The Baby Arrangement

by Lisa Dyson

“Oh, look!” Hannah said as they were walking toward the exit. “We’ve got to check this out.” Hannah sidetracked into the infant-clothing section, and the others followed her, oohing and aahing as each new find was cuter than the last. Bree stood there, wondering why miniature clothes were suddenly making her friends hear their maternal clocks ticking.

  “Come on, guys, let’s get something to eat,” Bree begged. “I’m starving.”

  “Doesn’t this make you even a little sorry that you’re not going to raise this baby?” Roxie held up a pink frilly dress that was less than a foot in length. “Look how cute this is.”

  Bree shook her head. “You’re nuts. Do you know how much work is involved in raising a kid?”

  “But it’s time well spent,” Hannah told her. “I think if the right guy came along, I’d be ready to settle down and have kids.”

  The others agreed with her, while Bree stood there in shock.

  “But what about the company? If you’re all getting married and having babies, then who’s going to help me run the company?”

  “Don’t worry, Bree, we’re not going anywhere,” Amber said. “And if that’s what it comes to, then maybe our next step is to provide day care for our employees.”

  That began a conversation about starting a program now since they already had employees with children who would benefit from on-site day care.

  Bree didn’t mind talking about the work-related subject, as long as it got the group out of the infant-clothing department and off to dinner.

  She was hungry enough to eat anything.

  While the other three ordered cocktails, Bree chose a decaffeinated soda. She’d been feeling a little odd all afternoon, figuring it was just one more phase in this pregnancy odyssey. She was sure that eating a healthy dinner would make her feel a little more normal.

  “You’re pretty quiet tonight,” Roxie commented to Bree. “Are you okay?” All three women looked at her as they waited for her answer.

  “I’m fine,” Bree said. “Stop worrying about me. I’m just a little tired.”

  Their server came to their table then and took their orders.

  “I’m going to the ladies’ room,” Bree said as she rose from her seat. “I’ll be right back.”

  While walking through the casual restaurant, she got a sudden cramp and stopped for a few seconds until it subsided. Then she continued on to the restroom without another incident.

  “I think I need to call my doctor,” Bree said when she returned to the table. Again, they all turned in her direction. She lowered her voice so no one else would hear. “I’m spotting and I just had a fairly severe cramping episode.”

  It took only a few seconds after what Bree had said for them to respond. “Do you want me to call her for you?” Roxie asked.

  Bree was still standing at the edge of their table. “No, I’ll step outside to call. At this time of night, I’ll probably get her answering service.”

  “I’ll go with you.” Hannah was already on her feet and ready to go.

  Just as she’d suspected, Bree got the answering service. “I can wait out here alone for a callback,” Bree told Hannah.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Bree. Who knows what’s going on, and I don’t want to leave in case you get worse.”

  “Thank you.” Her emotions came bubbling to the surface. “I’m really lucky to have the three of you.”

  Hannah gave her a hug. “I know. We’re all lucky to have each other.”

  Bree’s phone rang and she spoke to the doctor on call—not her usual one—who asked several questions before giving her advice. “Thank you,” Bree said before disconnecting.

  “Well?” Hannah appeared anxious, folding and unfolding her hands.

  “The doctor suggested I go home and rest. As long as the spotting is minor and the cramping has stopped, he thought I’d be fine. He said it’s not unusual, as long as it’s minimal. He would like me to come in tomorrow for an exam to make sure everything’s okay. But if it gets worse at all, then I should head directly to the ER.”

  “I can drive you home,” Hannah suggested as they walked back into the restaurant.

  “I’d appreciate that.” She’d had enough scares with cramping to realize that she probably shouldn’t drive.

  “Would you like me to call Nick and let him know?”

  Bree was surprised at the question. “Absolutely not. There’s nothing he can do to help.”

  “Don’t you think he should know what’s going on?”

  “If there was something to tell, then yes. But right now, no.”

  Bree related what the doctor had said to Roxie and Amber, and they had their food packed up to go. Hannah drove Bree home, but she insisted that Hannah not walk her to her door.

  Bree was letting herself into her condo when her cell phone rang. Nick’s name was on the caller ID.

  “Hello,” she answered.

  “Are you okay?” Strange question for him to ask, unless—

  “I’m fine. Who called you?”

  “That’s not important. Are you and the baby okay?”

  Knowing the girls, it likely wasn’t Hannah who’d called, because Bree had specifically requested that she not. Of course, she hadn’t told Roxie or Amber not to call him.

  “Everything’s fine. I just need to rest.” She related the conversation she’d had with the doctor on call.

  “I’ll go with you tomorrow to the doctor.”

  “That’s not necessary,” she said. “I’m sure everything’s fine. I’ll call you afterward.”

  “Let me know what time your appointment is and I’ll be there.” He obviously wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  BREE HADN’T DOUBTED that Nick would show up for her ob-gyn appointment the next day. She had had to put her foot down, insisting he meet her there rather than drive her to the doctor’s office. She wanted to be able to go directly to work afterward. This was an unscheduled appointment, so she couldn’t afford to be gone from the office longer than absolutely necessary.

  “Hi,” she said, when she walked into the waiting room and he was already seated there.

  He smiled and came over to her. “How are you?” He stroked her upper arm.

  “Much better,” she said. “Back to normal, as far as I can tell.”

  He nodded. “Thanks for letting me come today.”

  “Did I have a choice?” But she smiled as she said it.

  He shrugged. “I’m just concerned.”

  Before she could say more, the nurse opened the door and called her name.

  Nick followed Bree and the nurse to the exam room. He took a seat in the far corner of the room while Bree stepped into the curtained changing area to put on a paper gown.

  Her doctor came in soon after, did an exam and pronounced everything was just as it should be.

  Bree turned her head in Nick’s direction and smiled. “See, I told you.” Privately, she’d had a few doubts, but nothing she wanted to verbalize.

  He shrugged, wisely not saying a word.

  “When are you scheduled for an ultrasound?” her doctor asked after explaining that a little spotting and cramping were normal in some women. She did warn Bree that she should call the office if her symptoms became worse, though.

  “Next Monday,” Bree replied. Another workday that would be interrupted.

  “Since you’re both here today, would you like to do it now? A few days won’t make a difference in determining growth or the sex of the baby. This way we’ll get a good look at the baby to make sure everything’s okay.”

  Bree was taken aback. “Sure. I guess.” She looked to Nick, who nodded his agreement.

  “Why don’t you get dressed, and then we’ll set you up in the room down
the hall where the equipment is located. A nurse will be in shortly to escort you,” the doctor told her before leaving the exam room.

  “I wasn’t prepared for this,” Nick said. “Are you nervous?”

  She nodded. “A little.” Then she asked, “Do you want to know the sex?” She’d figured that would be a question for next week.

  “I hadn’t thought about it,” he said. “I’m just hoping everything is okay and that the baby is healthy. Do you want to know?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll do whatever you want.” He would be raising it, so he should decide.

  “Well, let’s find out. I think my mom would like to know. She’s anxious to start buying stuff. She’s already researching car seats and strollers.”

  “Okay, then.”

  He took her hand and squeezed it.

  Soon they were shown to another small room, where Bree was instructed to lie back on the table.

  After the tech put some cold jelly on her abdomen, she moved the device over Bree while watching the screen until she got the view she wanted. “You can see the heart beating here,” the tech said as she pointed to the monitor. She pointed out several other things before asking, “Would you like to know the sex of your baby?”

  Bree looked to Nick for confirmation, who nodded. “Yes, we would,” Bree said, her heart fluttering in her chest. She’d thought that seeing the actual human being inside her wouldn’t affect her, but she’d been wrong. Dead wrong.

  “Well, it’s pretty clear that it’s a girl,” the tech said with a smile.

  “A girl!” Nick said, grinning widely with glassy eyes.

  Bree couldn’t say anything. She merely smiled back, realizing then that Nick had been holding her hand the entire time. He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back.

  By the time they left the office, they’d been given pictures of the ultrasound and their next appointment was scheduled.

  “Are you okay?” Nick asked Bree when they got to the lobby of the medical building. “You’re pretty quiet.”

  “Sure, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” But that was a complete lie. She steeled herself against the emotions churning inside her.

  He turned to her. “Look at me.”

  She slowly did as he asked. Then she did something she regretted. She looked into his eyes.

  And she fell apart.

  He pulled her to him and held her tight, whispering soothing words and stroking her hair.

  She broke into sobs, unable to remember the last time she’d cried this hard. She wasn’t a bawl-her-eyes-out kind of person. She might get a little weepy, more so since she’d gotten pregnant, but nothing like this uncontrollable blubbering.

  Especially not in a public place.

  Luckily, they were alone, but she needed to get herself together before someone came by. She finally pulled back a little from Nick, then took several deep breaths and swiped at her tears and runny nose.

  “Let’s go to my car,” he suggested.

  She nodded. Normally, she’d be able to walk away and take care of herself. But right now, she needed to lean on someone. To lean on Nick.

  During the first few months of being told she was pregnant, of being sick, of hearing a heartbeat mixed with hers, nothing had seemed real. She’d just gone through the motions.

  But now to actually see through the magic of an ultrasound that she was carrying an actual life—a baby girl—everything had become real all at once.

  She was carrying her daughter inside her. She didn’t know what that meant right now, but she knew that she’d somehow changed in an instant, and nothing would ever be the same from this moment on.

  * * *

  NICK HADN’T BEEN prepared for Bree’s breakdown. She was always so strong, so in control. He didn’t know what to do for her except to just be there, and that didn’t feel like enough.

  They were almost at his car when she stopped walking and turned to him.

  “I’m fine now,” she said softly. “I really need to get to the office.”

  She was turning in the direction of her own car when he said, “Wait.”

  She spun back to face him. “What?”

  “That’s it? You fall apart back there and now everything’s suddenly okay?” His blood pressure was rising as he tried to figure out what was going on with her. “You don’t even want to talk about why you’re upset?”

  “I’m fine. I have things I need to do at work,” she said. “I’m sorry for my outburst. I think my hormones are on overload.” She laughed, but it was a humorless sound. “I can barely make it through a movie anymore without a box of tissues next to me.”

  He didn’t believe it was just hormones affecting her, but standing in the parking lot of the medical building wasn’t the place to have this conversation.

  “We’re still good for the reunion Saturday?” he asked, instead.

  She nodded. “Absolutely.” She looked down at her barely protruding belly and then up at Nick. “Will anyone know about the baby? I’m barely showing, so keeping it a secret might be wise. Otherwise, I’m sure you and your mom will have to answer some tough questions.”

  He’d thought about that, too. “I think keeping it quiet is wise. I’ll double-check with my mom to make sure we’re all on the same page. Her main reason for having us all there is so that her relatives don’t just find out that I’m raising our child alone and think we never had a relationship.”

  “Which would be the truth,” she said.

  “I would hope that you’d at least consider us friends after all this,” he said, trying to ignore the sting of her comment.

  She nodded. “Yes, I do consider us friends.”

  “Good.” He took hold of her upper arms and leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the lips. “That’s a start.”

  She stared at him a moment before turning to head to her car.

  “See you bright and early on Saturday,” he called after her.

  She didn’t turn around, merely lifted her arm and waved in acknowledgment.

  He watched until she backed her car out of the parking space, drove to the exit and turned onto the main road. Then he got into his own car and headed straight to the restaurant.

  He found himself whistling as he drove. He stopped and smiled. He was going to have a daughter. He couldn’t wait to share the news with his mom and Pete.

  When he arrived at The Fresh Pantry, his mom was speaking to one of the servers. The restaurant didn’t open for lunch for another fifteen minutes, so that gave him time to talk to her before she began seating people.

  “Hey, Mom,” he said when he came up to her in the dining room.

  “Hi, Nick,” she said, then turned to the server she’d been speaking to. “Good to catch up with you, Shirley. I want to hear more about that trip you’re planning later.” The server continued wrapping silverware into napkins, and his mom took Nick’s arm to guide him to where they could speak privately. “How did it go at the doctor’s? Is everything okay with Bree and the baby?”

  He smiled broadly and immediately saw relief on his mom’s face. “Everything is fine. Perfect, in fact.”

  “That’s so good to hear. With the problems she’s had since the beginning, I was a little worried.”

  He’d felt the same way. “I have some other news to share, too.”

  “You’re getting married?” She wasn’t about to give up hope.

  “No, Mom. We’re not getting married. You really know how to suck the air out of my balloon.”

  She feigned sadness. “I’m sorry. What’s your news?”

  “Well. Since we were both in the office, the doctor thought we could just have the ultrasound today instead of next week.”

  The moment his mom realized what that meant, her eyes widened to large circles
. “And?”

  He could feel her excitement building, ready to explode. “And you’re going to have a...”

  “Just tell me!”

  He grinned, loving the power he had over her. “A granddaughter!”

  His mom squealed, totally out of character, and grabbed him to hug him tightly. “That’s wonderful,” she whispered, her voice shaky with emotion. She pulled back to look at him. “After raising you two boys, I’m so happy to finally get a little girl.”

  “I knew you’d be happy.”

  She cocked her head. “You’re happy, too, aren’t you?”

  “Of course I am. I really didn’t care one way or the other.”

  “How did Bree take it?” His mother swiped at the wetness on her face. “Was she happy it’s a girl?”

  He pursed his lips. “You know, she actually had a strange reaction to the whole thing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She was very quiet until we got to the lobby, and then she just broke down into tears. Not really happy tears, but sobbing so hard that she had trouble getting herself together.”

  “Really?” Mom seemed to be considering the reason for Bree’s breakdown. “I wonder if she’s rethinking her decision to not raise the baby.”

  “I doubt it,” he said, even though the thought had crossed his mind, too. “She said she’s been pretty weepy because of the pregnancy hormones.”

  “I can understand that, but usually there needs to be something that initiates the tears. It can be a lot of things, even internal thoughts. I’d just like to know what was going through her mind after finding out she was carrying your daughter.”

  “I didn’t push her on it today,” he said. “I figured I have two hours in the car with her on the way to the reunion on Saturday.”

  She’d have no escape once they were on the road, and hopefully he’d get some answers.

  * * *

  BY SATURDAY MORNING, Bree had reconciled the fact that she was actually carrying a tiny human being inside her. The first look at the ultrasound had been her wake-up call, but now everything had become clear.

  She was going to be the mother of a daughter. That alone changed her world and what she wanted for the future.