Chapter 35
Ellie
E llie’s nervous excitement was bubbling over as she followed Vera into the doctor’s office by the hospital. Vera and Stacey Jameson, another OBGYN at Taylor Memorial Hospital, had moved a majority of their work over the small office way before Ellie was born. Now most everything aside from surgeries and deliveries was taken care of in the smaller office. Which Ellie was thankful for. She so wasn’t ready to witness a birth or surgery yet.
Vera had told her they were going to start with yearly appointments and ultrasounds to see how Ellie felt about that first. Although Ellie had had her own appointment before, she’d never been on the other side of things. But her interest in going into the medical field had been around since she was a kid. She loved the fake doctor toys her parents bought her and loved when she could join Vera at work. Even if back then she was usually just coloring on old charts in her office.
There was just something about being in the office that calmed Ellie. Maybe it was the warm glow of the fluorescent lighting or the pictures of babies that hung on nearly every wall as they walked to Vera’s office. Whatever it was, Ellie loved it.
Her mama had gifted her a pair of her own scrubs, which elated Ellie to no end. They were magenta, the same color that Vera wore when she was at the hospital. Today, though, Vera was wearing a green tank top with black pants and ballet flats. She had her hair piled back, just like Ellie, and Ellie felt beyond confident walking into the office behind her.
They greeted the nurses as they walked through the office, and they all commented on how grown-up Ellie looked. Most of them had known her since she was born, so they had quite literally watched her grow up.
And Vera was like royalty there.
Ellie was always in awe of her mama, but seeing her at work always made Ellie admire her more. Vera was born to be an OBGYN. She had a heart of gold and a loving spirit that was infectious to everyone she met. Every woman in the Cove seemed to love her as their doctor. And she was so freaking smart. Ellie wondered if she could ever be half as smart as her mama.
Over the past few years, Vera had stepped back from work to spend more time with their family. Especially Everleigh. Ever since Everleigh had started being homeschooled, Vera only spent three days at the office and one weekend a month on call at the hospital. Ellie knew that part of her might have missed working full time, but Ellie also knew her mama had never looked happier.
“So,” Vera opened the door to her office and let Ellie inside, “this is where I start the day.”
“I figured,” Ellie giggled as she sat in the leather chair in front of Vera’s desk.
Although she’d been in the office a million times before, Ellie looked around the room to take it all in. There were pictures of their family all over the walls, along with Vera’s medical degrees. She smiled at the picture of a very pregnant Vera on the beach, knowing it was taken just two days before she and Brayden were born. Her mama looked stunning, and Ellie felt all warm and fuzzy inside.
A newer addition to the office was a framed photo that Molly Jaymes had taken last year when Alexis had the twins. Ellie had seen the picture before; she’d seen all the pictures from that day before. But there was something special about seeing it displayed in Vera’s office. She knew how much delivering Alexis and Blake’s twins meant to Vera. And even if it made Ellie’s body hurt trying to imagine how babies actually come out, she had to admit the picture was beautiful.
Molly had done the photo in black and white, which seemed to add to its beauty. The shot was taken from behind Alexis, who was leaning onto the hospital bed. Vera was behind her, her hand on the baby’s head as he crowned. Alexis had her hand on Vera’s, and Ellie knew exactly why it had won awards.
“So,” Vera was focused on her computer, “first up is Alexis, which is great.”
“Does she know I’m here?”
“No, but she won’t mind.” Vera scrolled on the computer for a moment before continuing. “I have Molly at eleven, so you’ll be able to sit in on that too. I know she won’t mind either. Other than them, almost everything is either a checkup or annual visit, so it shouldn’t be anything too out of the blue today. Which, believe me, is a good thing.”
They chatted for a few more minutes about the day before one of the nurses stepped inside and told Vera they were opening the doors. Less than thirty minutes later, Vera knocked on the door to an exam room as Ellie stood behind her.
“How’s my beautiful daughter-in-law today?” Vera hugged Alexis, who was sitting on the bed in a paper gown.
“Good. I didn’t know it was bring your daughter to work day.” Alexis grinned at Ellie as she held out her hand for a hug. Which of course Ellie gave her willingly. “Hey, Ellie.”
“Hey, Lex.”
“Ellie is shadowing me today,” Vera was beaming with pride. “She’s thinking of going into the medical field, so I offered to give her firsthand experience.”
“Just not with births,” Ellie nervously laughed. “I’m not ready for that yet.”
Alexis laughed. “I wasn’t either when I had Harper.”
“Oh yeah,” Vera joined in laughing, “this one was crowning and asking me if we had time to fill up the inflatable pool with water.”
“Spoiler alert.”
“We didn’t.” Vera chuckled as she put a hand on Alexis’s knee. “But she still had a beautiful water birth and Harper is the perfect granddaughter.”
“I wholeheartedly concur.”
“Okay, so,” her mama seemed to effortlessly step out of mother-in-law mode and into doctor mode. “Are you okay if Ellie is in here with us today?”
“Totally,” Alexis waved her concerns off with a smile. “Most of the Mackenzies have already seen my vagina. Two have been inside.”
Vera rolled her eyes. “Alexis.”
“I’m just saying.”
“And we’ve all seen the photo. Mama has it hanging up in her office.”
“Oh, I know,” Alexis laughed.
“I sent her a selfie with it when I hung it up.”
Ellie was relieved that their first “patient” was someone she was comfortable with. It made all her anxieties and worries melt away, and Vera explained what they were going to do. Alexis was super sweet and let Vera show Ellie more than she normally would have for an annual checkup.
As was protocol, Ellie’s Aunt Melanie was also in the room.
Well, she wasn’t really Ellie’s aunt.
Melanie Wright had been Vera’s favorite nurse since before Ellie was born. Although she typically only worked in the labor and delivery department, she had been pulling double duty recently since two of the nurses were out on maternity leave. She was basically an honorary Mackenzie at this point, which essentially made her Ellie’s aunt.
It also meant she understood the Mackenzies in ways most people didn’t. The Mackenzies were a tight-knit family. Nothing was off limits for them. Ever. They didn’t get embarrassed by each other, even when their sister-in-law was sitting in on their pap smear.
“Everything looks great, Alexis.” Vera moved the overhead light out of the way as she took her gloves off. Alexis sat up on the bed while Melanie lowered the stirrups. “We’ll give you a call in a day or so about the bloodwork and the results, but I don’t see anything to be concerned about.
“Sounds great. Thanks, Vera.”
“You’re welcome sweetie.”
They all chatted a few more minutes before Ellie walked Alexis out to her car. “I gotta say, you held up in there better than your sister.”
“Oh geez,” Ellie laughed. “What did she do?”
“Every ultrasound I had with the twins she looked pale. Vera even made her sit down at one appointment.”
“She’s not as strong as me.”
Alexis laughed. “I’m going to tell her you said that.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
After saying goodbye to Alexis, Ellie scampered back inside. She tagged along for a few more appointments—being much less involved this time—before they went into Molly’s room. Vera had told Ellie that Molly was twenty weeks along and they hoped to find out the gender of the baby, which made Ellie insanely excited.
“Okay, so, before we go in, just know the ultrasound has already started. I’ve checked with the tech and Molly, and they’re both okay if we watch. I’ll show you what the tech is seeing and doing though, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
Ellie followed Vera, hanging back by the door as Vera put a hand on Molly’s shoulder. She looked at her with tender and caring eyes. Molly had her shirt pulled up to her chest, and her belly was covered in gel as the tech, Austin King, performed the ultrasound.
“Hey, Molly. How are you feeling?”
“Huge.”
“I’ve been trying to tell her she’s not as huge as I was at twenty weeks.” Hayden, Molly’s wife, was standing on the other side of the table holding her hand. “She looks great.”
“She does for sure. Are we still wanting to find out the gender today if baby cooperates?”
“Absolutely.”
“Perfect.” Vera motioned for Ellie to join her behind where Austin was sitting. “I know you both know Ellie, but thank you both for letting her be in here today. She’s never seen an ultrasound before.”
“Aww, I get to be your first.”
Everyone laughed, and Ellie noticed how the image on the screen bounced as Molly laughed.
“I love that you’re shadowing your mama.” Molly smiled at Ellie. “Are you wanting to be an OBGYN?”
“I dunno,” Ellie shrugged. “Maybe a nurse. I’m not sure about delivering babies.”
“Neither was Hayden.”
“Thirty-six hours of labor is why I’m not carrying another baby.”
Molly rolled her eyes at her wife, making Ellie laugh.
As Austin moved the wand around Molly’s belly, Vera kept pointing out what was on the screen. Ellie was intensely fascinated and couldn’t take her eyes off the black and white images of the baby. It was easily the coolest thing she’d ever seen.
“There we go,” Austin said, pressing a few buttons on the machine and pointing at the screen. “It’s a girl.”
“A girl,” Hayden and Molly both squealed in unison.
“Congratulations!” Vera hugged them both, but Ellie’s eyes were locked on the screen.
“This is so cool.”
“I know right?” Austin laughed, then nodded toward the wand. “You want to give it a try?”
Ellie looked to Vera for permission.
“Hey, this is Austin’s specialty. If she and Molly are cool with it, so am I.”
Excitedly, Ellie listened to everything Austin explained to her before letting her take the wand herself. Ellie moved the wand over the baby as Austin pointed out the fingers and toes and everything else.
By the time the appointment was over, Ellie nearly floated on a cloud to Vera’s office. Vera closed the door as Ellie eagerly grinned at her.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
“Don’t get me wrong, Mama. You do awesome work, too. But seeing what Austin does is so cool .”
“Hey, I get it.” Vera laughed as she sat in her office chair. “You looked like a natural in there. Really. You look happy.”
“It was so cool.”
“Ultrasounds are really cool. And you can do them on different body parts, not just babies, so there’s a lot of opportunities for techs.” Vera’s voice got slightly more serious. “Of course, techs also are usually the first to know when something is wrong, so you have to keep that in mind too. Your face can’t give away what you’re seeing.”
“Um, hello,” Ellie plastered on her best poker face and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I’m an actress.”
“Oh, excuse me, I forgot.” Vera laughed. “Would the actress like to grace her mother’s presence for lunch?”
“Absolutely.” As they walked out to the SUV, Ellie stopped and gave Vera a tight hug. “Thank you so much for letting me shadow you today. I love getting to spend time with you.”
“Care Bear, you’re gonna make me cry.” Vera held on tightly to Ellie. “I can’t believe my baby is turning eighteen in a few days. Like how was it eighteen years ago you were still inside of me, and now you’re shadowing me at work?”
“Because you’re the best mama ever who raised some awesome kids.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Laughing, Vera and Ellie got into the SUV. Vera took Ellie’s hand as she drove, just like she’d always seen her do with Isla as they drove. “I’m so proud of you, Ellie. Really. Mason made me a mama, but you and Brayden are the only babies I’ve carried. That will always be something special to me. I hope you know that.”
“I do. I love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too, Ellie.”
“And since it’s just the two of us, you can go ahead and admit it.”
Vera’s brow furrowed as she looked over at Ellie. “Admit what?”
“That I’m your favorite.”
Vera’s laugh filled the car, which made Ellie laugh, too. “You get more like your mom and Mason every day. I hope you know that.”
“I do,” Ellie smirked. “And you love it.”
Winking, Vera put her hand on Ellie’s thigh and squeezed. “I guess.”
Ellie’s phone vibrated in the pocket of her scrub top, and she fished it out to see a text from Sadie.
I hope you’re having the best day! I love you!
She couldn’t help but smile at her phone, which Vera must have noticed.
“Is that Sadie?”
“Yeah.”
“I figured.” Vera’s eyes sparkled as she looked over to Ellie at the stop sign. “Your face gave you away.”
“Stop it,” Ellie giggled. “I can’t help it. I love her.”
“Oh, trust me,” Vera chuckled, “I can tell.”
Putting her fingers over the keyboard, Ellie typed a message to Sadie.
It’s been GREAT!!! Omg I can’t wait to tell you about it!