Chapter Twenty-Four
Homicide
M ELISSA HAS BEEN my ol’ lady for a week now. We spend every second we can together. She’s gotten into a good routine at the new house. When I’m at work, she hangs out with Zeke and Delilah. She gets her work done while they nap or play in her office so once I’m done with work we can spend the rest of the night as a family. Currently, she’s working on three different projects and is ahead of schedule on all of them. At some point during the day, Melissa cleans the house and either bakes something or starts dinner. I swear I’m going to gain a ton of weight if I keep eating all the food Melissa makes on a regular basis. It’s a good thing there’s a gym at the house.
When I’m not working or on club business, I’m training at the gym. Melissa was at my last fight and got to see up close why I love stepping in the cage. She watched my fight, screamed and cheered louder than anyone else, and then fucked my brains out in the locker room once I was done. I like my ol’ lady coming to my fight nights. I’m still undefeated as well. Though, my next fight I’m not sure who’s gonna win. In a few weeks I’ll be stepping in the cage for the first time against Omen. Everyone has been begging for us to fight since we’re both undefeated, but we’ve never done it. Now, we’re finally gonna give everyone what they want. My best friend and I won’t hold back and will go at one another as hard as we can.
Today is a big day though. One I’m so excited for. Melissa has a doctor appointment and I get to go to it with her. Marie is going to watch the twins while we’re there. For the first time I get to go to a doctor and enjoy every step of this pregnancy with her. I want to be there for each appointment, ultrasound, the birth, and everything else. I want to feel our son or daughter kick when she gets further along, and run out in the middle of the night grabbing her things because she’s got cravings. There isn’t anything I don’t want to experience with her. This is a brand-new start for us and it’s one I’m going to put my all into.
“Zeke are you ready to go?” Melissa calls out, as she walks in the bedroom.
“Just grabbin’ my stuff, baby girl. Are we stoppin’ for lunch on the way back?” I question her, putting my wallet in my pocket along with all my spare change and the keys to my bike.
“Yes. I want to get something from Mama Mia’s and bring it back here. We can get the kids lunch too. Marie’s downstairs with them. I just have to put my shoes on and I’ll be ready to head out,” she tells me, her voice letting me know she’s nervous about today’s appointment.
While we’re trying not to think about anything bad happening to our son or daughter, both of us are still worried about something going wrong after Mad Dog and Brenda kidnapping her. It’s always in the back of our minds even if we don’t talk about it. It’s almost as if we talk about it, then we’re begging for something to happen. I’m not willing to take any risks when it comes to our child and Melissa isn’t either.
***
“M elissa James,” a woman calls out as we get out of our chairs in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.
It really bothers me that we don’t have the same last name. I want Melissa to be mine in every way possible. Walking through the door, the nurse leads Melissa to a scale. After taking her vitals and making notes on her computer, she tells Melissa to step on the scale so she can get her weight. Once that’s done, my girl goes in to leave a sample for them to check. As soon as she’s done, we’re led to an exam room.
“How have you been feeling?” the nurse asks as Melissa gets on the exam table.
“I’ve been feeling good. While I’m nauseas, I haven’t been getting sick. It only lasts a little while in the morning before going away. Certain smells also bring it on. Other than that, I’m a little more tired than normal. It was the same way when I was pregnant the first time,” Melissa answers her as I move a chair closer to her side.
“Okay. Have you experienced any bleeding, cramping, or anything else?”
“No.”
The nurse asks a few more questions before letting us know the doctor will be in shortly. I look around at all the posters on the wall. One of them shows the baby at each stage throughout the pregnancy. It’s interesting to see how small our baby is right now. Well, depending on how far along Melissa actually is. When I’m done looking at that poster, I move on to the next one. This one I’m not sure what it’s depicting, but I have a feeling it has to do with birth. I’m getting scared to watch Melissa be in pain and not being able to do anything to take it away from her. However, there’s no way in hell I’m not going to be in that room with her.
“Are you ready for this?” Melissa asks me as I turn my attention to her.
“I’m more than ready for it. I want to come to every appointment with you. I already told you this.”
“Today I don’t think I’m getting an exam done, but eventually I will be. You’ll have to see them give me a pap smear. I don’t want you to say a single word when that happens.”
“I don’t even know what that is, baby girl. But, if you don’t want me to say anythin’, I won’t,” I promise her, not sure it’s one I’ll be able to keep.
A knock on the door sounds before a woman makes her way inside. She looks pretty damn young to me as she steps in the room and closes the door behind her. Her long brown hair is up in a ponytail while her green eyes sparkle as she smiles at us. She’s wearing a pair of black scrubs with a long white coat over them.
“Good afternoon. I’m Dr. Roberta Matthews,” she introduces herself, holding out her hand for each of us to shake.
“I’m Melissa and this is my man, Zeke. It’s nice to meet you,” Melissa says, her voice washing over me as usual.
“Today is mainly going to be for information gathering. At your next appointment we’ll do a full exam. Today I’d also like to have an ultrasound done. I see in your chart you were in an accident of some sort but there were no significant injuries. They did an ultrasound, but I’d still like to do another one. Not only to make sure nothing is going on, but to see if we can determine how far along you are. How does that sound?” Dr. Matthews asks us.
“It sounds good to me,” Melissa replies.
“You haven’t experienced any bleeding or cramping. That’s a really good sign. Have you been taking your prenatal vitamins every day?”
“I have.”
The doctor goes over several more questions and listens to Melissa’s responses while making notes in the computer. Dr. Matthews actually listens to my ol’ lady and responds to her questions. I’ve seen some doctors not listen to their patients as they rush from one appointment to the next. This doctor doesn’t seem to be the same. I really like her. She’s kind, listens, talks through things, and doesn’t make my girl feel stupid.
“Do either of you have any questions?” Dr. Matthews asks, looking between the two of us.
“I do. I wasn’t able to be with Melissa for her first pregnancy. All of this is brand-new for me. While I believe in my girl and know if she feels somethin’ is wrong, she’ll tell me, there are still questions I have. Like, is there anythin’ she can’t do?” I ask the doctor.
“At this stage of her pregnancy, Melissa can do anything she did before. If she feels any sort of pain or cramping, then she should stop her activity and relax. Keep an eye on her pain and if it doesn’t go away, then she should call or go to the hospital. I don’t believe anything is going to happen from the accident at this point, but we’ll definitely keep an eye on things,” Dr. Matthews answers me.
“Can she have sex? Carry or hold one of our twins? Clean the house? Be on her feet for long periods of time?” I fire out one question after another.
“She can have sex. As the pregnancy progresses, you might have to change positions or something so she’s comfortable. If there’s any pain or bleeding associated with sex, then stop and we’ll talk about it at her next appointment. She can hold one of the twins at a time for now. When she gets further along, that won’t be able to happen, but right now, there’s no reason she can’t. As far as cleaning the house and being on her feet for long periods of time, there’s nothing stopping her. It’s all about her comfort and making sure she’s not overexerting herself or doing too much at one time. These things will become difficult as she gets closer to her due date.
“Right now, it’s very important for her to eat good meals, rest when she needs it, and to take note of any changes going on. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t hesitate to reach out. I have no problems coming to your home if it’s necessary. I’d rather have you both secure in the knowledge that this pregnancy is going good rather than stress yourselves out over something,” Dr. Matthews states, a soft smile on her face as she looks between us.
“I’m sure I’ll have more questions as we go on. For now, I think I’m good,” I tell her, not sure of what else I wanted to ask the doctor while we were here.
“You can call me at any time with questions you think of,” the doctor says as she hands over a card. “This is my personal cell phone number. The only time I won’t answer is if I’m delivering a baby. If that’s the case, I’ll return your call as soon as I can. If you don’t feel you can wait, call here and talk to a nurse. They’ll also get me a message that you called.”
“Thank you, Dr. Matthews,” Melissa says, smiling down at me.
I know she thinks my questions are over the top, but she hasn’t seen anything yet. The further along my girl gets, the worse I’m gonna be. If I could get away with it, I’d wrap her in bubble wrap, keep her in bed, and have someone with her around the clock when I’m working or doing club business. Since I can’t do that right now, I’m going to ask as many questions as I can. I only want Melissa and the baby to be safe and healthy. Since this is my first time experiencing all of this, I’m going to have a ton of questions. Melissa will just have to understand and cut me some slack.
Dr. Matthews leads us to a different room where she tells Melissa to get on the bed after removing her pants and underwear. I have no clue why she’d have to get naked for an ultrasound, but I guess we’re going with it. Once we’re alone in the room, Melissa does as she’s told and hands me her leggings and panties. Holding them in my lap, I watch as she gets on the bed and covers her lower body with a sheet.
“You really don’t have any more questions to ask the doctor?” Melissa teases me, her voice full of laughter.
“Not right now. I’m sure there will be more at some point. Marie also told me about some books I can get to read. I’m gonna pick those up to see if they answer any questions I might have as well,” I tell her as I reach over for her hand.
“There are books. I think I still have the one I got when I was pregnant for the twins. You can read that one if you want,” she informs me seriously.
“Okay. I’m not a big reader, but I want to be prepared for the birth and everythin’ leadin’ up to it.”
“Zeke, I love that you want to experience this and be prepared. This isn’t club business though. When it comes to pregnancy and babies, you just kind of have to go with the flow. No two pregnancies are the same. This one will be different from what I experienced with the twins. It already is. The same can be said for when I go into labor. Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. While you can be somewhat prepared, you seriously have to be ready for things to change in a second,” my ol’ lady says, her face letting me know how serious she is.
“Okay, baby girl. But I’d rather know what I can expect than to go into this blind.”
“That’s a good outlook to have. We’ll read these books together and we can prepare for things we can control. Everything else we’ll take as it comes.”
I don’t get a chance to respond as there’s a knock on the door. A young woman comes in followed by Dr. Matthews.
“Hi guys. My name is Cassidy Banks. I’ll be your ultrasound technician today. Melissa, I’m going to perform an internal ultrasound. I believe your chart said you had a normal one at the hospital. I’d like to make you feel better about everything though. I can see more by doing an internal exam,” Cassidy tells us.
“Can I ask what an internal ultrasound is?” I speak up, completely lost right now.
“Instead of placing a wand on her stomach to get images of the baby, I take this wand and place it inside her. It does the same thing just goes inside her,” Cassidy says, her voice full of mirth as my eyes about bug out of my head.
I honestly have no words at this point as I take in the wand that’s going to go inside my ol’ lady. This is not what I was expecting to happen when Melissa said she was going to have an ultrasound at today’s appointment. Cassidy doesn’t hesitate to get things going as she gets Melissa to verify her name and date of birth. As soon as that’s done, she slides the wand up in Melissa. I try to keep my mind off something being inside Melissa’s pussy as the screen fills with grainy images. I have no clue what I’m looking at.
Looking at Melissa, she stares at the screen with tears in her eyes. I’m not sure if she knows what the hell she’s looking at. Dr. Matthews and Cassidy look at the screen and talk quietly to one another for several minutes as different things are marked and pointed out by one or the other.
“It looks as if you’re about five weeks pregnant right now, Melissa. Everything looks really good. I don’t see any signs of anything going wrong from the accident. On your way out, make an appointment for a month from now. Keep taking your vitamins and if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to call. It was nice meeting you both,” Dr. Matthews informs us, before she leaves us with Cassidy.
“I’m just going to print off some pictures and you’ll be all set,” Cassidy says as she presses a few buttons before removing the wand from Melissa.
Handing over the pictures, Cassidy leaves us alone. I take the pictures from my ol’ lady as she cleans herself up, goes to the bathroom, and then comes back out to me. I give her clothes back to her as she dresses. My eyes are locked on the pictures in my hand. Yeah, I have no clue what the hell I’m looking at no matter how I hold the pictures.
After making Melissa’s next appointment, we leave the office. I drive us to Mama Mia’s so we can get our lunch to go. Melissa orders half the menu. We leave with more than enough food for lunch and dinner tonight but my ol’ lady is happy and that’s all that matters. Like I said, I’d do anything to make her happy. If ordering half the menu at Mama Mia’s is something she wants, that’s what I’ll do. The rest of the day is spent lounging around the house and playing with the kids. I took the day off from work to be there with Melissa. She can work while I hang out with the twins and make sure they get their afternoon nap.