Page 52 of Abel

“I started to.” I say, no sense in lying. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Twenty

Ivy

April 2023

Tapping my foot against the fugly carpet in the waiting room floor, I nervously gnaw at my fingertips. My anxiety kicking up a hundred notches has butterflies buzzing around inside my stomach with jitter.

Maybe it’s because they might be able to tell me the sex of the baby. My last couple of appointments, my little bug was moving around too much and wouldn’t cooperate.

“That’s my little bug, giving them a run for their money already, huh?” I chuckle, running my hands along my stomach. I feel a little kick, making me feel like they’re agreeing with me. “Oh, I can’t wait to meet you. I just wish I had the balls to tell your daddy you existed.” Another kick.

I roll my eyes because clearly this kid is trying to tell me something.

“Miss Huntington?”

Jumping in my skin, scaring myself half to death, I answer, “Yeppers.”

“Please follow me.” Huh, she’s new.

“Where’s Genna?” I ask, calling the doctor by her first name, per her request.

“Well, Dr. Phalam had to take an emergency sabbatical due to personal reasons, and we aren’t sure when she’ll return.”

“Why wasn’t I notified?” I ask, stepping on the scale so she can get my weight.

“I’m so sorry, Miss Huntington, this just happened today, and we were in the process of calling all her patients. But your appointment was already here and there was no way for us to tell you not to come in today. It was an opportunity to inform you what was going on face to face.”

“Who will my new doctor be?” I ask, stepping off the scale and following her into exam room number seven.

“If you give them just a minute, the doctor and his nurse will be in shortly.” She says when I think my ears just deceived me.

Gasping, I ask, “Did you say… He?”

“Yes, they’ll be right in.” She scurries out of the door with a weak smile on her face.

My goodness, a male OBGYN? No, it’s not unheard of, but I’m not sure I want a man looking at my girly parts. What if I reek down there? My God, can you imagine the embarrassment?

I could, and it’s not pretty.

Lost inside my head, I turn just as the door creaks open. Lifting my head to meet my new doctor, I forget how to breathe as all the air is stolen from my lungs. Stars dance behind my lids because my eyes are clearly deceiving me.

“Hello, Huntington, my name is Dr. Iverson. And I’m so gl-” he stops speaking when his eyes finally settle on me. “Ivy?”

Gasping for the second time in under five minutes, I whisper, “Abel?” Because what else am I supposed to say here?.

“What are you-, how are you-, you’re really here?” He asks, walking straight to me, stopping to look down at my stomach. I watch his face morph from semi-happy to confusion in a matterof seconds. I hate that I can’t tell what he’s thinking. “I guess congratulations are in order.” He says, taking a step back. His hand reaches up to run through his short, cropped hair as he looks around for someone. “Is the father here?”

If only you knew, but I damn sure don’t say that. “He’s… Working.” I lie.

“Well, let’s get to it, shall we?” He says, turning back to professional in the blink of an eye as the almost tender exchange between us is gone. “My assistant will be here shortly. In the meantime, can you tell me what your due date is?”

I’m not sure if he’s fishing for information or if he just needs to know since he’ll be my new doctor.

“September thirtieth.” I whisper. Hopefully he doesn’t put two and two together until later.

“Okay, so that would make you well into your fourth month.” His head whips up so fast, his dark brown eyes drilling a hole into the center of my chest. “Huh.” He simply grunts.

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