Free The Brookfield Series Volume One by Lacey Wolfe Page B

Julie was asked to step on the scale. She shook her head. She didn’t want to be here. Who the hell did Mark think he suddenly was?
    The nurse appeared confused but said it was okay and let them back to another room. She said Dr. Blossom would be right in.
    Once she was gone, Julie let him have it. “What is going on, Mark? Why are we here?”
    “What do you mean? I thought you would like this.”
    “To go to the doctor? This isn’t your place. I’ll go when I’m ready. It isn’t like I wasn’t going to.”
    “It’s past time to go. You should be going monthly right now. They need to do blood work. You have a glucose test soon.”
    Her eyes were wide open. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Okay, I get that. But I could do that all back in New York. I can do this.”
    Mark didn’t say anything. He just looked hurt.
    “This is just crazy,” she softly said.
    “I just wanted to do something nice for you. So I set this up personally with Dr. Blossom. I didn’t realize it would upset you so much.”
    Right as she was about to speak, an elderly lady in a long white jacket came. She assumed the woman was the doctor.
    “Hi, I’m Dr. Blossom. You must be Julie Miller.” She offered her hand.
    “I am.”
    “It’s so nice to meet. Tell me, how far along are you?”
    “Three months, I think.”
    “Well, you’re in for a treat. How about you hop up on this chair and lay back, and we’ll have a peek.”
    “A peek? At what?”
    “The baby, silly.” Dr. Blossom chuckled.
    She was going to get to see the baby. It felt like she was going in slow motion as she sat and followed the doctor’s order to lift her shirt and unbutton her pants. A clear, warm, goopy liquid was squirted on her belly. Dr. Blossom asked Mark to dim the light.
    Julie didn’t know what to think. In fact, her mind was blank. Dr. Blossom picked up some crazy-looking contraption then turned on something that looked like a computer monitor. She started to rub the tip of the contraption across Julie’s belly, and suddenly there was a sound like a heartbeat coming from the monitor.
    “Is that…” was all Julie was able to say.
    “It is.” Dr. Blossom smiled. “And this is your baby.”
    Julie was scared to look, but she did. And it looked like a baby, not an apple. It had a big head compared to its body. Good God, was it an alien? But it was cute, and it was moving some. That was her baby, and that was its heart beating.
    “The baby looks very healthy.”
    Julie grinned. That was good to know.
    Dr. Blossom started taking measurements and talking about all kinds of different things, which went in one ear and out the other. All she could concentrate on was seeing her little baby. Julie’s eyes were moist, but she held back. She took a quick glance at Mark and saw the love on his face as he stared at the monitor. She reached over, took his hand, and mouthed thank you . This was a wonderful surprise.
    She saw the emotion in his gaze, and she wondered how this was affecting him. Was he sad? Or was he falling in love with her child?
    “Now, Julie, you’re not three months,” Dr. Blossom said.
    “I’m not?”
    “No, you’re in the middle of your fourth month. You’re about fifteen to sixteen weeks pregnant.”
    “I am?”
    “Yes. In a few weeks, you should come back for your ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby.”
    Julie lit up. She would know what her little apple was soon.
    Dr. Blossom printed out a few pictures then cleaned up Julie’s belly. She handed the photos to her. “Mark said you hadn’t been to the doctor’s yet, so I want to get you started on prenatal vitamins. It isn’t too late. Do you have your yearly exam regularly?”
    Julie nodded.
    “Good. I have a few booklets for you. Before you leave, if you would let the nurse get a little blood work, I can get that into your chart. And we’ll set you up an appointment for your eighteenth week to see the baby again. Does that sound good?”
    “I might