She was the kindest, most easy-going person he knew.If she was this upset, he needed to proceed with caution.Instead of snapping back, he calmly said, “Okay, I understand.But for the record, I was only trying to help.We talked about needing to find you a new doctor.I asked Margie to find out who the best doctor in town was.She came up with Jordan’s name.He was a few years ahead of me in school, but his dad was and is a very respected doctor in Little Rock.I thought I was helping.”
“Helping?”asked Ella with her eyes flashing.Ben might be controlling his responses, but she was not there yet.Her anger was still spewing.“If you wanted to help me, you would have come home at a decent hour one night this week.We could have talked about it.Instead, your assistant leaves me a message like I have no choice in the matter.If you had talked to me about this, you would have known that I am not comfortable with a man, especially one who looks like that.”
Before Ben could stop his mouth from running, he stupidly asked, “Are you kidding me?You are mad because I set you up with a great doctor, and you don’t want to use him because he is cute?You know that sounds stupid, right?”
Ella looked at Ben like killing him was a strong possibility at that moment.“You know what, sometimes I think you forget that before I met you and had my whole life turned upside-down, I didn’t need a gyno much less an OB!But thanks to you, I do.”The longer she talked, the louder she got.“Need I remind you I have only been to a female doctor twice, both times trying to get contraception for you!But thanks to your carelessness, it was no longer needed.So if I want to see a woman, by God, I will.And you,” her eyes flashed in anger.“You can just suck it.”She finished her response feeling every bit the kid that she actually was, but so be it.So far being a grown-up was not that great, so screw it and him and his assistant too.Ella was tired and sad and lost and so over her new life.Ben could have a moment of misery with her.Afterall, as the saying goes, misery loves company, and she could use some in the pit she currently found herself in.
Ben looked at Ella in disbelief.Who is this person?he wondered.He carefully considered his words before responding in a mild tone, lest he set off Ella again.“Okay, got it.You don’t want to use Jordan.No big deal.Do you have another doctor in mind?”
Surprised and a little disappointed that Ben was conceding the point so easily because she was spoiling for a fight, Ella replied, “Yes, actually, I have already got an appointment next week.It is on Wednesday at nine am.I would love for you to come with me if that is not too much to ask.I realize I am the last person on your to-do list at the moment.”
Ignoring Ella’s snarky response, Ben calmly said, “Of course I will be there.”Not wanting to fight with her, that was all he said.The rest of the ride to his parent’s house was in silence.By the time they got there, Ella was almost asleep.It took only a few minutes to get inside and settled for the night, and once in bed, Ella fell asleep almost immediately.
On the other hand, Ben lay in bed next to Ella and watched her sleep as a late night sports channel played in the background.He marveled at how angry she had been earlier.He had not seen that coming.He was still not clear what he had done that was so wrong.He was doing all he could to keep up with all the demands with his new internship and helping his dad.He had done everything he could think to make the move to Arkansas good for her.But it appeared he had not done enough.Going forward, he would have to try harder.He felt his love for her to his bones.He needed her to be okay.Without her, nothing else made sense.After tonight, he was not sure if he was going to be able to make her happy.That scared him crapless.Refusing to even consider what all that might mean to his and their future, he just drew her closer and prayed that things would work themselves out because he had no intention of ever letting her go.
After their blowout argument about the doctor, things seemed to quieten down.Ella met with her new OB/GYN, a young woman in her thirties named Dr.Rachel Jones.Ella loved her immediately and felt totally comfortable with her.Ben accompanied Ella to her first visit, and they were able to hear their baby’s heartbeat.They also found out it was a boy.Seeing their son on the screen brought them together in a way they hadn’t been since the early days of Malibu.
That night as Ben watched yet another Arkansas Razorback basketball game, Ella perused baby name books for the perfect name.
Running her fingers through Ben’s curly red locks, Ella casually asked, “You don’t have some deep-seated need to name the baby after you, do you?”
Giving Ella a strange look, as Ben tried to decipher where she was going with her line of questioning, he replied, “Depends on what you mean by deep-seated.I want him to be a Carrington but outside of that?Not really.Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know.Your dad is Bennett, and you are Ben.I wondered if you wanted to continue that tradition.”
Thinking it over, Ben shrugged.“I don’t hate the idea of using some form of Ben.In fact, I would like to name him after my dad if you are okay with it.”
Without thinking about how it might come off, Ella asked, “Which dad?Bennett or Tommy?”
Surprised by Ella’s response, Ben blinked and then said, “Well I meant Bennett, but do you think that would be disloyal to my first dad?I really loved them both.I would never want to do anything that would be seen as ungrateful to either one.”
