Chapter 8
MARK
We’re a little early for all the well-child checks, but since I’m here to check in with Jessica, Noaz and Voss asked to bring the kids in.
Since Axl is still on a more frequent basis because it’s his first year of life, it’s not out of the ordinary to see him.
Emerson is just dropping in for funsies, I suppose. I’ll also be checking on William.
In the office building, I have several patient exam rooms set up. One is a typical practitioner’s office. A second has an ultrasound computer as well as an x-ray along with a few other tech pieces.
However, ultrasounds and basic care are as much as I can give Jessica.
I’m not an OB-GYN. In all honesty, when I was going through my schooling, I didn’t spend much time focusing on that area.
My primary responsibility would be the family that resides on the Estate.
Jalon, his four brothers, and six sons. By all means, I had males to think about and not female plumbing.
Jessica and Myro are waiting in the ultrasound room when I step in. I smile, receiving returning grins in response.
“You ready to see the little bundle of cells?” I ask.
Jessica rolls her eyes, but Myro says, “Hell yeah. I bet they look like me.”
I chuckle. As I get the computer ready, Jessica says, “We had the blood work done. You got the results, right?”
“I did. I examined them on the flight, and everything is perfectly normal. Your hCG is right where we expect it to be, given what we’re determining your due date is.”
“Still January 6?” Myro asks.
“Yes, we’ll see how the ultrasound looks to confirm that, but yes. Looks like your counts are right on track for being three months. Nothing abnormal to be concerned about.”
“Yet. I heard a yet in that,” Jessica says.
Smiling, I turn to face her. She lifts her shirt and adjusts her pants so I can squirt the gel on her stomach. “We check for chromosomal abnormalities and gestational diabetes later in the pregnancy unless there’s concern right now based on how you’re feeling or the blood work.”
“That’s normal testing?”
“It is. Routine.”
Immediately, the heartbeat fills the room, and our conversation stops. I move the wand around a little more until we can see. At three months, we’re no longer looking at a pulsing cluster of cells. We’re looking at something human-shaped.
Okay, maybe a little alien-shaped with the big head. I pause when we have a good profile and let the new parents watch their baby float.
Silence fills the room until Jessica says, “I think I bred with a humanoid.”
Myro bursts out laughing. “Oh, come on. They look just like me!”
“Big head and all,” Jessica muses. “I’ve been reading pregnancy books, and I even looked up some twelve-week pictures so I knew what to expect, but it’s weird seeing that they really are alien-looking this small.”
“Takes a lot of work to grow the big brains humans have,” I assure her. “Nothing abnormal that I see.”
She sighs.
I do some measurements on the fetus image and then nod. “Yep. Still on track for a January 6 due date.”
“Six months.”
“Six months,” I agree.
“Want to stare for a few more minutes while I print your pictures?” I ask.
“Yes, please,” Jessica says.
I wave Myro over and have him take control of the wand. The images are already printed in the office, so I set out some paper towels on the keyboard and leave them on their own to stare at their little one growing.
“Mark!”
I hear the little voice as I step into the hall. Emerson is a year and a half. He’s a little person with his long dark hair in a bun on his head, little shit-kicker boots, and jeans under a bright purple shirt with a dinosaur on it.
“Emmy!” I exclaim in response.
A big smile splits his face, and he runs down the hall. I crouch to catch him and give him a big hug when I have him in my arms. “Oh my goodness, you’re so big!”
He laughs. “Big brother soon!”
“Yeah?” I wondered if he understood the implications of Jessica being pregnant and what that meant.
“Emmy!” Noaz says as they step into the hall. “We need to work on what a secret is.”
“Shhh,” Emerson says as he picks his head up. But when he looks at me, his smile is still big and mischievous.
I laugh. “You know what a secret is, don’t you?”
If he could wink, I’m sure he would. Briar has joined Noaz now, and I hand Emerson over.
“Since the cat’s out of the bag,” Briar says, tapping Emerson’s nose. “We just spoke to the adoption agency. We’re confirmed for another little baby. They’ll be arriving in November.”
“Ah, we’re not interpreting Jessica and Myro’s as a little sibling, then.”
Briar grins. “We are, and we’re not. We’re trying to teach Emerson about siblings, but also that Axl and Auntie Bee’s baby are a different kind of sibling.”
“It’s best to just keep the uncle/cousin monickers,” Noaz says. “Trust me when I tell you, age range is going to be far less confusing than actual relations.”
“Oh, I know. Baby Bee is what… technically a third cousin?” Briar looks at me. “Is that how it works?”
I shake my head, shrugging. “I’m not going to pretend to be well versed in this topic.”
“If one of these babies is a girl, you’re going to get a crash course in little girls,” Noaz says, beaming.
“Are you hoping for a girl?”
Noaz and Briar shrug.
“We don’t have a preference,” Noaz says.
“That’s the truth,” Briar says. “I know a lot of people say that, but I really don’t think I’d be more excited one way or another.”
“Brother!” Emerson says. “I want brother.”
“Clearly, Emmy has a preference,” Noaz says, tugging gently on Emerson’s bun.
“Emmy has a lot of opinions,” Briar says, laughing.
“Come on into the exam room.”
“You finished with Honey Bee?” Briar asks as they head toward the general exam room.
“I’m letting them bond with their unborn right now. The exam is finished. I’ll be right there.” After a quick stop in my office to grab the printed ultrasounds, I put them in an envelope and tape them to the outside of the door that Jessica and Myro are behind. Then, I follow the next family in.
“You’re going to need to up your knowledge of pediatrics,” Noaz notes as they sit on the stool. “I have a feeling there’s going to be an influx of little Van Dorens over the next several years now that most of my brothers and all my nephews are shacked up.”
“Shacked up,” Briar repeats, shaking his head. He’s standing beside Emerson at the exam table. Emerson is kicking his feet.
We begin with the basics of vitals, eyes, ears, tongue, and so forth as I continue to talk to Briar and Noaz. “You’re right. That was the conference I attended.”
“Attempted to attend. I hear Bennett has broken Rhodes,” Noaz says.
I laugh. “Something like that. I think we’re seeing a side of Rhodes that no one even suspected existed.”
“It’s the ‘inability to love’ manifestation,” Noaz says. “It hits differently in all people afflicted with antisocial disorders.”
I glance at them. “You think that’s what this is?”
“If Loren has a freak-out mode, this is what it looks like. But think about the parallels. He was content enough to take care of Oakley once you patched up his wounds, but that didn’t make him any less neurotic about Oakley’s every twitch and grunt.”
“Ready for reflexes?” I ask Emerson as I think about this. He enjoys letting his knees kick themselves when I tap the tendon with my hammer. His giggle fills the room.
“I’d been reevaluating my unofficial opinion of Rhodes, but maybe you’re right,” I note.
“Rhodes’ response is far more in line with what Ellory’s would be,” Noaz points out, “And we’re all of the opinion that he’s a little unhinged.”
“Unhinged!” Emerson says, laughing.
“You sound unhinged, Em,” Briar says, chuckling.
This comment only makes Emerson laugh longer.
I have a feeling it’s the word itself. I’m not sure Emerson actually knows what it means.
Then again, I might be wrong. The glint in his eyes reminds me of Rhodes’ pack.
It’s widely accepted that animals and children don’t understand what those around them say.
There are those in the world who prove otherwise.
The pack, for one. Perhaps Emerson is the human version of a big middle finger to those who say he doesn’t understand what we’re talking about.
By the time Emerson is finished, Jessica and Myro have left too.
I take a minute to clean up both rooms, and then Ellory, Avory, and William walk into the waiting room.
William has filled out a little over the past year, but if anything, he looks like he’s carrying around a massive weight on his shoulders.
He peeks around, waiting for someone to jump out.
I’m not sure anyone was expecting Ellory and Avory to return from the megachurch cult island last year with a victim in tow. Someone they couldn’t leave behind. Perhaps the biggest, longest victim of everyone who’d been caught under the cult’s thrall.
I’ve never met someone with a more abusive past. I’ve never met someone whose story makes my stomach roll, while simultaneously filling me with tears and fury for how he was treated.
“How’re you doing, William?” I ask.
His eyes flicker to mine, but he doesn’t hold my gaze. “Fine,” he answers, voice low.
I’m much slower with William. As I did when he arrived, with every instrument I needed for him, I let him hold and use it so he could understand what it did. I do the same now as I hold out the end of the stethoscope.
“Remember what this does?”
He looks at it for a minute, and I offer the rest of it to him.
I show him how to put it on and then listen to my heart.
He nods, and I do the same for him. I go one step further, and once I have his heartbeat steady, I have him put the earpieces to his ears so he can listen.
I’m rewarded with the tiniest lift of his lips.
We do this for his blood pressure and his reflexes.
His eyes, ears, and tongue. Part of well-child exams is looking for signs of abuse, which is why there’s always a quick glance at the genitalia.
Not only are physicians looking for abuse, but also for signs of infection, disease, malformation, or anything out of the ordinary.
However, given William’s traumatic past, I don’t put him through this. Instead, I ask questions.
The questions make him just as uncomfortable as looking would be, though. With every question, he glances away. He winces. Sometimes, it looks like he’s being yelled at after I ask because he folds in on himself.
He doesn’t like to be alone with anyone, which is why Ellory is still in the room. I look at him, and he’s frowning.
“William,” Ellory says, and William’s eyes snap up to his. “Need a break?”
William takes a deep breath and shakes his head. “No one is touching me the way Ryan did,” he whispers. “I swear.”
“Good. It’s your body. No one gets to touch it unless you tell them they can, and only in the way you give them permission to. Understand?”
He nods, though it looks like he’s leaning away from something to his right.
I end the exam and let William leave the room. Ellory meets my eyes. “He’s seeing a therapist three times a week, but sometimes, I think it’s doing more harm than good,” he confides.
“Then we’ll look for a different therapist. They’re not one size fits all. Let me see if I can find someone who deals specifically with cult victims. Maybe I can find one who deals with childhood sexual assault victims in a cult.”
“That’s pretty specific.”
“What do you want to bet I find more than one?”
Ellory scowls.
Voss, Axl, and Brek are waiting in the waiting room when I step out. At least I get to end the child exams on a happy note. Then I’ll dive into looking for a very specific kind of therapist on my return home to Auden.
A shiver of anticipation has me moving forward and shoving the thought of Auden aside. No time for that right now.