Chapter 28 Adrian
ADRIAN
“Hello, I’m meeting my friend Emily here for her appointment at twelve thirty. She isn’t already back there, is she?” I ask the person in cute pink scrubs sitting behind the counter in the OBGYN lobby Hudson passed on the info for.
The office is in a hospital, which I thought would be kind of intimidating at first, but I guess would be super convenient for the doctor who needs to be delivering babies.
Now that I'm inside, it feels like any other doctor’s office, except I never really thought I would be in an OBGYN appointment, so I’m far more nervous than I’d care to admit.
“No, she hasn’t checked in yet,” the woman confirms. “Feel free to sit wherever you’d like.”
“Thanks.”
I might be a little early, so I’m not surprised that she isn’t here yet.
Okay, I’m really early. But Hudson asked me to come to this appointment in his place.
This is a huge fucking deal! He’s officially going to be a dad, and he asked me to be a part of today.
I know he’s had me come to a lot of stuff with him during the adoption process, but this is different.
This is actually his baby. He’s trusting me to represent him with the mother of his child.
Realistically, I have another half an hour or so before Emily will probably get here, so I decide to spend that time planning the nursery.
I’ve done research on them already over the last few months, but Hudson and I agreed that preparing a room for a baby before he matched with anyone felt like it could jinx his chances.
Now that Emily has chosen him, it’s time.
Should he get a convertible crib so he can upgrade it whenever the baby is ready?
Or maybe something more traditional? There are so many things to consider for the nursery itself.
I also start a list of suggestions for other typical baby registry items.
“Hey, Adrian! You made it,” Emily says, pulling me out of my deep-dive into the best type of humidifiers.
I immediately stand but catch myself before touching her. “Hello! Are you a hugger? I don’t want to overstep.”
“Thank you for asking. You have no idea how many people think they can touch my stomach just because I’m pregnant.” She shudders, but then stretches her arms out. “We can hug though. I think we’re going to be good friends.”
I beam at her prediction as we embrace. “I would love that.” I sit back down, and she takes the spot next to me. “So, what should I expect? Believe it or not, this is my first time at an OBGYN appointment.”
She chuckles. “Well, they usually check my vital signs, measure my stomach, ask if I’m having any new symptoms and warn me about what to expect. They also check the baby’s heartbeat. I thought that would be what Hudson would want to hear.”
“Absolutely! He’ll be so excited.”
“Emily, we’re ready for you,” another person in scrubs interrupts, and we head down a hallway.
Emily has me hold her bag while she stands on a scale, and then they lead us into the room.
The nurse pulls a curtain and asks for Emily to change into a hospital gown.
“Wow, this is kind of intense,” I whisper when she’s changed, with a sheet over her lap to cover her legs, and it’s just the two of us.
“Pregnancy is pretty intense,” she confirms easily.
“There are so many things that can go wrong for mom or baby. They have to monitor everything they can to try to catch anything out of the ordinary.” The nurse comes back in and checks her blood pressure and other vitals while asking her a million questions about how she’s been feeling.
Before I know it, an older woman is knocking on the door.
“Good afternoon, Emily. Oh! You brought a friend, how lovely. Or are you the father?”
“Oh god, no. Very gay,” I blurt out, holding my hands up like I’m innocent, and Emily laughs.
“Adrian is living with the man I’ve chosen to adopt the baby,” Emily explains.
“Well, congratulations! I’m Kathy, the midwife. And now that you’re officially in your third trimester, Emily, we’ll all be spending a lot of time together. Appointments will be every two weeks for the next two months and switch to weekly after that.”
“Nice to meet you.” We shake hands, and then her attention is all on Emily as they run through exactly what she told me about. “The fundal height is right on track at twenty-eight centimeters,” Kathy announces after measuring her stomach. No idea what that means, but I’m not interrupting.
“Baby should be shifting to a head down position soon, and as they grow, you’ll likely have less energy than the previous trimester. Start doing kick counts daily if you haven’t already. Call me if you think anything is off, okay? Don’t hesitate.”
Emily smiles. “Of course.”
“Okay, let me grab my doppler, and we’ll listen to baby!”
“Adrian, did you want to call Hudson?”
“Yes, absolutely! Sorry, I was so distracted by all the words I didn’t know. I’m way out of my depth here.”
“I can go through it all with you later,” Emily promises as I dial Hudson. He answers right away.
“Oh my god, is it happening?”
“Yup! The midwife just got out the machine to hear the baby!”
“Okay, I’ll stop talking!” he promises, making my smile somehow grow. His unfiltered joy and excitement at becoming a dad make me so happy.
I hold my breath as Kathy squeezes out some gel onto Emily’s stomach, and then moves the wand over it. She quickly finds a good spot and a steady whoosh whoosh sound echoes out.
“Is that it?” Hudson quietly asks, and I turn to Emily and Kathy with big eyes, unable to voice the question myself with how tight my throat is.
I knew that this appointment would be emotional, mostly because of how excited Hudson is and how happy I am for him, but I hadn’t expected to feel like my heart is ready to burst with the love I already feel for this child.
And it isn’t even mine! I can’t imagine what Hudson must be feeling right now.
My vision blurs as I fight back tears. I know how much Hudson has wanted this, how he’s dreamed of this moment.
Even if he isn’t here in person, he’s hearing his child’s heartbeat for the first time.
I selfishly love that I’m a part of this special moment that he’ll never forget.
After a few more long moments of us all appreciating the rhythm of their heartbeat, Kathy asks if we’re ready.
“I could listen to that all day,” Hudson says with a chuckle. “But yes, thank you all so much for letting me be a part of today. I know you didn’t have to invite me. And thanks again, Adrian, for dropping everything to be there. I’d love to go to an appointment in person sometime, too.”
“I’ll try to schedule the rest of the appointments while I’m here today, if they’ll let me, so I can give you more notice,” Emily promises.
“And don’t be silly, Hudson, no need to thank me. There’s no place I’d rather be!” I assure him before we all exchange goodbyes and hang up.
Emily and Kathy finish up the rest of the appointment, and I try to pay attention to ask Emily questions later on so I can report everything back to Hudson. When Kathy leaves, she closes the curtain again for Emily to change.
While she’s getting dressed, Emily calls out, “I think it’s so sweet that you’ve kept your relationship a secret, but I see how much you and Hudson care for each other. You’ll make great parents.”
And my heart fucking stops.
Did she just say our relationship? As in, a romantic one…? She must if she thinks I’m also going to be this baby’s parent.
My jaw is on the floor.
My eyes are trying to jump out of my head with how wide they are.
Does she honestly think we’re a couple?
Fuck. Is that why she picked him?
This can’t seriously be happening.
I have to tell her though. Even if that risks fucking things up for Hudson, and even though I desperately wish what she’s assuming was true—it isn’t—she can’t pick him to adopt her child because of a lie.
I have no idea if it’s a good thing or not that she can’t see my devastated expression as I awkwardly laugh, painfully aware that I might be risking Hudson’s dream as I correct her. “Oh, no. We really are just friends!”
She joins in laughing, but I can’t see her either as she’s still behind the privacy divider, so I have no idea what her expression is.
“Right. Don’t worry, Adrian, your secret is safe with me.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“No secret. Unfortunately for me, Hudson is straight,” I explain desperately, offering a bit more of my truth.
She finally pushes the curtain to the side, back in her own clothes.
“Whatever you say,” she says with a wink, opening the door and stepping into the hallway. “I have a study session to get to soon, but if you want to stick around for a little longer, I can try to get those other appointments scheduled.”
I’m frozen in place. I don’t really want to turn this into a bigger thing in the middle of the hallway, and based on how dismissive she was of what I was saying, I’m not sure anything I tell her right now is going to convince her that Hudson and I aren’t together.
I have no idea what to do. Maybe she’d believe Hudson?
I don’t think I have any choice but to pause this discussion for now as she starts down the hall, forcing me to trail after her.
This is just a pause though, because there is no way in hell Hudson can adopt her baby if she only picked him assuming we were covering up a relationship. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved, and I won’t let it happen.
Even if it means ruining the man of my dream’s dream in the process.