The Family Next Door

by Heather D'Agostino

  Patrick glanced up at her, not missing a beat as he leaned in and pecked her lips whispering, “I didn’t see anyone else here. I thought we were alone.”

  “Good answer,” she giggled as she darted her eyes over to the group and watched them all sigh.

  “How long do you usually have to wait?” Patrick tapped his foot nervously on the carpet.

  “Not long,” Katie gave him a sympathetic smile as she placed her hand on his knee to still his movements. “What are you so worried about?”

  “I’m not really worried…” he began but was interrupted by the door opening as a nurse appeared.

  “Katie? We’re ready for you,” the petite woman stepped back, holding the door open as Katie moved to stand, reaching her hand out for her husband.

  Patrick shuffled to his feet, and tossed the magazine down on the table as he followed his wife through the door.

  As they wound through the hallways of the office, Patrick glanced around. This office was laid out a lot like his, and thoughts of going back to work the next day and dealing with Tinsley began to creep in. He shoved them down as quickly as he could. He wanted to enjoy this experience with his wife, and he wasn’t going to let anyone take that away.

  The nurse began to speak, bringing him out of his thoughts, “If you just roll your pants down below your belly, we can see what we need to.”

  Katie smiled and slid up onto the table while Patrick moved in a daze over to the chair in the corner.

  “Are you ok?” Katie looked over at her husband’s troubled expression. “I know this is a lot to take in.”

  “I’m fine,” he shook his head, and tried to get back to the happy feeling he had only hours ago. “Just have a lot going on at work.”

  “Oh,” Katie dropped her head in defeat. “You didn’t have to stay home with me today then. I would have been ok.”

  “What? No!” he rose and moved to stand beside her. “I want to be here with you. You come first. You hear me? You’re always going to come first.”

  Katie offered a weak smile, “Ok.”

  As she moved to lie back, the door creaked open, and a tall slender man stepped inside the small room. “How are we doing today, Mrs. McKinley?”

  “Fine,” Katie smiled.

  The doctor had his nose buried in the folder, in his hand, and had yet to notice Patrick in the room. When he put the file on the cabinet, he glanced up and smiled.

  “I’m Dr. Stevens,” he reached to shake Patrick’s hand. “Are you the father?”

  “Yes,” Patrick rose and returned the handshake. “Dr. Patrick McKinley,” he nodded and then sat back down.

  “I’m glad you could make it today. Your wife’s been missing you at the last several appointments,” he smiled warmly. “Maybe you can convince her that she needs to cut back on her hours at work.”

  Patrick scowled as he looked over at Katie, “Cut back?”

  “Yes, she needs to cut her hours in half. She’s not eating properly, and not gaining as much weight as she should be,” Dr. Stevens glanced at Katie and his mouth ironed out in a line. “You need to be eating more.”

  Katie grimaced. She knew that she wasn’t as big as she should be for the age of her baby, but she had also been under a lot of stress trying to hide this pregnancy from her husband. Now, with everything out in the open, she was sure things would be better.

  “I’ll do better. I promise,” she reached out and grabbed Patrick’s hand, entwining their fingers. She gave it a light squeeze and smiled.

  “Alright. Well, let’s see how the little one is doing,” Dr. Stevens reached out and pulled the ultrasound machine closer to Katie as he maneuvered himself onto a nearby stool. He lifted her shirt, and reached for the bottle of blue jelly, “This might be a little cold,” he warned as he squirted a large dollop on her belly.

  Katie sucked in a breath at the cold contact, but soon relaxed. As the doctor began to slide the wand over the small bump, a whooshing sound filled the air around them. Staring at the images on the screen, tears pooled in Katie’s eyes, and she tightened her grip on Patrick’s hand. She rolled her head to the side so she could see his reaction, which was nothing short of speechless.

  Her husband was sitting there in complete awe as tears pooled in his eyes. “Is that...?” he began but choked up immediately.

  “Yeah,” Katie nodded vigorously through her own tears. “That’s the heartbeat. Our baby’s…” she swallowed.

  Patrick rose to a standing position and moved closer to the exam table. Dr. Stevens was busy noting measurements on the machine, but Patrick was more interested in viewing any part he could see.

  He strained his neck over the table, staring wide-eyed at the gray image on the screen. The outline of the little image was clearly a person. Its arms and legs flailed wildly as the small blip in the middle blinked rapidly. Katie and Patrick had, of course, both seen ultrasounds before during their schooling. But somehow, knowing this was their child everything seemed totally different.

  When the doctor finally finished his assessment, he glanced up at Katie, “Do you wanna know the sex?”

  “No!” both husband and wife responded in unison, then glanced at each other with big grins. “Can you point out everything else is though?” Katie smiled.

  Dr. Stevens chuckled, “Of course. These are the arms and legs, and here’s the head,” he pointed on the screen with the end of his pen. “This little flicker here…that’s the heart. You can see the spine here. The baby’s lying on its side.” Its head is over here, and the feet are going this way,” he pointed to Katie’s belly indicating the way the baby was now lying inside her. “You’ve got awhile before we have to be concerned on whether it will turn head down, but everything looks great. You’re doing great, you just need to eat more,” the doctor smiled and then clicked a few buttons. “I’m going to print out some pictures for you to take home.” He removed the wand and handed Katie a wad of paper towels, “Here. Clean yourself off, and I’ll meet you out front with the pictures. We’ll see you back in a month,” he nodded and moved toward the door. “It was nice to meet you, Dad.”

  While Katie cleaned herself up, Patrick sat back in the chair just staring off into space. He’d been struck speechless. The wonder he’d felt when he saw his child on that screen was something he couldn’t really put into words. Amazing didn’t even come close to describing it.

  Katie righted herself on the table, and then looked over at Patrick, “It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it is,” he nodded still in a daze. “I never understood until today…” he trailed off.

  “Understood what?” she cocked her head to the side.

  “What it’s like to witness a miracle,” he lifted a shoulder as he looked at his wife perched on the table staring back at him in awe. “I saw God today,” he leaned in and kissed her forehead as he felt a shudder roll through her.

  “Oh Patrick,” she sobbed. “I love you so much. I’m so sorry I cheated you out of being here from the beginning.”

  “Stop apologizing for that. I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere,” he stood up and held his hand out to her. “Let’s go grab those pictures and then I’m going to take you out to dinner.”

  “Dinner?” she smiled up at him as she slid off the table.

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “The Bistro.”

  “Sounds great,” she smiled as they headed for the front desk to check out.

  ooooooooo

  Most of dinner was spent with Patrick trying to convince his wife to eat more. Katie, on the other hand, thought she might pop if she stuffed one more bite in. After promising her husband she’d start eating better, he finally relented. She tried to explain that her weight loss was stress related, and now it would be easier, but she didn’t want to push the issue. She knew he’d blame himself, and she wanted to move past that.

  After they had finished their dinner, Patrick mentioned he needed to stop by his office on the way home.

  �
�I just need to run in real quick, and grab a file off my desk. I’ll be right back. Just wait here,” Patrick leaned in the open car door and kissed his wife.

  “Hurry back,” she called to his retreating form.

  ooooooooo

  Patrick took the steps two at a time as he raced up to the front door. The office was closed for the day, so he didn’t think he’d run into anyone. He wanted to grab the file on the Emerson case. He was supposed to have a consult the following morning, and he wanted to make sure he had everything ready, so he didn’t come across as immature or unprepared. Patients were sometimes skeptical with him, due to his age, but Patrick always ended up proving them wrong in the end.

  When he rounded the corner to his office, he noticed the door was cracked open. He wrinkled his forehead as he stood in the hallway for a few moments. He’d thought he’d locked up the day before, but he’d been in such a rush to get to the pharmacy before they closed that maybe he hadn’t pulled the door shut all the way.

  When he pushed the door open, he noticed a bottle sitting on his desk. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a bottle of Jack. He moved behind his desk and glanced down at it. Two shot glasses, one with a lipstick stain on it, sat by the bottle. The seal had been broken, allowing one drink to have been poured. A napkin with O’Bryan’s Pub stamped on it was under the bottle with a note scrawled across it.

  Had a great time last night with you. Hope we can do it again soon. Look forward to finishing what we started. <3 T

  Patrick swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. Did she really think that he was going to finish anything with her? What had he done, and how was he ever going to get out of this one? Panic ensued as he remembered his wife sitting out in the car. He quickly grabbed the bottle, glasses, and note and shoved them in his bottom desk drawer. He’d figure out what to do tomorrow. Right now his main concern was getting home with his wife.

  He grabbed the file off his desk, turned the lights off, and made his way back to his car. When he climbed in, he offered a strained smiled as he looked over at Katie. “All set. Let’s go home.”

  “Sounds great,” she returned the smile as Patrick put the car in gear.

  As he began to drive, the only thing he could think of was how was he ever going to get out of this mess he’d created? There was no way Katie would ever forgive this, especially when he’d made such a big deal over the fact that she’d lied to him. Wasn’t he doing the same thing at the moment? How was this any better than what she’d done?

  It wasn’t. That was the short of it. He knew he was going to have to tell her - he just wasn’t sure how.

  Chapter 15

  After a restless night of sleep, Patrick rose bright and early to leave for work. He wanted to get into the office as soon as he could so he could talk to Tinsley. The note and bourbon she’d left on his desk the day before was not cool, not cool at all. What if someone in the office had seen it? What if he’d let Katie come in with him, and she’d seen it? That thought alone had him sick to his stomach. He knew he needed to make sure she knew that nothing like the night before would ever happen again. He was in a dark place when he’d arrived at the bar, and she’d taken advantage of him.

  As he stood in the doorway of his and Katie’s room, he glanced over his shoulder one last time at his wife’s sleeping form before heading down the stairs. When he reached the kitchen, he smiled at the Dunkin Donuts bag that he’d left on the counter. After giving up on sleep earlier that morning, he’d gone for a run and stopped at the donut shop for his wife. He grinned as he thought about her reaction to the surprise he’d left. He hadn’t done this in years. Back when they had first started going out, he’d stop each morning and grabbed her a coffee and jelly donut. He’d stop by her bedroom window to drop off the treat, and say good morning. Over the years, the sweet things they did as kids seemed to fade out in their relationship. Patrick didn’t really know why, but he was determined to try and get some of it back. Pride that he’d remembered this swelled in his chest.

  ooooooooo

  When he pulled into the parking lot of the clinic, he noticed that only a handful of cars were in the lot. Tinsley’s Mercedes was over on the far side of the lot away from the others. She always made sure she wasn’t parked next to someone who might ding her doors.

  Patrick shook his head as he climbed out, and headed toward the front door. When he entered, it was fairly quiet. Jean, the receptionist that they’d recently hired, was not at her desk yet. Patrick said a silent prayer as he walked down the hall, heading for his office. Jean was great but nosy. He wanted to talk to Tinsley in private, and he didn’t need anyone reporting anything about him meeting with her.

  Once Patrick made it into his office, he turned on the lights and moved around behind his desk. Upon closer examination, he noticed the picture of Katie that normally sat on the corner of his desk was moved to a nearby shelf. He scowled as he picked up the frame, and moved it back to his desk. As if she knew that he was thinking about her, Tinsley appeared in his doorway mere minutes later.

  “Hi,” she smiled at him.

  Patrick narrowed his eyes at her, “I need to talk to you…in private.”

  “Oh?” she raised her brows as she slinked further into his office. “What about?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me…it’s not attractive,” he huffed as he pointed to a chair across from him. “Have a seat.”

  Tinsley sauntered in swaying her hips as her lip curled up on one side into a coy smile, “This could look like something it’s not, you know?”

  “I’m well aware of what it looks like,” Patrick growled. “Close the door please.”

  Tinsley turned her back on him and stepped to the side to push his door closed as soundlessly as possible. When she spun back around to face him, Patrick had moved to stand right in front of her. The calm demeanor he had been projecting was gone, and he was seething with anger.

  “What the hell are you trying to pull?” he leaned in, so he was right in her face. His jaw ticked, and every muscle in his body was tense and alert.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” she glanced to the side avoiding eye contact.

  “That…what does that mean?” he pointed to his desk where he’d placed the bottle of bourbon when she was shutting the door.

  “Looks like a good time to me,” she lifted a shoulder as her grin slipped back into place. “You know…we could have a lot of fun together,” she reached out and trailed a finger lightly up his body, starting at his waist and ending right below his collarbone.

  “I’m not interested,” he muttered, grasping her wrist.

  “Didn’t seem that way the other night,” she leaned up on her toes so she could whisper in his ear. “You seemed to want it pretty bad. In fact,” she pressed, “I think you were pretty into it.”

  “That was a mistake,” he ground out, dropping her wrist as if his hand was burned. He pushed back away from her, moving to go back behind his desk and put some space between them. “It was the liquor, nothing else. And it won’t happen again. That’s a promise.”

  “We’ll see,” she moved to perch herself on the corner of his desk as she ran her hands down her legs provocatively.

  “No! We won’t see,” he too sat and then leaned forward crossing his arms in front of himself on the desk.

  Tinsley pushed herself to a standing position and stepped toward the door. Once she opened it, she stepped into the hallway as she called out, “That’s what they all say at first. You’ll change your mind.”

  After she had disappeared from sight, Patrick grabbed one of the shot glasses and threw it as hard as he could at the wall. It shattered on impact, and he slumped into the chair. Realization of the type of woman Tinsley really was, slowly began to sink in. Katie was right, she was a black widow.

  ooooooooo

  When Katie awoke, she rolled to her side, sniffed Patrick’s empty pillow, and smiled contently as she remembered the previous day. He’d been so sweet the way he wanted to
take care of her. She closed her eyes, and sighed as memories of their day came floating back.

  When she turned her head to view the time on the alarm clock, she noticed a note propped against it.

  Good Morning! Breakfast is on the counter. Tell your boss you need to cut back to half time, and I’ll see you tonight. Love you!!!

  P

  Katie grinned and clutched the small piece of paper to her chest. Things were finally getting back to the way they used to be. Her husband was performing all these sweet little gestures just like when they were teens.

  After placing the note back on the nightstand, she rolled to the side and tossed her feet over the edge. Getting out of bed was getting harder every day. The child she was carrying seemed to have decided to all of a sudden make an appearance, and she was now sporting a fairly good sized bump. It was almost as if the baby knew it didn’t need to hide anymore, and was determined to make its presence known.

  Katie sat on the edge of the bed for a moment as she wrapped her arms around herself. Gazing down at her belly, she whispered, “Everything’s gonna be fine now,” before standing to make her way over to the closet. As she stood there scanning the scrubs, trying to decide which pair she would choose for the day, she realized that she needed to go shopping. She had yet to purchase any type of maternity wear, and her own clothes were becoming quite uncomfortable. She finally selected a pair of basic blue and made her way back into her room.

  As she went to pull on the scrub pants, a frustrated grunt rolled out of her. She couldn’t get them over her hips, and they were the largest pair she owned. She growled as she ripped them off, and flung them across the room. The happy feeling that she’d had mere moments ago instantly left her and frustration and anger replaced it. She flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. What was she going to wear to work? All of her friends at the hospital were her size or smaller, so it wasn’t as if she could borrow something from them. After pouting a few more minutes, an idea began to form. She reached over, grabbed her cell, and began dialing her mother as she trudged downstairs.