⇾ 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐁𝐄 𝐈'𝐌 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐙𝐄𝐃 | 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐈𝐈

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙚𝙣 ➪ 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 (𝙍𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙬𝙤!)

ꕥ May 11, 1969 ꕥ

"So, there's this island in Greece," Paul said to me as he sat down at the table with a cup of tea in his hand. It was one in the afternoon and Mary was upstairs taking a nap. Paul handed me the cup of tea and I gladly took a sip of it, the warmth of it soothing my sore throat.

Over the past few days, that nausea that had surfaced the day I went to the doctor had shown back up. It had been here for about four days now counting the day of the appointment, and I was already tired of it.

"What about it?" I asked him.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little pamphlet, carefully laying it out in front of me on the table as I continued to sip on my tea. "I thought we could go there for our vacation. I could have us out there by next week!"

I smiled. "That's great, Paul."

His face fell. "Everything alright?" he asked. "Do you want to wait a little while until you aren't getting sick anymore?"

I shook my head vigorously. "No, no, no," I said dismissively. "I want to go on a vacation with my family." I smiled and he smiled too.

"Well, if you change your mind, just let me know, alright? Don't want you to be miserable on a vacation."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I don't bloody care about me. As long and you and Mary have a good time, I'm gonna be just fine. Now, let me see what this place looks like."

His face lit up as he gestured down to the pamphlet in front of me. "Aren't the beaches bloody beautiful?" he asked. "Says they've got lots of good restaurants too. I know how you like your food." He smirked.

The phone rang and I signaled for him to hold on as I stood up and went to answer it.

"Hello?" I asked as I put the receiver to my ear.

"Hello, I'm looking for Juliette McCartney." I recognized the voice as the doctor I'd gone to see a few days ago and peered in at Paul in the dining room where he was still studying the pamphlet in front of him. I snapped my fingers to get this attention and then pointed towards the phone. He immediately got the message and came over.

"This is she," I responded. Nervous anticipation bubbled up inside of me.

"Good afternoon," the doctor said. "I'm calling about the tests we ran on the eighth."

"Yes," I replied. "What about them?" I asked, sounding hopeful.

"Well, I'm happy to tell you that you are pregnant," she said and I blinked a few times as the words sunk in. "But, I do want to see you back in her as soon as possible. Your hCG levels are very low, so I want to try to properly find out how far along you are. Just as a precaution. Just to be sure everything is alright."

"A-alright," I responded nervously. I didn't like how that sounded. "When do you want me to come in?" Paul was staring at me with wide eyes. He didn't know what the hell I'd just been told, and clearly my reaction alarmed him.

There was a pause and I heard shuffling on her end. "We have a spot tomorrow at 10 AM and I was hoping to get you in then. Would that work for you?"

"Uh—yes," I responded, reaching for a piece of paper to write it down. "Yes, it would." I balanced the phone against my ear by holding it with my shoulder as I scribbled the time down.

"Alright, then, thank you," the doctor said. "Congratulations, love."

I smiled. "Thank you." Finally, we said our goodbyes and hung up.