The Sire

Chapter 20

The day was gloomy contrary to the previous day. In that season, the weather was quite unpredictable in San Francisco. It could be warm and sunny one day and rainy in the next. The trees were surrounded in a dense mist that danced gracefully in between any tiny space it could infiltrate. The lawn was glistening as small spheres of water rested on it. It may have frosted during the night. It was common to happen at that time of the year on the hill. The sky was covered in gray lawyers, the denser one over the sea far on the horizon. The scent of the sea reached Diana's nostrils as she paced calmy on her front porch with her phone in her ear. Nature was silent though. The birds were quiet. The sea seemed quiet and even the dogs were disinterested in any noise they could hear. There was total silence around her.

"Dr. Callahan?" Diana finally said as she had been put on hold. She was calling Iris's doctor.

"Diana, how are you?" The doctor greeted her on the other side quite warmly. "I am sorry I kept you waiting, but I had to go check on a patient who suffered a miscarriage yesterday." She said, closing the door of her office.

"So sorry to hear that." Diana breathed.

"It happens..." The doctor breathed. "How can I help you?" She offered immediately.

"I was wondering if you could see Iris today?" Diana asked, though she knew Dr. Callahan was always extremely busy. "An emergency happened." She added, so it wouldn't look like just a mother's concern.

"What happened?" The doctor asked, sitting on her desk, and going through her computer looking for Iris's information. "She has all her exams..." She said as she read her notes. Iris had visited her the last time she had been in San Francisco.

"She is pregnant." Diana said. "She made the test yesterday and I think..."

"Oh!" The woman exclaimed, interrupting Diana. "But she has the IUD..." Callahan narrowed her eyes as she read more in her computer.

"It must be displaced." Diana breathed. "She says she didn't feel anything and she forgot to check the strings as she should do regularly."

"Well... can you bring her here around noon?" The doctor proposed. "Is that a good time? It is a quiet time for me..."

"Sure." Diana nodded. "We'll be there."

"Diana..." Callahan called for she felt so much preoccupation in Diana's voice. "It's not the end of the world... it happens a lot."

"It's just that she's so young." Diana ran a hand over her hair, pulling it back. "Whatever she decides to do, it is going to change her life and I wish she didn't have to go through any of this so young. That is all."

"We can never protect them of all things." Callahan smiled. "Even if we wish we could."

"I know." Diana ended smiling too.

"Bring her." Callahan told her. "First things first. We need to know if everything is fine."

"Yes." Diana nodded. "See you later and thank you very much."

"See you later."

Callahan hung up and Diana crossed her arms around her chest, holding the phone in her hand and she stayed there glued to the timber floor of the porch staring at her garden. A knock on the window from inside the house made her look back and she found her husband waving at her. Diana smiled at him and James smiled back, but his lines were so incredibly marked that morning. She had told him everything when he came back home at night. He took it badly, even if she had prepared him for it in the morning, in the sense that he thought it would be a life changing moment for his girl despite of what she'd decide. James barely slept. She felt him turn around in bed the whole time. In fact, none of them had much sleep.