Chapter 2
two
Eloise
I’m sitting in the waiting room, crossing and uncrossing my legs, pretending I’m reading a magazine. I feel the eyes of the other women on me. They’re probably wondering why I’m so antsy since, from the looks of their swollen bellies, I’m here for a very different reason than they are.
The door to outside opens, and everyone looks over to see who it is. My anxiety lessens a little when I see Jade. When we make eye contact, her shoulders fall a little.
“Did you forget something?” the receptionist asks her.
Jade stops and turns to face her, motioning to me. “I’m here for her.”
Dawn, the receptionist, glances at me and smiles. She knows who our husbands are and that they play together. “Welcome back then.”
My friend sits next to me, grabbing my hand.
“I know you have a crap-ton on that to-do list of yours,” I mumble.
She shrugs. “You’re on the top of the list now.” She squeezes, and I lay my head on her shoulder in gratitude.
When we found out that last night’s game was postponed until tonight, I thought Conor was going to quit hockey and fly home.
I’m actually surprised he didn’t show up in the middle of the night.
But I’m proud of myself for talking him off the ledge.
He’s a hard man to calm down when it comes to anything to do with me.
“So, what are you reading?” She nods at the magazine open in my hand.
I shut it to see it’s a Travel the Midwest magazine talking about the best places to see the leaves change in the fall. “Clearly something that will be useful this year.”
She laughs.
We talk about the cabin we’re renting and how we’re hoping the boys make it home, but if there are any more weather delays from the storm moving from east to west, they’ll be meeting us up at the cabin. Still, I cannot wait to celebrate an early Christmas with our best friends.
Finally, my name gets called, and I stand.
“If you don’t want me to go with you, I can stay here,” Jade says.
I debate the decision in my head. It’s a let’s-see-what’s-going-on appointment. It could be premature for me to be here, but regardless, having someone in there to support me will be nice.
I hold out my hand and she slides her hand into mine, smiling.
“Back so soon? You know it’s not going to change, right?” The nurse laughs, and Jade rolls her eyes.
“Did you find out the sex?” I ask, my gaze shooting to her swollen belly.
“Well, it’s on a piece of paper in here.” She taps her purse. “We’ll open it when we’re together.”
“I’m sorry.” I know they must both be disappointed that Henry is missing the moment they’ve been waiting months for. They were going to find out together, then surprise Bodhi and their family.
“This is our life. The one lots of women dream about, being married to a professional athlete.” She slides her arm through mine. “Now get on that scale. I’ll turn around. Although I’ll tell you, your number will be much lower than mine.”
I laugh, plop my purse and jacket on the table, and toe off my boots. “You can look. I’m not that hung up on it.”
“Now you aren’t. And ugh, you got to take off your boots.” She points at my boots on the floor.
“I deducted five pounds for you,” the nurse says, and Jade coos at her. We get into an exam room, and the nurse takes my vitals. “We’d like to get a urine sample.”
“Oh, okay.”
“It’s just to double-check for any infections, like a UTI, or pregnancy.”
I want to say yeah right, but I take the cup and step down from the exam table.
After I give my urine sample, I return to the room to find Jade on the phone with someone.
“I had her write it on a piece of paper. It’s in an envelope in my purse. Yep, I know, exciting. Oh, I have to go, I’ll call you back.” She hangs up as I sit back down on the exam table.
“You didn’t have to hang up.”
She waves me off. “You know how—”
Before she can continue, a knock sounds on the door.
The doctor walks inside the room and looks between Jade and me. “You again? Can’t keep yourself away, huh?” She comes over and pats my leg. “I assume your husband is missing for the same reasons as Jade’s?” She’s smiling, which I’m sure is her way of setting me at ease.
The first time I came here for my pap smear, on Kyleigh’s suggestion, the doctor recognized me and knew who my husband was. Not in a creepy way, but it happens sometimes.
“I heard all about your trip north. Sounds fun.” The doctor continues talking as she sits on the stool, scanning her card under the computer and pulling up my chart. “I assume we can discuss everything candidly?”
I glance at Jade and nod. “Yes.”
“All right. So, you’ve been trying to get pregnant and struggling?
” I nod, and she continues. “Even women who have had three babies can have trouble getting pregnant sometimes, so it doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong.
The body can be a mystery sometimes. But we’ll do an exam today.
Even though you were here six months ago, let’s take another look.
I know it’s tough, and some women are like bam, bam and they’re pregnant, while for others it can take longer. ”
A knock sounds on the door, and the nurse peeks her head in. “Can I see you for a second?”
The doctor looks at me and smiles. “Be right back.”
She leaves, and I swing my legs around.
“You okay?” Jade asks.
I nod. “Yeah, I mean, it’s not a secret. You all know we’ve been trying.”
Conor likes to make announcements, so of course, he told everyone he would knock me up in record time.
As the months have gone by and we haven’t announced anything, I’m sure they all suspected we’re having issues.
We’ve been so blessed with our life together already that sometimes I feel guilty for being so disappointed.
But every month when I get my period, I feel like a woman who malfunctioned, whose body is betraying her.
Jade opens her mouth, but is interrupted when the doctor knocks and comes back in.
“So…” she says, not sitting down at the computer but leaning against the cabinet. She’s dressed professionally in a pair of slacks, flats, and a nice blouse with her white doctor’s coat over it. “We tested your urine sample.”
My stomach drops. Is there a reason I’m not getting pregnant? Maybe I have an infection, or they found something else.
“I want to do a blood test to confirm that the results are accurate—”
“What is it?” I ask, my voice trembling.
She smiles. “You’re pregnant.”
It takes a beat for the words to make sense in my head. “But I’m not even late. My period isn’t due yet. I thought a test couldn’t predict that early.”
She chuckles and goes over to the computer again, sitting and scanning her card.
“That’s why I want to confirm it with a blood test. If you give us the sample today, I’ll put a rush on it, and someone will call you with the results by the end of the day.
So I’d say we’re cautiously optimistic.” She types something into my chart.
I glance at Jade, whose smile could light up the Las Vegas Strip.
My blood is drawn, and she says she’ll call in a prescription for prenatal vitamins. I make my next appointment, and the whole thing goes so fast that it’s not until she steps out that I realize Conor missed it. I look at Jade. He wasn’t the first to know, and that seems terribly unfair.
Jade stands and takes my hands. “I’ll pretend I wasn’t here. He doesn’t have to know.” She knows me so well, reading my expression.
“No, no. It’s not ideal, but if it’s true and my blood test comes back positive, he’ll be happy.
He’ll give us shit for the rest of our lives that you found out before him, but he’ll be happy.
” We both laugh because that is so Conor.
I place my hand on my stomach. Could I really have a little one in there? “I’m scared to hope.”
Jade wraps her arms around my shoulders. “Well, now I have to keep you distracted for the rest of the day, so let’s call the other girls.”
“You have a zillion things to do,” I say, soaking in her hug.
“Nothing is as important as this. Come on, we’ll call them as soon as we leave here.”