by Lane Hart
“Sure, I'll have those for you in just a second,” I told him, as I began leafing through the file cabinet looking for the folder with the pictures. I quickly found the right one and pulled it out.
Unfortunately, I caught a glimpse of one of the pictures in the folder and had to go running to the bathroom. Great, just freaking great. How long would my coworkers believe I had a stomach virus? A day, maybe two tops. I washed up and hurried back to my office.
I grabbed the folder with the unfortunate crime scene photos and rushed into my boss’s office.
“Oh, good, thanks Em,” he said as he barely looked up at me from the file in his lap. He then gave me a second quick look. “Are you feeling okay? You look a little paler than normal.”
Oh great, my boss was a psychic too. More likely it was just that I couldn’t hide how terrible I was feeling. And I hated lying, and had always been horrible at it.
“Well sir, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” I told him.
“Sure, close the door if you need to.”
I closed his office door since I figured my boss was on the need to know basis but the rest of the firm wasn’t.
“So what’s bothering you?” he asked, putting his file down on his sloppy desk to show I had his full attention. Jack had been practicing law for over thirty-five years, and although he was just an average looking, normal sized, pleasant appearing, white haired man, he had the ability to transform into a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom.
“Well, I thought you might start wondering why I’m sick all the time so I figured it would be best to go ahead and be honest with you.”
He nodded a few times but didn’t say anything, clearly waiting for me to continue.
“I’m pregnant. I just found out yesterday,” I finally spit out.
“Ah,” he said. “So that’s why you were out. I knew it must be something serious since you never miss a day, but I didn’t want to pry. Congratulations?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yes, I mean, I know we just got married and all but Ben and I are excited. I’m just having a time with morning sickness, or all day sickness you might call it. I didn’t want to have to lie to you for weeks,” I explained.
“Well, I appreciate you being honest and your secret is safe with me,” he said. “But I do have one concern. Will I have to find another assistant in nine months?”
I knew this question was coming. “I don’t know for sure but as soon as I figure that out I’ll let you know. I’m here at least until the baby comes,” I told him honestly.
“Okay, well that’s good to know, and if you get too sick or need time off don’t worry. Take as much time as you need.” Another reason I liked my boss. Not only was he easy to work with but he was always understanding.
The rest of the workday went by without incident. I kept my lunch down and stayed busy to keep my mind off of everything. I called my best friends Lindsey and Sam during my lunch break to tell them the news.
Lindsey and Jason have a one-year-old little girl so I couldn’t wait to sit down with them and get some questions answered. Sam is engaged and I could tell by her reaction that she will probably use my little “situation” as a lesson to be extra careful until she and Chris were absolutely ready to start their family.
I forgot until I was sitting in rush hour traffic on the way home that Ben and I were having dinner with his parents tonight to tell them the news. Whew! Maybe we should have spaced these moments of truth out a little more. I was starting to feel overwhelmed. At least his parents were the two people we could talk to openly about our possible outcomes.
Chapter
Eleven
Ben seemed much more relaxed on the way to his parents than he had the night before. I think even though we were married my parents still make him nervous.
We arrived at his parents’ ranch house just outside of town right as the sun was setting. Their house sat on at least a hundred beautiful acres of land, which made perfect sense now. They had bought a house in the middle of nowhere without neighbors on any side so there was less chance of their secret getting out. If the world was to figure out what Ben and his father were they would probably be treated as lab rats.
Oh God! I grabbed onto the car door’s handle to get ahold of the overwhelming anxiety as I thought about the constant worry of keeping our secret if we had a boy. The “what ifs” that the wrong person could find out and take him away. No wonder Ben and his family had always seemed antisocial; it was just their way of trying to keep their secret from getting into the wrong hands. I hoped they wouldn’t be upset with us that the cat was out of the bag, and now it might be up to us to keep their secret going for another generation.
As Ben turned off the car he asked if I was okay. I reassured him that I was fine and I tried to look happy. I’m sure he could see through my lie and tell I was worried about something. He let it go through, and we made our way up to the front door. Ben walked right in without knocking.
“Mom? Dad? We let ourselves in,” he called out from the empty foyer.
I stood anxiously beside him holding the two gift bags. I tried to put on a genuine smile without looking sick as his mom and dad came into the living room.
“Hey there kids! Come on in and make yourself comfortable. There’s about fifteen minutes left on the meatloaf. I hope that’s okay,” Ben’s gracefully aging mother said in her comforting southern accent.
She wasn’t much shorter than Ben, which was unusual for most women. Her dark hair sprinkled with grey hung straight and came down to her shoulders.
“That’s great mom, thanks for having us over,” Ben told her as he leaned in to give her and then his dad a hug.
“Oh, you know we love seeing you two anytime we can,” his dad said, looking like an older but only slightly leaner carbon copy of Ben. They were about the same height and both had the same sandy blonde hair and natural tan. I’d noticed before that Ben’s mom had always looked a little older than his dad, but I was starting to think that maybe his dad just wasn’t aging at the same rate as her.
Neither of his parents seemed to notice the bags I was holding, and I hoped Ben was going to go ahead and get this out in the open soon.
“We brought you both something,” he said with a big smile. “Hope you like it because you can’t take it back,” he joked.
I don’t think they had any idea of the news we were about to spring on them. Probably because they didn’t know if Ben would ever be able to father children, and they definitely would not expect it to be this so soon.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have sweetie,” began his mother as she opened her bag, but his dad beat her to it.
“Well, I’ll be,” he said. “The seed is strong in this one!” he shouted as he gave Ben a proud smile and pat on the back.
Did he really just say that?
Ben’s mom gasped. “Really? I can’t believe it! I just can’t believe it!” she exclaimed. “You both know that we are so happy for you,” she said as she gave us hugs. “I didn’t know if you would ever be able to give us a grandbaby. Did you know it took us over fourteen years to get pregnant with Ben, and even then it was still such a miracle! Well, I guess he’s told you all about their secret now?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered.
“Don’t you worry one bit. If it’s a girl she is going to be just gorgeous, and if it’s a boy, oh you are in for a wild ride, but after you make it through the first few years you’ll have more memories to laugh about then you can remember,” she said as her face lit up with happiness.
“Did Ben tell you about the time we couldn’t get him out from under the fridge?” Ben’s father asked with a chuckle.
“Um yeah, he told me about that and about the time he wouldn’t come down from the trees.”
Ben and his dad both laughed at the memories.
“He scared me to death! I had to call David to come home from work early that day, and I was so afraid he was going to shift back and fal
l from two stories high, breaking every bone in his body on the way down,” she said as Ben’s dad cut her off.
“Now Susan, don’t scare the poor girl. It wasn’t that bad,” he chided her.
“It was for me!” she exclaimed. “I couldn’t very well go up there and get him could I?” she huffed at him.
So, not only do I have to worry about all the normal concerns parents have for their kids but a whole slew of unique worries like falling out of trees or who knew what other things this child might do.
“Um, I think I need to sit down a minute,” I said as I found the edge of the couch.
“See Sue, you’re going to worry her to death.” Ben’s dad teased.
“I’m okay, I’ve just been a little woozy is all,” I tried to hide my anxiety but without much success.
“Well, let’s head on into the kitchen. I’ll get the meatloaf out and we can all sit down and relax,” his mother said as she coaxed us into the kitchen. Then added in a shout, "David, don't you start shifting just because the poor girl knows!" I barely heard her mumble under her breath, “I swear the man prefers four legs to two."
The rest of dinner was insightful. I learned that during Ben’s childhood he had turned into a giraffe while visiting the zoo, and they barely got him shifted and out of there before he was rounded up by zookeepers; that when he was angry about not being able to have ice cream for breakfast at age five he turned into an owl and wouldn’t stop flying around the house for three hours; and that when he was fifteen and walking home from school he turned into a dog and chased some bullies down the street, biting one of them on the leg.
I’m sure those were just the beginning of the stories, but they were trying not to overwhelm me. Ben also confessed that on the occasional weekends when he had told me he was, “going fishing with his dad" he was actually coming over to his parents’ house to shift to avoid accidently losing control in front of me.
When we got finally got home I was exhausted and my head was spinning with the possibility that I was pregnant with a wild child that was going to give me grey hair before I was thirty. As we were getting ready for bed, Ben seemed to be still amused rather than embarrassed about his shenanigans as a youth.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Despite how it sounds, my parents will tell you I was a good kid. Wild, but good. Ours will be too, regardless.”
“If you say so,” I said as I laughed and snuggled up to him. The whole thing was kind of funny, I thought to myself. And if it wasn’t my life it would be hilarious. With a yawn I drifted off to sleep and dreamed of chasing giraffes, owls and monkeys.
Chapter
Twelve
The next few weeks seemed to fly by. Between trying to cope with morning sickness, extreme exhaustion and getting ready for a murder trial at work, I didn’t have much time to worry about anything except trying to get through each day. My size four suits and pants were getting tighter and tighter, and I was running out of clothes that fit.
There were a few emotional swings I was also dealing with, and I think everyone at work was pretty much avoiding me. It was obvious that no one believed I was suffering from an eight week stomach virus. They had to know I was either pregnant or bulimic by now, but no one said anything to me. I often heard whispers but I didn't want to spread the news until I made it into the second trimester.
My first doctor’s appointment on Monday, May 16 arrived quicker than I would have ever thought possible. We had plans to go for my check-up and then head to the maternity store to find clothes that actually fit, and maybe finally do some baby shopping.
I was really glad Ben had offered to come with me for the first appointment. I checked in, peed in the cup, and then we waited patiently in a room, with me in nothing but a gown for twenty minutes before the doctor finally came in. I was swinging my dangling legs back and forth and Ben was reading the baby development and labor and delivery posters in the room when there was a soft knock on the door letting us know it was our turn.
“Mr. and Mrs. Hunter? Hi, I’m Dr. Wrenn. It’s nice to meet you both. How are you feeling?” My doctor had short blonde hair and was wearing the standard green scrubs when she walked in.
“Pretty good,” I answered. “The morning sickness doesn’t seem to be quite as bad as it was.”
“Great. It should start easing up as you go into the second trimester. It looks like your urine test looks fine, and glancing over your chart it doesn’t seem like there are any indications that this is a high risk pregnancy. I saw that you had a fainting spell a few weeks ago but no injuries. How are you handling the news? Was this a surprise?”
“Well, yes, but in a good way,” I said as I smiled at Ben. “We're looking forward to finding out the baby’s gender. When do we get to do that?” I asked eagerly.
The doctor laughed before answering. “It looks like you’ve got about six more weeks to go. We’ll go ahead and schedule your next appointment and the ultrasound appointment before you leave. The good news is you’ll at least get to hear the baby’s heartbeat today.”
I was so excited and could tell Ben was too as he stood beside me and held my hand. We watched the doctor as she pulled out a fetal Doppler heart rate monitor, rubbed a cold gel on my stomach, and then began moving the probe around my lower abdomen. What started out as just static turned into the sound of galloping horses.
“That’s the baby’s heart,” Dr. Wrenn said. “And the heart rate looks good and normal, right around a hundred and thirty-five beats per minute.”
That was a relief I thought as Ben squeezed my hand and smiled at me.
“And now it’s time for the uncomfortable part,” the doctor said as she put on her latex gloves and pulled out the stirrups. Oh fun.
The exam wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. The doctor wanted to do some blood work and get an amniotic fluid sample to check for certain genetic disorders but we passed. If the baby had a genetic defect we didn’t want to know, and we really didn’t want to take the chance that someone might find out about Ben’s unique DNA.
We found out my due date was November 8th, and on July 3rd I'd have my next doctor's appointment and ultrasound.
We called our parents and Lindsey and Sam as soon as we got out of the doctor’s office to give them the update before heading to the maternity store. I picked out a few pairs of work pants and a pair of jeans and short with the wide elastic waist with room to grow. Then I picked a few solid color shirts that I could wear to work or on the weekends. I also found a few new bras to provide room for the extra, um, growth, which Ben seemed rather enamored by.
I couldn't wait any longer to go baby shopping, so that afternoon we met my mom at Babies R Us to finally pick out a few things. Even though we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl we knew there would be plenty of gender neutral items.
We ohhed and awed as we held up all the teeny tiny outfits. We picked out a mahogany crib and a zoo themed nursery set – which I thought was very fitting for our situation. I also picked out some yellow and green outfits with the little footies on them. I couldn't wait to get home and set up the crib in the nursery.
Chapter Thirteen
Since I was finally in the second trimester it was a relief to share our news with coworkers, friends and extended family. There were bets being placed that our baby was actually a "love child" conceived before our wedding. I really hoped I would make it to the November due date or we would never hear the end of it.
During the next few weeks the morning sickness completely faded away and I felt pretty great overall as my baby bump became more pronounced. The only pregnancy symptom I noticed was an increased libido which went along with the strange and vivid dreams I had almost every night, often times rather erotic ones. After some of those of dreams I'd felt the need to wake up Ben in the middle of the night. He didn't seem to mind the interruptions of sleep one bit.
I think subconsciously I was really longing for Ben’s physical reassurance that my growing belly didn't make me r
epulsive to him. He made sure to tell me often that I was beautiful and had a lovely pregnancy glow, but I wasn’t convinced that he was just saying those things because he didn’t want to hurt my feelings.
Ben seemed to be a little quieter than usual and I hadn’t seen him shift since the night I found out I was pregnant. I think it was because he wanted me to think of him as just “normal” like everyone else, and not remind me of what was to come if the baby turned out to be a boy.
By mid-June I was clearly showing and I was trying to get used to the awkwardness of other people’s grabby hands touching my stomach.
One Saturday afternoon I was at home sitting with my feet propped up on the ottoman when I felt an odd fluttering in my belly. A few minutes later I felt it again. Was that the baby? It was the one of the strangest and most wonderful thing I’d ever felt.
“Bennnnn!” I yelled.
He came running into the living room from his office shouting, “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
When he saw that I was still sitting calmly on the couch he relaxed.
“I think I just felt the baby move!”
“Really?” he said as he came and sat next to me on the couch. He put his hand on my stomach trying to feel something. We waited quietly and after a while I felt it again.
“There it is again! Did you feel that?” I asked him.
“No," he said disappointed "Maybe it’s just too early to feel it on the outside. I can’t wait to feel him or her kick. So, what do you think we’re having?”
I thought about it for a minute. All along I’ve felt like it was a boy, which made me nervous.
“A boy.”
He sighed, and gave me a kiss as he said, “Me too.”
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