Candle In The Wind

Chapter Thirty Two

Family

In the waiting area, Callum seemed more nervous than I was. He kept fidgeting—folding and unfolding his arms, constantly asking me if I was okay when honestly, I should’ve been asking him that. In a way it did make me forget about what was going to happen soon once my name was called, so I guess it was a good thing he came.

“What are you doing after this?”

he asked over my shoulder.

“Hopefully get some rest.”

I didn’t want what happened last time to happen again, so I got some company this time.

Cal nodded. “Yeah, that sounds great,”

he pushed a hand into his hair and let out a frustrated sigh.

“You okay?”

I asked as I looked up at him.

“Yeah, just thinking about getting some rest too.”

He chuckled nervously, “that sounds great.”

My brows furrowed with worry. There was a water station right next to me, so I grabbed a cup filled with cold water then handed it to Cal.

I placed a hand on his back. “Here, drink some water.”

Without any hesitation he took a couple of sips when I placed the cup against his lips. When he was done drinking, I placed it on the coffee table right in front of us.

“It’s just that…”

he took a deep breath, “I’m afraid of needles too.”

I stopped in my movements as my mouth dropped open, then I slowly smiled as I shook my head.

“You don’t have to go in with me then, you just need to drive—”

“I’ll be fine.”

He turned to look at me with a soft smile. “I want to do this with you.”

My face softened.

I could live a thousand lives and never deserve him.

“Thank you,”

I whispered.

We shared a look and he smiled.

The nurse called my name shortly after our shared moment. I stood up and went in the room and Cal followed after me—we were going to do a checkup before the IV.

I followed instructions and laid on the bed like the nurse suggested, my legs propped up a little bit. I could see the monitor next to me and Cal was standing next to me on the other side.

“Doctor Brandan is coming in soon,”

the nurse said, then placed the piece of paper I filed out a while ago on a clipboard and exited the room.

Cal nodded with a nervous chuckle and we both watched the nurse walk out with the soft click of the door.

Cal cleared his throat. “What was your dream?”

My brows furrowed. “Huh?”

I glanced at him over my shoulder.

The question was so sudden and random it felt like I heard him wrong. He didn’t look like he was doing well—he was more nervous than I was.

He swallowed, then used his hand to rake through his hair again. “In life…Growing up, what did you dream you wanted to be?”

I looked away and glanced down at my pregnant stomach, I fidgeted with my hands then settled them at my side.

“A teacher.”

I looked up at him.

“A teacher?”

I nodded. “When I was young it seemed like they could boss anybody around, so I wanted to be a teacher.”

Cal smiled. “No, you wanted to boss people around.”

I shrugged. “I kinda already am.”

A slow smile spread across my face.“What about you?” I asked, then quickly shook my head, “a hockey player.”

His brows furrowed as he tilted his head to the side. “Yeah…”

“You told me that already.”

I filled in the blanks for him.

He scratched the back of his neck with a confused look on his face. “I did?”

I nodded. “Number twenty-four, Ryan Callahan’s your favorite player.”

He looked at me intensely, but I could tell he was confused, like he wasn’t sure if any of what I was saying was true. Or maybe I got it all wrong.

“What?”

I chuckled.

The door clicked open, and Doctor Brandan walked in with her nose in the piece of paper on the clipboard.

“Hey, Jules, how are you feeling today? Have you been sitting down like I told you to lately—”

She looked up, startled for a brief second but cleared her throat.

“Oh, hey,”

she smiled at me, “is he the fath—”

I shook my head rapidly.

Callum finally tore his eyes away from me and looked at Doctor Brandan.

“I’m Callum Oakes.”

He introduced himself as he offered her a handshake.

She took his hand in hers and firmly shook it. “Doctor Brandan.”

“Has Juliette been sitting down lately?”

she asked Callum, not even sparing me a glance.

“Nope,”

Cal answered with ease.

I sighed as I closed my eyes shut, because of Cal and his inability to keep his mouth shut or to read the room I’ll have to listen through a scolding from my doctor.

She started turning on the computers. “Juliette, it’s for the baby’s good, it’ll make things less complicated for your delivery, you’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

“Taking it easy?”

Cal chimed in with a sarcastic chuckle. “She opened a whole shop, she stands up all day—at least eight hours if I don’t drag her out of work—she’s teaching kids and taking out trash, possibly lifting heavy stuff—”

I glared at him. “Look at you, tattling without an ounce of shame.”

He looked down at me and nodded proudly. “Yeah, I’m extremely shameless when it comes to your health,”

he crossed his arms over his chest, “I don’t have any pride either.”

I sighed. “You could at least have a backbone.”

He shrugged. “I don’t even have a spine.”

I kissed my teeth in annoyance then turned to look at Doctor Brandan who was looking at us amused.

“I’m glad you found someone who cares for your health as much as I do, Jules,”

she said as she turned around and opened one of the cabinets, grabbing a few pieces of equipment.

“Care about my health?”

I repeated skeptically, “he’s more like a life insurance company.”

Cal faked a dramatic gasp. “Wow.”

“Lift up your shirt just a few inches,”

Brandan said as she moved the monitor, “and as you know, the gel will feel cold,” she instructed, completely ignoring our childish act.

I lifted my shirt up and I could feel Cal’s intense gaze on me. Surprisingly this wasn’t the first time he’d seen my belly.

Doctor Brandan smeared the cold blue gel on my belly then pressed the probe over my stomach. I immediately turned my head to look at the monitor and in just a few seconds the baby came into view.

I wondered how every pregnant woman felt at that moment. Because for me, this moment meant that I could forget everything else and take in the fact that there is a whole new life inside of me.

Wasn’t that magical?

A life, a person who would soon form their own sentences, have their own opinions, chase after what they believe in, find a sense of self. Possibly create good or evil.

And it all started here, inside my stomach.

Ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth. A miracle.

Celeste would love him.

I bit my lips as, watching the baby move like he had all the space and time in the world in there when in reality, I had one month left.

I balled my hand into a fist and dug my nails into my skin. Trying to possibly find strength in myself, or to possibly ground myself because this was a beautiful moment—that I knew, but I was also aware of how nerve-wracking scary this moment was too.

Having this baby didn’t seem like a choice anymore—he was coming out whether I wanted him to or not. This wasn’t something I could take back or push to the back of my mind.

My muscles relaxed when I felt his hand touch mine. I glanced down to my side, Cal’s hand gently pulling my fingers apart out of the grip, then, softly, he held my hand. So gently I felt like I’ve shared some of the weight with him.

“He’s beautiful,”

he whispered, he glanced down at me with a soft smile then looked back at the monitor.

He was helping me.

I smiled.

“Do you guys want to hear the heartbeat?”

Brandan asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

She moved the probe around until we heard the strong thud-thud.

It was the most reassuring sound I knew.

Cal grinned and squeezed my hand. “Baby Hulk,”

he whispered.

I looked up at him and I could almost see the stars in his eyes—and that made me happy for him. I know he would be a wonderful and loving dad.

Brandon laughed. “Yeah, he’s pretty strong, the nutrients are helping.”

She pulled the probe away after giving us a couple seconds to listen to the heartbeat. She turned off the monitor then grabbed a towel to wipe my stomach.

“Since it’s your last month of pregnancy,”

she threw the towel, then looked up at Cal as she took her gloves off, “if you put your ear on her stomach and listen very closely, you might be able to hear the baby’s heartbeat,” she said with a smile.

“Really?”

Cal chuckled.

She bobbed her head. “I’ll have someone bring in the IV nutrition, everything looks good, just take it easy.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”