Page 19 of This Memory (Moose Village #3)

Brystol

Evelyn bounced her knee as she sat next to me in the obstetrician’s waiting room. Denny took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Stop worrying.”

“I just hope everything’s okay,” she whispered.

I sat quietly, not wanting to interrupt their time together. After all, had this been a normal pregnancy, she would have the same nerves that she did now.

“Everything is going to be fine, right, Brystol?”

My head jerked to the side when he said my name. I smiled. “Of course it is.”

The only thing I was worried about was where Denny was going to be during this exam. I mean, carrying his child is one thing, but having him in the room when they stuck something inside me to do the ultrasound was something else.

I glanced down and realized my knee was bouncing now. I quickly stood. “I’m going to run to the restroom.”

“Wait!” Evelyn grabbed my arm to stop me. “What if you have to give a urine sample?”

I nodded. “Good thinking.”

Making my way to the receptionist’s desk, I asked her, which turned out to be a good thing. I was, in fact, instructed to collect a urine sample while I was in the restroom.

Once I was in the bathroom, I eyed the little cup.

“I hate peeing in cups,” I mumbled, unscrewing the cap and setting it on a paper towel on the small side table.

My hands were shaking. Maybe I was just as nervous as Evelyn.

I sat down, positioned the cup—and proceeded to piss all over my hand.

“Fuck!” I hissed, trying to move the cup to catch as much as I possibly could, but only managing to get more pee all over my hand.

“Shit! Shit! Shit!”

I pulled the cup out and stared at the small amount of pee I managed to catch. I quickly wiped, flushed, and stood. I grabbed a few more paper towels, put them on the table, and set the cup down.

“Did I get enough pee?”

After debating, I washed my hands, dried them, then opened the bathroom door slightly. When I saw a nurse walking by, I called out, “Excuse me.”

“Can I help you?”

I chewed nervously on my lower lip. “Would you mind coming in here?”

Her brows shot up.

“You see, I have a small problem, and I’m not sure what to do.”

She looked unsure but walked into the bathroom.

“So, as a woman, I’m sure you know how hard it is to pee in these cups, am I right?” I laughed. When she only gave me a patient stare, I cleared my throat .

“Right, um, so this was all I managed to get. Will it be enough?”

When she looked from the cup to me, she was clearly amused. “We can make that work. Just put it in the door on the paper towel that’s already in there. Next time, you can ask for a collection hat.”

Confused, I asked, “A collection hat?”

She nodded.

When it was clear she wasn’t about to offer me any more information, I smiled. I would google that shit the second I was out of here. “Great, thanks for the reminder.”

She pressed her lips together tightly to hold back a laugh. “If that’s all you need?”

“Oh! Yes!” I quickly walked over and opened the door. The nurse gave me one of those expressions that basically translated to “bless her heart.” Turning, I grabbed the cup, put it in the door, and then proceeded to wash my hands again before heading out to the waiting room.

Evelyn was pacing. “Are you okay? Did you get sick?”

I looked at her, then at Denny. “Was I gone that long?”

He softly smiled. “No, you weren’t gone that long.”

“She was. Much longer than just simply peeing.”

I stared at Evelyn. “Do you have me on the clock, Eve?”

“Don’t be silly, Brystol. You were just gone longer than I thought you should be.”

Glancing around the waiting room, I slowly exhaled and noted the few people watching the exchange.

Denny motioned for Evelyn to sit back down. Once I sat as well, I turned to her. “If you must know, I peed all over my hand and had to get a nurse to tell me if I got enough urine for the sample. ”

Her eyes went wide as she looked down at my leggings. “You peed on yourself?”

“My hand, Eve. I peed on my hand.”

“Gross,” Denny whispered, as Evelyn clearly attempted not to laugh.

The door opened and a nurse stepped out. “Brystol?”

I stood and made my way to the door, with Evelyn and Denny following

The nurse looked past me to Evelyn and Denny. I leaned in and said quietly, “I’m their surrogate.”

“Oh, okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t see that in the file.”

“This is my first prenatal visit.”

The nurse smiled. “Got it.” She looked at Evelyn and Denny, then back to me. “Um, you’ll need to change into a gown as they’ll be doing a transvaginal ultrasound.” Her eyes went to Denny.

“I’m not missing this,” Evelyn insisted.

Taking a moment to breathe, I turned to my friend. “May I please at least undress in private? Then they can come and get you.”

Evelyn looked at the nurse, then at me, then back at the nurse. “You’ll come get us before the ultrasound?”

The nurse glanced at me. “You’re comfortable with him being in the room for the ultrasound?”

“As long as you can position him somewhere he doesn’t see my vajayjay.”

Denny choked, and Evelyn hit my shoulder.

“What? I’m being serious, Eve. There are some things that I have to put my foot down.”

“I can wait out here,” Denny said quickly. “My wife can video the ultrasound, right? ”

When the nurse glanced at me again, I nodded.

“Yes, she can. If you wait here, ma’am, I’ll get Brystol settled then come get you.”

Evelyn and Denny returned to their seats as I followed the nurse to get my weight. Once we were in the room, she grabbed a sheet and laid it on the table.

“I’m so sorry, and they should have put in your file that you were a surrogate. The first visit is always a hard one, and it depends on the surrogate if she wants the father in the room or not.”

I nodded. “They’re both my best friends, and I don’t mind Evelyn, of course, but I have to admit I was a little worried about Denny.”

She squeezed my hand. “It’s a great thing you’re doing for them. Are they both the biological parents or did you donate an egg?”

“No, it’s their baby all the way.”

She smiled.

“So, do I have to get completely naked?”

“No. You’ll want to take off your pants and panties, then drape this over you. We can’t let Mom film the whole appointment, but once the doctor does the ultrasound, she’ll let her know when she can record.”

“Sounds good.”

The nurse left the room, and I did as instructed. I draped the sheet over me as I sat on the table.

A light knock on the door came, and the nurse popped her head in. “Ready for Mom?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “Her name is Evelyn.”

The door closed, and I glanced around the room. About a minute later, there was another knock on the door, and my doctor stepped inside.

“Hi, Dr. Lark.”

Her brilliant smile revealed a bronze glow on her cheeks, and her warm brown eyes instantly put me at ease.

I’d known Lisa Lark for several years. Her younger sister, Melanie, and Aurora had been good friends throughout elementary, middle, and high school, since they were both cheerleaders.

Melanie was just finishing law school and about to return to Moose Village to practice.

“Hi there, Brystol. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked the nurse to hold off on sending Evelyn in for a few minutes.”

My eyes went wide, but she reached out and squeezed my hand. “Everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes before Evelyn came back.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She opened what I assumed was my chart. “You’re up to date on all your immunizations, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Eating okay?”

“Yep.”

“Experiencing any morning sickness, tender breasts?”

My mind instantly went to Gavin’s hand on my breast, and how I’d noticed it was a bit tender at the time.

I nodded. “Both.”

“Is morning sickness keeping you from eating?”

With a shake of my head, I replied, “No, I’m eating like normal.”

She looked up and smiled. “I’m assuming you went through all of the counseling and such before you agreed to do this. ”

“Yes.”

“Good. And, Brystol, I want you to know that I’m here for you if you ever need anyone to talk to. I’m not just your OBGYN; I’m your friend.”

Smiling, I said, “Thank you, Lisa.”

“Now, I want to do a pelvic exam, and I thought you deserved privacy for that before we let Evelyn back.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

As I got into position, I asked a few questions. “I wanted to ask you about running. I try to run every day, and the Turkey Trot is this weekend. Am I still able to run in it?”

“Of course. You can keep doing whatever activities you were doing before your pregnancy. Now, if you were just picking up running, I’d advise against it and say walk instead, but if you were actively running before the baby, that’s not an issue.”

“Okay, good. I’ve been running since the pregnancy, but only five miles a day.”

Her brows lifted. “Only? I would die if I tried to run half a mile.”

We both laughed. Lisa pushed a button once the exam was over, and the nurse returned. “You can have Evelyn come back now.”

Dr. Lark got the ultrasound set up. There was another knock on the door, and I swung my gaze over to see Evelyn walking in. She frowned when she saw me lying back on the table, the sheet draped over me.

“You haven’t started yet, have you?”

I wanted to roll my eyes. I got that Evelyn was worried, but she was beginning to grate my nerves just a bit.

“No, Evelyn, we haven’t started,” I said a little shortly.

She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, I’m just nervous.”

Instantly, I felt guilty. I reached my hand out to her. She took it and stood beside me as Dr. Lark turned to face us.

“We’re going to do a transvaginal ultrasound. I’ll tell you when you can film, and I only ask that you keep the camera focused on the screen and not show Brystol in the video.”

Evelyn nodded. “Of course.”

The lights went out, and I closed my eyes as Dr. Lark inserted the wand, then turned my head to look at the screen.

She moved the wand slowly—and I smiled when I saw the little peanut shape appear on the screen.

“There it is. Looks like there’s just one.”