The Rule of Three

Chapter 2

"Hey Murphy," Anna says as she lifts the toddler from her car seat. Today, she and Daniel had a doctor's appointment, and they were unable to get a sitter for Murphy. "If you are a good girl, we can go get ice cream when we're done," she bounces the little girl on her hip. Daniel grabs the little pink back pack they had gotten when Murphy no longer needed the big diaper bag; this bag usually contains a coloring book or two with crayons and snacks for when Murphy got restless or fussy while on an outing. Daniel closes the doors to the car; Murphy squeals with excitement, "but you have to be good!" Anna states again.

"Yes ma'am, I will be REALLY good," she smiles and Anna feels her heart melt. She could not believe how dazzling beautiful her little girl was. Murphy had long brunette curls with big brown eyes. She had little dimples that appeared when she smiled. Murphy plays with Anna's necklace as the three walked through the parking lot. "Why are we here?" Murphy asks.

Anna and Daniel look at each other, "Mommy and daddy need to talk to a doctor for a little bit," Daniel answers. Sensing that the little girl was still puzzled, he adds, "We just need to ask him a few grown up things." They young parents look at their daughter to see if she was going to question them again.

Murphy tilts her head, "Can I color while you talk to him?" Her parents laugh as they walk into the building.

"Yes, we have a coloring book and crayons in your book bag," Anna says. The little girl squeals again. The three of them walk through the building until they reach the check in desk they needed. They sit in the waiting room for about a half hour, and the entire time Murphy had her nose pressed to the glass of the fish tank in the corner, naming and renaming every single fish in the tank.

When they are called back, a nurse leads them down a hall to a door that says DR. HENDRICK. He is the same doctor that helped them conceive Murphy. Anna and Daniel are hoping he can help them again. The nurse knocks on the door and turns back to them. After a few seconds, the door opens and inside stands a silver haired man.

Dr. Hendrick smiles to them, "Hello Daniel and Anna, thank you Elizabeth." The nurse hands the doctor their file and turns to the family. She smiles sweetly to them and walks back the way she had led them. The doctor stepped to the side and motioned for the family to come in, "Please come in and we'll get started." The couple do so, and as Anna passes Dr. Hendrick, he waves to Murphy saying, "Hello princess, how are you?" Murphy shyly buries her face into her mother's hair. "A little shy are we?" he smiles to Anna.

"Just a little bit," Daniel laughs as he follows his wife into the office. The three adults lightly laugh. Dr. Hendrick sits behind his desk and the couple sit in the chairs in front of the desk. Daniel hands Murphy a coloring book and a few crayons from her book bag. He smiled at the little girl as she began to work on a picture of a puppy playing. He looks up to the doctor who is flipping through the pages of their file.

Dr. Hendrick is going to tell them whether or not it is likely that they will be successful in conceiving again. Both Anna and Daniel had check ups last week, in which the doctor took a few tests to see if they were capable of the procedure.

"As you said during our phone conversation, you are hoping to conceive another child?" Dr. Hendrick asks as he looks up and smiles to the couple sitting across from him. The couple glance to each other and then nod back to the doctor, both holding their breath. "From the looks of your test results from last week, I have no reason to believe we won't be successful again," he smiles to them.

Anna and Daniel let out a sigh of relief; they smile to each other. Daniel leans over and pecks Anna quickly before they both turn back to the doctor.

Dr. Hendrick is smiling at them, "Now we can schedule to begin the procedures."

"Thank you so much doctor," Anna beams. She can't believe that this was actually happening. She was going to have another child. She had always wanted a big family and it killed her when she found out she could not conceive naturally. Thankfully they had found Dr. Hendrick's office; everyone had been so helpful during Murphy's pregnancy.

Dr. Hendrick begins to write on one of the papers in the file. "So now it just depends on how quickly you wish to proceed with the process," he states.

"Now." Both Daniel and Anna say immediately. They look at each other, and all three laugh.

"Well then let's get you scheduled for the first procedure next week?" Dr. Hendrick asks. He looks up from the papers again, "Is that too soon?" he asks.

"No, not at all," Anna answers as she wraps her arms around the little girl who was still patiently coloring in her lap. She realizes that her life is about to change and she couldn't be happier.

After they schedule their next appointments, the doctor answers their questions, however they didn't have many since they had already gone through the procedure once. When they finish, Anna and Daniel stand up and shake Dr. Hendrick's hand.

"Thank you so much again," Daniel smiles.

"Absolutely," he smiled. "Now, go and get your rest. Believe me; you're going to need it," he laughs. He walks with the couple to his office door and waves to Murphy as they leave.

When they walk out of the building into the parking lot, Murphy taps on her father's shoulder. Daniel looks to his daughter in his arms, "Yes, princess?" Murphy's lip spread into a big smile.

"Is it ice cream time now?" she asks happily. The couple laughs.

"Yes Murphy, it is ice cream time," Anna laughs. As they load into their car, Anna looks to Daniel and says, "he was right you know."

Daniel looks puzzled by her statement, "What do you mean?"

"If our next kid is anything like Murphy, we're gonna need all the rest we can get," she laughs.