Baby for My Stepbrother

Chapter 5

“Man, they ask a lot of questions on these forms. How am I supposed to know if my family members suffered from any of these health issues?”

“Ask your dad,” Carly suggested.

Looking at her like she’d finally lost it, I waited for her to realize the error of her suggestion. She stared back at me for a minute, but then when realization set in, her lips formed an ‘O ’ and her eyes widened.

“Oh, I guess calling your dad would be bad because then he would want to know why you’re asking, right?” “Right,” I answered with no emotion in my voice.

I looked back at the forms and skipped the section about my family history. Flipping to the next page, I breathed out an exaggerated sigh. “Crap. They want to know about the dad’s family history.”

Carly handed me her cell phone. I grabbed it out of my lap and held it up. “What’s this for?” “ So you can call Dane and ask him.”

Glaring at her, I waited for her to, once again, figure out how stupid her suggestion had been.

She smiled this time and said, “Right. You probably can’t do that either because you don’t want Dane to know you’re pregnant.”

“Exactly Sherlock. I’m glad we finally have that all covered.”

I flipped to the next page and Carly said, “At some point, you’re going to have to tell him, Luna. You know that, right? I don’t think you’re going to be able to convince him that you’re just gaining weight. Especially not if you two are still having sex regularly. He’s going to figure it out.”

I knew she was just trying to be helpful, but I wanted to smack her at that moment. Yes. At some point I would have to tell Dane, but this wasn’t the right time or place. Glancing around at the pictures of happy families all over the waiting room walls and looking at the women in the waiting room in all stages of pregnancy, I wondered how long I had before I would no longer

have the option of hiding the truth.

“Luna Matthews,” A nurse called from aside door in the room. Turning to Carly, I said, “Well, friend. We’re up.”

Carly smiled and took her phone back from me, dutifully following behind me as I walked to the nurse. “Hi. I’m Luna Matthews.”

The nurse was older, but her age didn’t take away from her beauty. With silver hair tied up into a topknot, she had a friendly smile and bright brown eyes that flickered a soft gold color when the light hit them just right. “Hi, Ms. Matthews. I’m Nurse Gladys. I’ll be helping you get ready for your first appointment. Did you fill out all of your paperwork?”

“Uh, yeah,” I answered, “but I’m not too sure about my family history, so can I find out about that and answer it the next time I come in?”

Nurse Gladys smiled. “ Of course, honey. That will be no problem at all. She led me to a scale and asked me to step on it After weighing me, she grabbed a small plastic cup from a counter and walked me to a bathroom. Handing me the cup, she said, “There’s a door in the wall of the bathroom to a little window. When you get done, just stick the cup in there and a technician will take care of it.”

I nodded my head and went about my business. Five minutes later and I was escorted into a dressing room and tossed a paper gown.

“Now, I’m going to ask this once, but it’s for informational purposes only: Is there a dad in the picture? I just want to note the file for emergency contact.” She spoke with an apology in her tone, as if she knew already I was going this alone.

“No. There’s no …”

“I’m the dad,” Carly interrupted, her voice a little too cheerful and loud.

Gladys cocked a brow and smiled before glancing down at the paperwork. “It says here that you’re eighteen. Did you have artificial insemination done?”

“No,” I said. “Carly is my best friend, so she’s offered to fill the dad position, so to speak.”

Another genial smile, and Gladys said, “ Of course. Well, that’s perfect then. You’ll need to remove all your clothes and cover yourself with the gown. The doctor will be in shortly.

The doctor came in a few minutes later. After interviewing me and going over my vitals, she placed the metal notepad on the counter and turned on a machine.

“I’m going to find the heartbeat now, Luna. You’ll be able to hear it. Once we find that, we’re going to try and get some visual measurements.”

Doctor Williams was very pretty with short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She wore the standard white coat all doctors wore and had a stethoscope draped around her neck.

She opened my gown and poured some freezing cold gel onto my skin. Carly took my hand and stepped forward, both of us holding our breath when Doctor Williams placed the wand against my stomach and a rhythmic thump quickly beat.

“Is …” Frozen in shock and wonder, I could barely talk. “Is that it? The baby? I mean, already?” Through laughter, she said, “Already. Their hearts start beating around eight weeks.”