Ryan leaves early, kissing me tenderly on my forehead before he goes, leaving me in the warmth of the bed. A couple of hours later, I wake up with a wonderful ache between my thighs. I feel revitalised and refreshed, not bothering to stifle the giggle that escapes my lips as I relive the previous night.
“You finally had your wicked way with Ryan then?” I hear Lexi drawl from the doorway, startling me out of my memories.
I look up to see a feline smirk on her beautiful face, and I return the smile even though my cheeks are flushing.
“Come on, you hussy. Get out of bed, and make yourself presentable. You’ve an appointment in an hour,” she tells me, casually sauntering off.
It takes a second to register what she’s said, and when it does, I leap out of bed, throw a robe on, and head to the bathroom.
Half an hour later, I emerge from my room, clean and dressed in a loose navy blue corduroy trousers and a cream blouse with a navy silk scarf, courtesy of Justin, and black ankle boots to complete the look.
“What’s my appointment?” I ask her as she passes me a croissant in a paper bag with Maxine’s on the front. I’ve no idea why it’s only just occurred to me to ask. I probably should take charge of my life a bit more.
“Your midwife appointment, silly!” she mockingly scolds me.
“Oh.” That’s when I remember what Grey had said about calling someone he knew in the morning.
We head out of the apartment building into a brisk autumn wind that whips both of our hair around us. Luckily, there’s a car waiting for us at the curb, so we quickly hop into it and out of the cold. I see the driver is Sean again, and after a brief hello, we drive off.
About thirty minutes later, Sean pulls up outside a tall brick mid-terrace building with a shiny red front door. As we get out and walk up the few steps, I see a brass plaque that reads ‘Dr. Phillip Evans MD’. The door opens as we approach, and in the doorway stands a woman in her mid-forties, her blond hair in a neat bun, and wearing rose pink scrubs.
“Welcome,” she greets us, smiling warmly. “You must be Laura Darling?” she questions me politely, and I nod in response. “Excellent. Follow me please, Doctor Evans is ready for you.”
She leads the way into the building, past a small reception area, and down a bright corridor. Pausing in front of a white painted door, she knocks once then enters.
“Laura’s here, Doctor,” she says cheerfully.
I notice an older distinguished looking gentleman sitting behind a wooden desk. He’s wearing a light blue shirt with a navy blue patterned tie and a white lab coat. Dr. Evans looks up as Lexi and I walk in, a broad reassuring smile on his face, he gets up and holds out his hand for me to shake.
“Laura, a pleasure, and congratulations,” he beams at me in cultured tones. “I’m Dr. Evans, and I’ll be your consultant for the duration of your pregnancy. Although, you’ll mostly see Sally here, your midwife, unless any complications come up. Which, given your age, I highly doubt. Now, take a seat. You can tell me what you know, and we shall take it from there.”
The next twenty minutes or so is taken up with form filling and relaying my medical history. The nurse takes some blood and a urine sample, then it’s time to hop up on the bed and have the examination part of the consultation. Nervous butterflies flutter around in my stomach as I pull my trousers to below my hips.
Once I’m settled, Dr. Evans takes out some kind of monitor, squirting some cold jelly onto my lower stomach.
“Let’s have a look, shall we?” he says as he puts the wand onto the jelly and starts moving it around.
Within moments, I hear the fast sonic sounding beat of my baby’s heart, and tears rush to my eyes. For the first time, this feels real; there’s actually a life growing inside of me.
“Lexi,” I quietly whisper and glance up to see her right beside me, her own eyes misted with happy tears.
“Oh love, that’s your baby,” she murmurs back, voice thick as she grasps my hand and squeezes.
I lay there, letting the rhythm surround me like a magical blanket, soothing my soul. All too soon the doctor pulls the wand away, passing me some tissue to wipe the gel off.
“Heartbeat is strong and good, so all is well,” he declares, and I feel a rush of relief flood through me. I didn’t even realise that I was worried, but I feel elated to discover that everything is okay and that my baby is safe and growing.
“That’s it, so if you want to get dressed then Sally here will sort out your next appointment,” he informs me kindly, turning and heading out of the room.
I feel as though I’m on cloud nine the whole journey back home, and even Lexi can’t stop smiling.
“Have you thought more about Grey’s offer, hun?” she gently asks as we walk into the apartment.
“I think,” I say, biting my lower lip in apprehension, “I’d like to give it a go.” She squeals, grabbing my hands and spinning me around, then apologising and saying something about being careful of the baby.
“Although, I’m not sure about taking my clothes off,” I tell her, an idea that came to me this morning bubbling up to the surface of my mind as I speak. “But when I was in boarding school, we had a drama teacher, Mrs. Sin, who taught us belly dancing.”
“Belly dancing?” she quirks a brow at me in confusion. “But, hun, Grey’s is, well, a strip club.”
“I know, but this kind of dancing is pretty sensual, and I’ve seen YouTube videos of pregnant women doing it and they’re pretty hot,” I justify, and I can see the cogs starting to turn in her mind as a twinkle enters her eye.
“Oh! Justin can dress you as a kind of fertility goddess! Dark makeup, green silk, and headdresses!” she enthuses, getting more excited as she speaks.
“Sure,” I chuckle back, also warming to the idea now that I’ve spoken it aloud.
I feel a flutter in my stomach, and it takes me a moment to realise it’s not the usual butterflies but my baby. My hand flies to cover my stomach, trying to feel anything on the outside, but it’s not quite strong enough yet.
“Looks like the baby approves!” Lexi laughs.
Looks like baby does, I think with a smile, my hand stroking my slightly rounded stomach.
