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You want me to check his genitals?

I can’t believe Bambi almost came without me today. I also can’t believe she was driving three hours round trip to a doctor out of town just to avoid people talking about her going to her doctor’s office. Have the people in this town always been like this, or did I just ignore them?

It makes me happy when Bambi lets me hold on to her the entire walk into the office and doesn’t protest when I sling an arm around her shoulders, over the back of the chair, as we sit and wait for her name to be called.

She flips through a pregnancy magazine as we wait, and I look over her shoulder inspecting the ads and articles. There are a few about the more unpleasant side of giving birth, things that would make a weaker man faint. I’m used to blood and guts and if it has anything to do with keeping Bambi safe and healthy during birth, I want to know it.

When she tries to flip the page, I stop her with a finger to the corner until I can finish reading the article. A quick glance at Bambi from the corner of my eye reveals her trying to hide a smile.

“Raelyn Parker,” a nurse calls from a door next to the receptionist counter.

“Right here,” Bambi calls back.

I help her stand and we both head to the back, following the nurse to a door numbered six.

“You’re going to be right in here today,” she says gesturing inside the room.

There’s a standard doctor’s bed with the weird white paper draped down the center with those feet holsters folded in at the end, a bunch of machines with cords and attachments next to it. There is only one window in the room, narrow and long running at the top of the exterior wall. There are blinds covering it, but it offers a bit of warm sunlight to the stark room. Everything is clean and sterile as it should be, the walls a soft white with blue trim, a picture of a woman cradling a newborn baby on some informative poster on the wall.

We’re instructed to sit, and I help to lift Bambi onto the bed, the paper crinkling loudly beneath her. She doesn’t have to wear one of those ugly paper gowns, so we just wait for the doctor. The sound of my shoes pacing on the linoleum floor is the only noise in the room.

I can’t stand still or sit still for that matter. In less than ten minutes I’ll see my son for the first time and the thought has me frantic and excited. I always thought if I were to have a child I would panic and freak out in a bad way. But the only emotion I’m feeling is happy, extremely happy.

Bambi watches me pace back and forth in front of her, the picture of calm and collected. That’ll be useful when the baby’s born, one of us will have to be the levelheaded one.

The door squeaks, alerting me to the doctor’s arrival. I instantly stop pacing and turn to face the door, standing dutifully at Bambi’s side. At least as best I can while she sits on the bed. A dark-haired female doctor, dressed in blue scrubs and a white lab coat enters looking at the clipboard in her hands.

“Hello Miss Parker, it’s nice to see you again_Oh,” she stops mid step, spotting me standing next to Bambi. “I didn’t know you were bringing anyone with you.”

“I hope that’s okay?” Bambi asks unsure.

“Of course this is your appointment, you can bring whomever you like. I’m Dr. Amelia, and you are?”

She holds her hand out to me, and I accept it, grateful she doesn’t put up more of an argument about me being here.

“Warren Graham. The father.”

“Oh!”

Dr. Amelia stares wide eyed at me, her hand frozen in mine, not expecting my blunt declaration of fatherhood. I honestly didn’t realize I was going to say that either, but I felt it important for the doctor to know. Small town gossip be damned.

“I thought you said the father wasn’t involved?”

The good doctor finally drops my hand and turns an inquisitive look at Bambi, who is reddening like a ripe tomato. Her cheeks, two round rosy cherries I want to bite into.

Now that I’ve said it, claimed my place and responsibility, she can’t deny it.

“He was away for a while, and I hadn’t expected him back so soon. But he is the father.”

She looks up at me through her lashes, explaining my absence and her fib in much nicer words than I deserve. I give her a grateful smile, relief flooding my chest along with unwavering admiration for her.

“Alright then, well let’s get started, shall we?”

Dr. Amelia sits in the rolling stool and begins going through Bambi’s file asking basic questions to get up to date on her current state and confirming the first two trimesters of her pregnancy. Going over records sent by her previous O.B.G.Y.N. from Kenai. Apparently, Bambi has seen Dr. Amelia in thepast for general female checkups but nothing to do with her pregnancy yet.

Once she’s satisfied, with all her questions answered, we finally get to the good part of the appointment.

“Great, now let’s get a look at this little fella and make sure he’s developing well. Lay back and pull up your shirt so I can access your stomach.”