One to Tell the Grandkids (7 page)

“Speaking of Mom . . .” Again, Slate rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t told her yet—about all this, I mean.”

Taryn didn’t know what to say. If things hadn’t gotten so out of hand so quickly at her parents’, she doubted she would have told them yet either.

Taking her silence as anger, Slate was quick to continue. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I know my mom. She’s going to have a million questions, and I only have one or two answers.” He tried to smile, but it was a twisted expression at best. He couldn’t keep his nervousness off his face.

“I understand. My parents are the same way. So many questions. And they’re all over me because I didn’t schedule my first doctor’s appointment until this Tuesday.” She twirled her fork around and around in her pasta, nervous. She’d been putting off this conversation, but no more excuses. “They want to meet you.” Now it was Slate’s turn to be silent. Taryn chanced a glance over. Slate had a look on his face as though someone had a hold on his balls and was threatening to squeeze. “I told them not yet. You’re right. We need to have more answers.”

“Yeah.” He was silent for a handful of beats. “Well, anyway. About your doctor’s appointment. Hopefully the car will be done by then, but either way.” They both watched him push a roll back and forth restlessly on the table. He took a deep breath. “If you’re uncomfortable, feel free to tell me to fuck off, but I would really like to be there.”

Taryn smiled. “I think I’d like that.”

Chapter Seven

“I
hate doctor’s offices. I hate them, Mel. I hate them with a passion.”

“That chick you got this gal’s name from said she was nice, didn’t she?”

“It’s not about that. I know it’s silly, but I always get this feeling I’m going to test positive for something.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re only going to test positive for pregnancy, doll face.”

“You don’t know that. If there were no chance of them finding something, they wouldn’t go looking for it.”

“It’s just a precaution.”

“It’s a precaution because shit happens.”

Mel stood and walked a few steps over to where Taryn was swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet. She put her hands on Taryn’s shoulders, stilling her nervous movement. “Hey,” she said and waited until Taryn looked up. “You’re fine. Patch is fine. It’s just a little pee, a little blood, and your doctor seeing more of you than your baby daddy remembers seeing.”

“Nice.” Taryn sat on the edge of the couch and let her shoulders slump. “I really hate needles.”

“Girl. You know I don’t want to hear that from you. You with the easy peasy veins. They stick you in the arm and you’re done. I, on the other hand, got stuck with game-playing veins. Jerks are fantastic at hide and seek. Do you know how hard it is to get a vial of blood from me? They stick me in one arm, fish around a bit because that’s pleasant. Then they stick the other arm, rinse and repeat. Finally, after I’m already full of holes, they go ahead and stick my wrist, which I’ll have you know is fine going in but stings like a mother bitch coming out, and if that doesn’t work, they—”

“Ugh. Stop.” Taryn held one hand out to her friend and spread the other over her very rebellious stomach. “I’m pregnant. You’re supposed to be nice to me.”

“I’m saying that’s
not
what’s going to happen to you.” She shook her head and grabbed for the remote. “Here. I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of the Avengers,” she said, flipping to her Amazon collection and calling up
The Avengers
movie.

“You want me to watch
The Avengers
?”

“Concentrate on the pretty. It will make you feel better.”

Taryn eyed her friend, some of her anxiety melting away as she teased, “You know if you make me watch this again, I’m just going to come up with more reasons why Iron Man wants to get it on with Captain America.”

“There’s something very wrong with you. Iron Man is in love with Pepper, dammit.”

“You have a girl-crush on Gwyneth Paltrow.”

“Entirely beside the point.”

After she started the movie, Melanie gave Taryn a hug. “Try not to worry. Promise me.”

“I’ll try.”

True to her word, Taryn tried not to fret. It proved to be an exercise in futility. The ability to be blasé about doctors was something she’d lost a long time ago.

Was she doomed to be the paranoid mother her own mother had been? It wasn’t what she wanted, but she was headed down that road faster than quick.

Her cell rang. A glance at her screen only changed the direction of her pessimistic thoughts. Slate was supposed to pick her up so they could go to the doctor together. Taryn kept waiting for Slate to show his true colors. He kept insisting he wanted to be there for her, for the baby, but every time she received a text from him, Taryn expected an excuse. Her stomach twisted with dread as she connected the call. “Hello?”

The static on the other end was horrible. “Taryn?”

“Slate?”

“Hey, look. Your car. I thought it was fixed, but . . . well . . .”

“You’re not coming.”

He groaned. “Taryn, I want to be there. You know how much I want to be there. But your car. I’m broken down on the side of the highway. It’s going to take awhile to get a tow, and I’m too far away.”

Taryn swallowed hard to keep her throat from closing off. She forced a light laugh, because she believed him. She could hear the traffic. “That car is more trouble than it’s worth. I’m sorry.”

“No,
I’m
sorry. I swear I want to be there. In fact, if I can get the car situated, maybe I can make it there a little late.”

She wasn’t going to hold her breath. “It’s okay.”

“If I don’t make it, though, you’ll call me when the appointment is over, right? Let me know how it went?”

“Yeah. Of course.” She hung up the phone quickly after that and bit her lip to stave off the tears that threatened. The second she knew he wasn’t coming, the urge to have someone by her side through this hit her so hard she swayed where she sat. It wasn’t want; it was need, and she was desperate. She was sinking deeper beneath the water, and Slate’s phone call was the last light of the surface fading away.

Taryn called up her contact list and scrolled to her mother’s number. Even if the doctor found nothing wrong, there would be a laundry list of ways Taryn would have to alter her life just to let the baby incubate. That was too big. She needed her mommy and daddy to hold her hand.

She hit send but then ended the call just as quickly. Her parents had no more control than she did. There was a reason she hadn’t invited her mother to this appointment in the first place, despite Faye’s not-so-subtle hinting. It would have only raised her blood pressure. Her mother had paranoia down to an art form.

“Hell with this. You’re the mommy now,” Taryn said to herself. She wiped her silly tears away, took a breath, and shrugged off the melodrama. Robin and Melanie were busy. Slate was stuck. Her parents wouldn’t be helpful. Maybe Taryn didn’t want to be alone, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be. She found her purse and got herself out the door for her first appointment.

“I hate doctors’ offices, Slate. With a passion. I hate the smell. I hate the way they look. I hate everything.”

On the other end of the phone, Caleb’s friend sighed. “I know you do, man. You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important. And really? You’re bitching because it smells like antiseptic?”

“It seems wrong. I walk into this place, and someone inside is getting the worst news of their lives. A place like that should smell like sour milk at least.”

“You know what, don’t go. That’s my kid. Are you trying to freak me out, ‘cause it’s working.”

“Ah, hell. I’m sorry. I was babbling. Don’t pay any attention to me.” Caleb sighed and rested his head against the window. He glared at the medical building for another second before he dragged himself out of his car. “This is the good kind of doctor. OB. It doesn’t get more euphoric than that, right? No bad news for your kid.”

Slate was quiet for a beat. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No. You should have. That’s what friends are for, and you’re right. Taryn shouldn’t be alone. I’m all over it. Don’t worry.”

As he stepped into the waiting room, Caleb searched for Taryn. He saw happy couples with their heads bent together over swollen stomachs, but not Slate’s baby momma. He went over to the receptionist. “I’m here for Taryn Sato.”

“Are you Daddy?”

Caleb’s heart gave a painful twist. “Yes.” The lie was the easiest way to get where he needed to be, he knew. Less complicated.

“Oh, good. Mommy said you might be joining us. Hopefully that will make her feel better.”

“She’s not feeling well?”

“It’s normal for Mommy to be nervous, especially on a first appointment. Doctors aren’t everyone’s thing.”

“You can say that again.”

Caleb turned down the hallway and hesitated outside the room she’d indicated. The receptionist had said the doctor wasn’t with her yet, but she might have been getting undressed. Erring on the side of caution, he knocked.

“I’m decent.” Taryn’s chipper voice went a long way toward grounding Caleb’s discomfort.

He opened the door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him. “Hey.”

“Um. Hi? What are you doing here?”

“Slate didn’t want you to be alone, so he asked me to come with you.”

“That’s very sweet of both of you, but it’s unnecessary. Surely you have to have better things to do.”

“A favor for Slate’s baby is pretty high up there on my good-things-to-do list.” He kept his voice light. He’d gleaned from their conversations in the car Taryn hated to think she was a burden to anyone. “It’s no trouble, but I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I can stay out in the lobby if you don’t want me in here.”

She looked uncertain, so he continued. “I’m, er, I know what to expect from these appointments. I can be up by your head during the exam, or I can leave the room.”

“Do you have kids?”

Caleb’s throat tightened. “No.”

She studied him for another moment before she nodded, and her features softened. “If it really isn’t a big deal, I would really appreciate if you stayed,” she said in a surprisingly small, timid voice.

He took the chair by the head of the bed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I know.” Her words were still quiet. When she breathed in, the sound was shaky. “I guess doctor visits are never fun.”

“Yeah. Well, if they do the heartbeat thing, that’s pretty neat.”

“I think when I talked to her on the phone, Dr. Morris said they were going to try to hear it.”

There was a knock at the door then, and the doctor entered. “Good afternoon, Miss Sato.”

“Taryn. Please.”

“Taryn.” Her eyes flicked over to Caleb. “Is this Daddy?”

Standing, Caleb offered his hand. “I’m Caleb. I’m just a friend. Daddy got stuck with a broken-down car.”

Taryn grimaced. “My fault.”

“Ah, well. Daddy’s taking care of Mom one way or another. That’s good. Mom and Baby can’t have too much support.” Her handshake was strong. “I’m Sandra Morris. What do you say we find out more about Baby?”

For Caleb, the appointment brought on a continuous sense of déjà vu. He’d been here before, sitting beside a woman who was trying not to look as out of sorts and scared as she really was. Just like then, he wasn’t quite sure what he was doing there, or if he was really welcome.

The doctor asked the usual questions about how Taryn had been feeling and what she’d been eating and drinking.

“I know the basics. No booze, no caffeine, no fun. I’m a little worried. I had a lot of soda before I figured out I was pregnant.”

“Most things that are prohibited during pregnancy are fine in moderation. Abstaining is recommended, because of the Lay’s effect. You know. Bet you can’t eat just one. It’s highly unlikely it harmed the baby. Lie back. I’m going to lift your shirt a bit, okay?” Taryn relaxed back on the table, and Dr. Morris pulled her shirt up to reveal her belly. “Do you have any other concerns?”

Taryn huffed. Her eyes darted to Caleb’s and away. “Not much
you
can help me out with.”

The way she muttered the words, almost under her breath, caught Caleb’s attention. Her expression was pinched, the skin around her eyes tight. Caleb squeezed her shoulder. It couldn’t have been easy. That he’d observed, pregnancy wasn’t comfortable, especially for a woman who wasn’t in love with the idea of being pregnant.

Caleb snapped out of his reverie, pushing away a handful of painful memories, as the doctor began to take a detailed medical history.

The change in Taryn’s posture was instant. She fidgeted, and the wary look in her eyes faded into something more painful. It was instinct to offer his hand, but he was surprised when she took it. She told the doctor about her little sister who died young of a genetic disease.