Chapter Eight
You could say this for Dr. Kothary. She was good at her job.
Once Yukiko and Marcie brought her up to speed on the ins and outs of our unconventional relationship, she managed to wrap her head around it in an admirably short amount of time.
I won’t say there weren’t a couple more shocked, pen-throwing moments, but she took the full shape of the roster with considerable aplomb.
Then we got down to business.
The longer she talked, the more I saw her words reassuring Marcie. The list of tests Dr. Kothary wanted to run was both ordinary and thorough: bloodwork, a full hormone panel, thyroid, something she called AMH that she claimed would tell us important things about my babygirl’s ‘ovarian reserve.’
“We’ll do both a day-three draw and a mid-cycle one,” she explained, both Kiki and Marcie nodding along like this was both what they’d expected and hoped for.
“Depending on the results of the initial tests, we may do an ultrasound to check the actual architecture of your reproductive system. We’ll do something called a ‘dye test’ at the same time—it’ll let us know if there are any blockages or narrowing in your fallopian tubes… ”
Both of my women had clearly prepared for this. They understood everything Dr. Kothary was saying.
Somewhat embarrassingly, I didn’t.
But the longer Dr. Kothary talked, the more I realized I didn’t need to. I recognized that tone.
She sounds like me, I realized somewhere in the middle of her speech laying out our initial plans. Me whenever Daniel gave me a problem to solve at the firm and I decided I wanted to do a really thorough job of it.
The structure was intimately familiar to me.
Run tests, diagnose the symptoms, discover the source of the problem and come up with the simplest way to ameliorate it.
Dr. Kothary might have had a completely different job title than mine, but I recognized a good engineer when I was sitting across a desk from one.
I liked her more and more the longer she spoke. Mona made the right choice suggesting her to us.
As her speech drew to a close, Dr. Kothary folded her hands and dropped into a less professional register.
“Most of the reasons a healthy young woman doesn’t conceive right away are findable,” she said, reassuring Marcie.
“And the findable ones are usually fixable. Thyroid, ovulation timing—there’s a hundred small things that could be the problem.
” She smiled. “We’ll run down the whole list.”
Marcie brightened. “That’s…that’s great,” she said, sharing an excited look with Yukiko. “I’m really excited to get started.”
Dr. Kothary smiled. “In the meantime—” she pulled a pre-printed sheet from her desk, “—there’s a few obvious pieces of homework for you.
I want you on a prenatal vitamin with folic acid in it, starting today.
” She glanced at me with a faint smirk. “Even with the frequency of your attempts, you need to start tracking your ovulation. No guesswork.”
Marcie nodded.
“Get lots of sleep, and go easy on both caffeine and alcohol,” the doctor said. “And… I know this is the single most annoying piece of advice in the history of medicine, but try to reduce your stress as much as possible.”
Marcie let out a laugh. “That one might be a little tough right now.”
“That’s what they all say.” Dr. Kothary had clearly heard every excuse. “Do what you can. Unlike most young wives, you apparently have a great deal of help.”
“I’ll make sure she stays de-stressed,” Kiki promised.
“The mind rules the body and the body rules the mind,” Dr. Kothary said, like someone reciting a Zen koan. “They’re not strangers, no matter what anyone tells you.” She settled back in her chair. “Bloodwork today, ultrasound later this week, and I’ll see all…”
She trailed off, glancing at Yukiko.
“…however many of you back here in one week, once we have the initial results in. I’ll have a great deal more data then. Alright?”
“Alright,” Marcie said, beaming with excitement.
“Try to keep calm,” the doctor added. “It’s the best thing you can do.”
Yukiko rose with her purse and extended a hand. “Thank you so much, Dr. Kothary. Truly.” She paused, adding with a guilty little smile: “I know we were a lot.”
The doctor laughed, which I took as a very good sign of how we were going to get along in the future.
“You were…” Dr. Kothary trailed off, thinking of the word.
“Quite memorable. That’s not a word I get to assign to very many clients these days.
” She turned from Yukiko, catching Marcie’s eye as the blonde woman rose, and her gaze softened.
“I understand a bit better now how you must be feeling,” she said, gesturing almost imperceptibly at Yukiko’s pregnant belly.
“I want you to know this, though: you are not behind.”
Marcie kept her composure, but her bottom lip wobbled.
“Whatever’s going on in that very full house of yours, you have time. We will get to the bottom of this.” Dr. Kothary smiled. “I promise.”
I watched as the weight on Marcie’s shoulders dissolved in real time.
“Thank you,” she said, meaning it.
Once we’d set up our follow-up appointment, Marcie and I walked out of the doctor’s office arm-in-arm. Yukiko moved just ahead of us, sending a flurry of texts—no doubt letting everyone in the house know how the appointment had gone.
We walked her to the car, where Heather and Eva were waiting. I gave her a farewell smooch, then she turned to Marcie.
“Sorry again,” she said, giving her fellow wife a hug and a long, lingering kiss. “I’m just glad it all went okay.”
Marcie laughed. “Don’t be. That was pretty slick.”
Yukiko blinked.
“You knew they wouldn’t have a problem with the paperwork being missing,” Marcie said, dropping her voice to a knowing whisper. “Come on. You didn’t drive over to Dr. Kothary’s and run up three flights of stairs because you actually thought they were going to turn Uncle Jack and I away.”
A guilty look filled Yukiko’s face. “I wasn’t trying to make it about myself—”
Marcie grinned. “Of course you weren’t. You did it for me.”
My princess relaxed. She understands, her look said.
Marcie took Kiki’s hand. “You came in and you made me laugh,” she said, glancing at me to make sure I was getting it. “Because you knew Kothary didn’t know about you and Sam already. And when you sat down and Jack got up and called you princess, I completely forgot how nervous I was.”
“Why, Marcella,” Kiki said with a dorky grin. “I think you’re ascribing powers to me beyond what I possess…”
“No, I’m not.” Marcie gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Thanks, Kiki. Jack and I’ll see you at home?”
“Not if I see you first,” Yukiko said. She got in the car.
We watched her drive off. Marcie moved like she was lighter than air the whole walk back to my McLaren.
“I’ve got a good feeling about this,” she said as she buckled herself in.
“So do I,” I agreed.
“Is that stupid? I mean, we don’t know anything yet. But…” She paused for a long moment, chewing over her words. “It’s like, whatever happens, I know I’m not the one getting left behind anymore. Like the story’s finally going to come around to me, too.”
I gave her a kiss on the forehead. “You’re not stupid,” I promised her. “You’re not being left behind. And I love you, Marcie Avery.”
I meant all three.
She grinned. “Love you, too,” she said.
Kiki must have had an errand at the Avery Company, because there was no sign of her or the cheerleaders as I pulled into the driveway back home. Instead, we found Mona waiting for us on the front porch, her elbows on the railing and a mug of coffee steaming between her hands.
“Uh oh,” Marcie murmured as I cut the engine. “What’s this?”
I saw her point immediately. Mona Isringhausen was not the kind of woman who lounged on a porch in the middle of the day. If she was outside, with no cell phone or laptop or any other visible means of doing her work, it could only mean one thing.
She had something to tell us. Something important.
“How’d it go?” she called from the porch as Marcie and I made our way up the drive.
As if you don’t already know, I thought with a smirk.
“Good,” Marcie said. “Really good. Dr. Kothary’s great. She thinks—” she paused, laughing nervously, “—she thinks I’m gonna be just fine, actually.”
“That’s wonderful to hear,” Mona said with a smile. Then she was all business again. “Jack. When you’ve got a minute, we need to talk.”
Here we go, I thought. “Let me get Marcie settled first?”
Mona nodded. “Meet me out here when you’re done.”
I did. Once I had her inside with Samantha on the couch, eagerly telling all the girls who were home about the appointment and how we’d shocked the hell out of Dr. Kothary, I headed back outside to find Mona where I’d left her. The neighborhood was quiet.
It hit me then that we hadn’t had a paparazzi truck show up on our street in weeks.
“Jessamyn,” Mona said.
Ice filled the pit of my stomach. “What about her?”
The corner of Mona’s mouth curled in a shark smile. “She’s got something for us.”
My pulse quickened. “The thing Victoria has on Daniel?”
It was the thing I wanted most. At least in the short-term. Long-term, I wanted Ramsey Engineering to belong to me and Marcie instead of Victoria, and for the venture capitalists who’d taken over Daniel’s firm to get kicked back out on the street where they belonged.
But I’d settle for defusing whatever bomb Victoria was planning to explode in our lives.
Mona made a face. “No. Not that.” She paused, then continued in a less professional tone.
“I don’t think she does have anything on Daniel, Jack.
I have dug. I’ve dug in ways I didn’t think I was ever going to have to dig again.
And I’ve found nothing that might blow Daniel’s life up the way Jessamyn seems to think it will… ”
I was already shaking my head. “If Victoria Ruocchio thinks she’s got an ace in the hole, it means she’s got something,” I said. “It might turn out to be a three of clubs, the way you said. But I still want to know what card it is before she plays it.”