Part 8 (2/2)
”The baby looks fine,” Dr. Fisher said. ”The only discrepancy is that the fetus is measuring at twenty-two weeks, and we're pretty sure the pregnancy is at twenty-six weeks.”
”What does that mean?”
”Just that she's a little on the small side. We'll keep an eye on it at our office visits.” She paused, considering something, then nodded to herself, as though she had made a decision. She turned her sharp brown eyes to me, probing. ”You're doing great with her, Nicole. How about with yourself?”
”I'm fine,” I said, surprised by her show of concern. I wondered if I looked as worn-down as I felt. Then I laughed, thinking of Nova's explanation of what the letters of ”fine” stood for. I told the story to Dr. Fisher.
”That sounds like Nova,” she said with an uncharacteristic grin. It lit up her entire face, and suddenly she appeared not only elegant, but very pretty. ”I'll have to teach it to my other patients.” She paused. ”Have you called Social Services yet about placement for the baby?”
Terrified she might ask me why I hadn't taken care of this seemingly simple task, I lowered my head and shook it. ”I can't seem to pick up the phone.”
”Are you considering keeping her?” Her tone revealed nothing of what she might think.
Panic fluttered in my chest as I whispered my response. ”Maybe.” I couldn't believe the word as it pa.s.sed over my lips, and yet there it'd been, waiting to be spoken.
She seemed unfazed by this revelation. ”Well, you have some time to decide.” She stood up and went to the door. ”I'll see you two next week, okay?”
”Okay,” I said, trying to gather my rattled senses. ”Um, thanks for coming, Dr. Fisher. I really appreciate it.”
She waved in acknowledgment and then was gone. When Jenny and I were bundled into the car and I had started the drive home, something pulled me in a different direction, toward Nova's house. We hadn't seen her for a couple of days, and I was dying to tell someone who'd be as excited as I was about finding out Jenny was having a baby girl. I couldn't believe the antic.i.p.atory thrill I felt in knowing. From the moment the technician had told us, my mind had been flooded with images of shopping for darling frilly, pink outfits and teensy-tiny black patent Mary Jane shoes. Visions of cradling this child in my arms overwhelmed me: nuzzling her the way Nova did with Layla; kissing her toes and the chubby rolls of her thighs; drinking in the sweet nectar of her breath. The strength and immediacy of these images shocked me; I had not had them before.
I sighed, glanced over to Jenny, who was staring at me disconcertingly. ”Your sister is losing it, Jen,” I told her. It wasn't as if I would actually keep the baby, despite my shaky response to Dr. Fisher's question. But as the knowing intensity of Jenny's gaze moved over me, I s.h.i.+vered and returned my focus to the road ahead.
The front door to Nova's house was open, so after I managed to get Jenny up the stairs, I walked right inside, calling out for my friend. ”h.e.l.lo? It's Nicole. Anybody home?” I heard a t.i.ttering explosion of laughter coming from the back bedroom as the door opened, and out stepped Garret, looking nothing like the man I had met the night of my first visit to Nova's.
He was bedecked in a pointed fairy hat, complete with a trailing pink veil. His lips were painted bright red to match the circles of rouge on his cheeks, and he wore a sweeping pink cape around his shoulders. He appeared a bit embarra.s.sed when he saw me but still smiled, his lips greatly exaggerated by their makeup.
”Hi,” he said. ”I've been shanghaied into playing castle. Come on back.” The warm sound of his voice entered my bloodstream, and the temperate, early-summer air suddenly seemed unbearably hot.
”Where's Nova?” I inquired as I gently guided Jenny's stilted steps down the hall to Rebecca's bedroom. Lucy and Rebecca were also in costume, jumping on Rebecca's bed and giggling ferociously.
”She took the boys and Layla to the beach, so I'm watching the girls.” He swished his cape dramatically around his body. ”Do you like my outfit? Lucy picked it out herself.”
”Oh, it's gorgeous,” I said, amused by his silliness. I backed Jenny up, carefully lowering her onto the cus.h.i.+ons of the window seat.
Garret moved toward us. ”Here, let me help you.” He grabbed a couple of pillows from the bed and set them around Jenny, who was staring at his garish appearance with amazement. ”How about you, Jenny? Do you like my outfit?”
Jenny blinked deliberately, turning her head away in a coy movement, a delicious smile lighting up her face. Garret sat down next to her, putting the cape between her fingers. ”Here, feel. Isn't it silky?”
Lucy jumped off the bed and hopped over to her father. Her smooth cap of dark hair bounced haphazardly, a crooked rhinestone tiara nestled on the top of her head. She wore a long-sleeved lavender leotard with a bright orange, netted tutu. She patted Jenny's other hand. ”Hi, little girl. Do you want to play castle?” She paused, then looked at me, the green in her hazel eyes bright. ”She says yes. Can I dress her up?”
I stood back, shaking my head in amazement at this eloquent child. ”Sure.”
Garret retrieved the plastic makeup compact Lucy held in her little fingers. ”Let Daddy help you, peanut. Why don't you go find Jenny a hat?”
”I'll do it!” Rebecca cried out, and she and Lucy raced out the door and down the back stairs to the bas.e.m.e.nt.
”The costume trunk is downstairs in the playroom,” Garret said by way of explanation for their journey.
”I see.” I smiled, then paused, unsure what to say next. I finally settled on a compliment. ”You seem so comfortable with Jenny. Have you been around other handicapped people?”
He nodded. ”A kid in my neighborhood, growing up ... ” He trailed off, remembering.
There was a slight pause, neither of us knowing exactly what to say. Once again, I picked a compliment. ”Lucy's a great little girl.”
”Thanks. She is pretty amazing. I can't believe sometimes that I helped make her. That she came from me, you know?”
”That must be amazing. I don't have kids, so I guess I can't know exactly how it feels, but I think you're doing a great job with her.”
His smile was slow as he pulled the fairy hat off his dark head. ”And I think what you're doing for your sister is great. Nova told me about your situation. I hope you don't mind.”
I shook my head. ”Of course not. She told me a bit about yours, as well.”
”So you asked about me, too, then?” he inquired, a flicker of something terribly exciting in his eyes. Something I hadn't seen in a man's eyes for a very long time. I flushed, crossed my arms over my chest, and looked down to the floor.
”Well, yeah. I guess I did. Lucy was just so sweet ... ”
”Oh, so it was Lucy you were curious about?” He was teasing me, and I couldn't believe how much I liked it. I switched to a safer subject.
”So, Nova said you own a restaurant on Alki?”
”Um-hmm. The Beach Basket.”
”I'm a baker down in San Francisco. What kind of menu do you offer?”
”It's pretty eclectic. Seafood, pasta, sandwiches, salads. You name it, we've probably served it. We keep the entrees as healthy as possible, but I'm kind of a traditionalist when it comes to dessert. The more b.u.t.ter and cream you can stuff into a recipe, the better.”
”I agree. Do you have a pastry chef?”
”Are you asking me for a job?”
”Are you always such a tease?” I countered, my stomach fluttering.
”Most of the time. Do you like it?”
”Some of the time.”
He laughed. ”You are Nova's friend, aren't you? Cut from the same fabric, I'd say.”
”What kind of fabric is that?”
”Intricately woven.” He directed his light brown eyes at me before finis.h.i.+ng. ”Beautiful.”
Color rose to my face again, but fortunately the girls returned with Jenny's costume and saved me from making a complete idiot of myself by weeping in grat.i.tude at the compliment. I could not remember the last time Shane had told me I was beautiful when we weren't about to have s.e.x.
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