Page 172 of Savage Empire

“Do you drink? How often?”

Sometimes. Not often.

“Date of your last period?”

It’s complicated…

“Any allergies?”

Kiwi.

“And you’re here because you think you may be pregnant?”

I swallow before answering this time. “My husband and I are trying. I haven’t taken an at home test, but I’ve been more tired lately, and I wanted to make sure everything is okay.”

“Okay,” she replies with a smile. “We’ll have you give us a urine sample, and then the doctor will come in and give youa small physical exam. She’ll feel your stomach and your back, and then perform an ultrasound. And we’ll go from there, sound good?”

Sounds terrifying.“Yes, thank you.”

Thankfully for my sanity, the next part of the visit goes by faster than expected. There isn’t much waiting around. Pretty much as soon as my sample is handed in, the doctor is in my room, poking at my stomach.

She introduces herself as Dr. Dana, and gets to work, idly chatting with me as she does. Her gloves are frigid, but she’s gentle as she presses into the soft bits of my belly. She doesn’t seem to find anything concerning, and soon enough, I’m laying back on the table and lifting my shirt up for the ultrasound. The anticipation has been eating at me, but it’s finally about to happen. I’ll have my answer in no time.

“This may be a bit chilly,” the doctor warns, holding up a bottle of gel.

I give her a clipped nod of understanding. Everything about this place is fucking chilly, I’m not surprised that the gel is too.

With the small white transducer in hand, she smears the gel into my stomach, eyes wandering around the dark screen as she moves. Pushing the wand around further, the doctor finds a spot to fixate on and manipulates the tool slowly, pushing into my belly with more force. It doesn’t hurt, but it almost dents the small bump that’s been growing my middle more round—the bump I’ve been ignoring for weeks.

“Here we go,” she says, humming. “We’ve found your uterus, and?—”

Suddenly, a quiet whooshing sound begins to pulse, the sound echoing through the screen’s speakers. My stomach flips with nerves, understanding what that must mean. The beat continues to boom wildly, the drumming almost sounding excited with the rapid speed.

My eyes squint at the screen nearby, and I can’t make sense of the black and white blobs. I don’t need the images to translate in my brain, though. The obvious heartbeat is enough, there’s a baby inside of me.

Apollo’s baby.

“Well, everything looks great,” Dr. Dana reports, smiling happily. “Congratulations, mama. It appears you have a very happy and healthy baby growing here. Do you want to know the sex?”

My heart skips a beat, hearing the joy in her voice. The baby must really be healthy, I doubt she could fake that kind of enthusiasm at the drop of a hat.

“You can tell already?”

“I can,” she confirms, smiling widely. “You appear to be about twelve weeks, and we can tell on an ultrasound around eleven, normally.”

My jaw drops.“I’m almost three months pregnant? Three?”

My mind whirls while I do the math. Apollo got me pregnant on the first try? How is that even possible?

He’s going to be so fucking smug.

Dr. Dana gives a light laugh. “Just a bit over two and a half, but yes, you sure are. But I can see that you’re stressing. Try not to worry too much about not knowing sooner. It’s not entirely uncommon to discover you’re pregnant within the first few months. We call it a cryptic pregnancy, and it happens around one in five hundred cases.”

“O-okay.” I exhale, shaking my head. I don’t know why I’m freaking out internally. We were trying for a baby. This was always a part of the plan. The baby is healthy, everything is going to be fine. “I haven’t been on prenatals. That…that’s bad, right?”

“We’ll get you some today, but it’s not the end of the world, don’t worry about it. Like I mentioned, undetected pregnancy early on happens all the time. We’ll schedule you in for someblood work in a few weeks to check on you and baby, but I don’t see anything that concerns me now.”

I breathe out shakily. “Okay, um, thank you.”