Trouble in Dixie

by Becky McGraw

  “Don’t be nervous baby, it’ll be okay…I’ll be here if you need me,” he said and hugged her before she got up into the truck.

  “I just think it’s an ulcer…those are pretty common,” she reassured him with a smile then hopped up into the truck. He just grunted, then shut the door and made his way around the truck to get up inside and drive them to the doctor’s office down the street. When they walked inside, an attractive dark-haired nurse smiled brightly at Tommy, not her, then gave him a once over that set Katie’s teeth on edge. He returned the woman’s grin and held her eyes as they walked to the counter.

  Katie wanted to give the curvy brunette a knuckle sandwich and yell ‘mine‘, but she refrained and forced a smile, then said, “Katie Upton, here to see Dr. Percival,” and tilted her chin up a little.

  Tommy had his arm around her waist, so it should be obvious to the woman in the too tight white dress, that he was taken. He was taken, wasn’t he? She hadn’t told him so, but he’d asked her not to kiss anyone else, so she assumed he’d follow the same rules. Katie glanced up at him, and saw his eyes were on the woman’s ass, as she went to make a copy of Katie’s insurance card. Katie growled and thrummed her fingertips on the counter, and she felt Tommy look down at her, but ignored him.

  The woman handed Katie her card back, and gave her forms to fill out, so she took the clipboard to a chair and started writing, not paying any mind to where Tommy was. When she finished and walked back to the counter, the nurse handed her a cup and asked her for a urine specimen, then pointed her to the bathroom, which she needed anyway.

  Katie blushed when she walked back out with the cup in her hand and Tommy followed her across the room with his eyes. After sliding it back across the counter to the woman, she went and sat beside him, then grabbed a magazine, flipping through it, even though she wasn’t reading it.

  “You might get more out of that article, if you turn the magazine around, it’s upside down,” he said with a chuckle then grabbed the magazine from her hand and flipped it end over end. She huffed a breath, then crossed her legs away from him and pretended to read again, swinging her leg in agitation.

  When he slid his arm around her shoulders, and gave her a squeeze, she stiffened and leaned around her and tried to catch her gaze. She heard him sigh, then he asked, “What’s wrong, sugar?”

  “Nothing,” she said flatly, and flipped a page.

  “Not likely, my arm’s about frozen off from your cold shoulder. What the hell did I do?” he asked in a frustrated tone.

  She glanced at him and told him angrily, “I’m sure Nurse Goodbody’s shoulders are warm, why don’t you go put your arm around her?” Licking her thumb, Katie turned another page and ignored him.

  “Nurse Goodbo—c’mon, baby, don’t be like that,” he said with a chuckle.

  He was mocking her, and Katie felt like her hair was going to catch on fire, she was so mad. “Be like what Tommy? You about scorched a second hole in that woman’s ass with your eyes. How am I supposed to feel?”

  His eyebrows pinched, and he frowned, then said defensively, “I was just daydreaming, I wasn’t staring at her ass.”

  She harrumphed, then went back to looking at her magazine. He was definitely staring at the woman’s ass, Katie wasn’t blind, or stupid.

  He snorted, then turned toward her and said in exasperation, “I wasn’t!”

  “Whatever, Tommy…it’s a free country, you’re available, you can stare at whoever’s ass you want to stare at,” she said coldly.

  He growled, then she yelped when he pulled her into his lap, and got nose to nose with her, “I am not available, and I didn’t stare at her ass, your ass is the only one I’m interested in. I can’t believe we’re having this argument in the doctor’s office!”

  She snorted, then told him, “Since the doctor examines asses every day, just like you do, it’s quite an appropriate place to have this argument.”

  “You are the most frustrating woman, I’ve ever met,” he told her fiercely.

  “Then why are you here?” she asked him and her lip trembled, which embarrassed her.

  “Because I love you dammit,” he said then covered her mouth with his and kissed her until her toes curled. When he pulled away from her he whispered over her lips, “I love you, Katie…”

  Tears filled her eyes, as emotion surged through her. She wasn’t ready to admit it to him yet, but Katie loved him too, that’s why she got so damned mad thinking he was looking at another woman. She slid her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely. “I’m sorry,” she murmured into his neck, then added, “The last two months, I’ve been an emotional wreck…thank you for coming with me today.”

  “Your emotional state is partly my fault, I know, and I’m sorry for stressing you out, sugar. I wanted to be here, I’m worried about you,” he whispered over her hair, then dropped kiss on the top of head.

  The curvy nurse came out of the door beside the reception counter, and called her name then looked around the waiting room, like there were fifteen people waiting to see Dr. Percival, when in reality it was only her. Katie wanted to laugh, but instead she put a light kiss on Tommy’s lips, then got up off his lap. When he stood up behind her and put a hand at her lower back, she groaned, because that answered the question whether he was going in with her. He kept his hand there as they walked through the door and followed the nurse to the exam room.

  A few minutes later, a wiry man with gold-rimmed glasses and wild gray hair walked through the door grinning. He stuck out his hand to her, and said in a friendly tone, “Katie? I’m Doc Percival…nice to meet you young lady.”

  She shook his hand and smiled. “Yes, I’m Katie Upton, nice to meet you too.”

  The doctor grabbed a black leather covered stool from the corner and rolled it over to sit in front of them, then extended his hand to Tommy. Tommy blushed then introduced himself, “Tommy Tucker, Katie’s, um, boyfriend,” he said.

  Her boyfriend, huh? Well, that was progress for sure, and she looked into Tommy’s eyes and smiled happily. Her eyes swung back to Doc Percival when he asked, “Let’s see, so you’ve been nauseous, had vomiting, tiredness, frequent urination…anything else?” Dr. Percival looked up at her and waited for her to respond.

  She snorted then glanced at Tommy and said, “Irritability…”

  “Are your breasts sore?” The doctor asked and looked at Tommy, then her.

  She blushed and felt Tommy’s eyes on her, but she didn’t look up at him, then she answered, “Yeah, a little.”

  “When was your last period, Katie?” The doctor flipped through the file and then looked up at her.

  Her periods weren’t regular, they came when they decided to appear, so she couldn’t really remember the last time that happened, but it seemed like it was a good while back. “I’m not really regular, but maybe six weeks ago?”

  “Are you on birth control?” he asked.

  “No…the pill makes me sick,” she said, and it did. She’d tried it once and she was sick for a whole month, then quit taking it. She figured condoms would have to do the trick. She wondered why he was asking so many questions about all that. She was here for an ulcer.

  “When did you last have intercourse?” he asked clinically and waited for her response.

  She looked over at Tommy and his eyes met hers, then she said, “About a month ago…”

  There was a knock at the door, and the dark-haired nurse walked in, glanced at her, then handed Doc Percival a piece of paper, before she walked back out and shut the door. He studied it intently, and his eyebrows pinched together, then he looked up at her, and sighed. “I’m thinking there’s something in the water around here,” he chuckled and shook his head.

  Katie gave him a quizzical look and he said, “You’re pregnant, Katie.”

  “Holy, shit!” she and Tommy said together. Her breathing ramped up to hummingbird pace as did her heart rate. All the blood drained from her head and headed for her feet, and black spots f
illed her vision. Katie had never passed out before in her life, but she was afraid that was about to happen right now. When she swayed in her chair, Doc Percival pushed her head down between her knees and told her to slow her breathing down. Tommy’s hand moved to her back and he rubbed circles there, his hand was trembling as much as her body was.

  “I don’t do obstetrics anymore, but I still have ultrasound equipment. I’d like to see if we can hear the baby’s heartbeat…maybe get a look at your uterus and placenta.”

  “I can’t breathe,” Katie wheezed and put her hand to her chest, then held her head between her hands.

  Doc Percival got up and pulled out a white paper bag from the cabinet above the sink, flicked it open then handed it to her. “Breath into this, slow down gradually, take deep breaths,” he instructed her, then looked at Tommy and said, “Do you need one too?”

  Katie glanced up and saw him shake his head, and she put the paper bag to around her mouth and tried to regulate her breathing. Tommy’s face was pale, and his lips were pinched tight, he looked like he might throw up.

  When her breathing slowed and she felt some blood return to her head, Katie said in a shaky voice, “When do you want to do the ultrasound?”

  “I don’t have any more appointments this afternoon, so if you like, we can do it now.”

  God, she didn’t know if she was ready for this…but it didn’t matter really, she was pregnant, and she was going to have to deal with it, because it wasn’t going away. “Now is fine…” she agreed.

  “Okay then, just lay up on the table and unzip your shorts and pull up your shirt, I’ll be right back,” he told her in a soothing tone, then walked out of the room and shut the door.

  She stood up and walked to the exam table and unzipped her shorts then scooted up on it. Tommy was quiet in the chair beside where she’d been sitting, and she was afraid to look at him, afraid of what she’d see in his eyes. He wanted to keep their relationship a secret, take it slowly, well that wasn’t going to happen now. The cat was out of the bag, and the cow was out of the barn…she was pregnant and he’d just have to figure out how to deal with it too.

  His voice was raw and hoarse when he forced out one word, “How?”

  His question struck her as funny and she snorted, then looked up at him, “If you don’t know, I’m sure not gonna tell you. I’m sure Doc Percival could explain it to you.”

  “Stop the sarcasm, Katie…we used a condom…how could this happen?” his tone was accusatory, and she wasn’t sure she liked it one bit.

  She stiffened her shoulders then told him, “Condoms break…did you check? I told you I wasn’t sure how old it was…”

  Her face blanched and she slid off the table, then picked up her backpack and opened the side pocket where the second condom she had was stored. Holding it up, she looked at the expiration date, and it was two years ago. She groaned and handed it to him, then turned her back and folded her arms across her middle.

  “Totally fucking irresponsible,” he grated then ran a hand through his hair, before he stood and tossed the packet into the garbage can. She got back up on the table, and he started pacing in front of her, his breathing erratic.

  “I only had them in there just in case. I didn’t have sex often, so I didn’t need them…or the person I was with had their own,” she accused right back. Hell, he’d been there too, he should have had protection. Katie admitted she’d been the aggressor, and he’d wanted to stop, but she wasn’t taking full responsibility, that was for sure.

  His face turned so red it was almost purple, and he stopped pacing to face her, “Guess I was just the lucky bastard to use your ‘just in case’ condoms, since I hadn’t had sex in four years, and didn’t carry them around.”

  She slid down off the table and got up in his face, then put her finger in his chest, narrowed her eyes. “This wasn’t an immaculate conception, even though you were with another woman that night, not me, right?” she accused and poked her finger in his chest, then finished, “I don’t need you, and my kid doesn’t need you. Go back to the Rockin’ D and just forget we exist. We’ll be just fine.”

  He face flinched and then he took a step forward and put his nose to hers, before he grated, “I don’t fucking think so, you’re carrying my kid and I take care of what’s mine.”

  Katie turned her back to him again and said in a trembling voice, “Well, I’m not yours, and I don’t intend to be…and this baby doesn’t have to be either, just leave me the hell alone.”

  The door opened right then and Nurse Goodbody backed into the room tugging a cart in with a screen and other gadgets on it. Doc Percival came in behind the cart and evidently noticed the tension in the room, because he looked at Tommy, then at her and gave them a tight smile, before he asked Katie, “Okay, is Mr. Tucker staying in the room while we do this?

  Katie said “No!” at the same time Tommy grated “Yes!” and then they glared at each other. Choosing not to get in the middle of them evidently, Dr. Percival pushed the cart beside the exam table and folded his arms waiting for them to decide.

  “I’m not leaving, Katie,” he told her mulishly, his hazel eyes bright with anger.

  “Fine, stay then,” she spat then stepped up and sat on the table and folded her arms under her breasts.

  “Okay, Katie, scoot farther back on the table and lay down for me,” the kind doctor told her and she huffed out a frustrated breath, then did as he asked. After she laid back on the paper covered pillow, he shoved her shirt up under her breasts and then asked her to lift her hips, and he slid her shorts down along with her panties, so her lower abdomen was exposed. She was still covered, but she felt so exposed, because Tommy was in the room. Hot tears burned behind her eyelids, but she refused to let them fall. Katie stared at the ceiling, refusing to look his way.

  The doctor picked up a rectangular device then slathered some clear gel on it, before he placed it on her lower abdomen and smoothed it around in circles. She gasped because it was cold, and tensed her muscles.

  “Sorry, it’s cold, I should have warned you,” Doc Percival said and glanced at her.

  He reached over to the machine and adjusted a few dials and moved the probe around on her belly, watching the screen intently. Leaning closer to it, he studied it intently for a second, then moved it a little to the left and studied it again. He reached for another knob and a swooshing sound filled the room, and Katie gasped, then asked in a whisper, “Is that the baby?”

  Tommy walked closer to the table and leaned over to see the screen, he looked interested, but confused as to what he was actually seeing. Doc Percival didn’t answer her question, he just looked really close at the screen, then pursed his lips. “You’re an identical twin, right?” he asked Katie.

  Katie gulped and her heart stopped, because she was afraid of where he was going with this. “Yes, sir…”

  “Well, it looks like you may be having a twin set too,” the doctor told her and she heard a whoosh of air, then a crash. Katie screamed then sat straight up and saw Tommy Tucker’s large body laying haphazardly on the tile floor, passed out cold, with chairs on top of him.

  “Oh, Lord…this is a first,” the doctor said with concern, then fished around in a drawer, before he knelt beside Tommy and ran something under his nose. Tommy coughed a few times then opened his dazed eyes and looked around, before he glanced up at her and his face turned a putrid shade of green. He scrambled to his feet and ran out of the room with his hand over his mouth.

  Doc Percival shook his head and chuckled, then turned to her. “I’d say you’re about five or six weeks along, Katie, but with twins you’re going to be considered a high risk pregnancy, and need to be monitored closely. You’ll need to see a specialist, and I can recommend a few. You should make an appointment as soon as possible.”

  “Thank you,” she said breathlessly, and he handed her a prescription for prenatal vitamins, then scribbled the name of his recommended specialist on another sheet of paper then handed it t
oo her with a smile, and said good luck, before he left the room.