Free to Love

Chapter 4

Shawn

A month after getting our big news, Mallory and I left Gracie with my mom so that we could go to Mal's first doctor visit alone. We used the excuse that we wanted to go out on a lunch date alone before I went back on tour. Mal said we shouldn't tell anyone until after we'd seen the doctor and knew everything was fine.

I was dreading seeing Dr. Abbott again. I knew she'd never forget the circumstances surrounding Gracie's delivery. I'd shown up smelling of booze right before the delivery, after I'd missed the entire labor. I know I came across as some sort of degenerate husband. And justifiably so.

Mallory was seated on the exam table wearing the gown the nurse had given to her. I vividly remembered our first visit to the doctor when she was pregnant with Grace. We hardly knew each other.

Dr. Abbott walked in and gave us both big smiles. "Congratulations!" she said cheerily.

"Thank you," Mal said. I just smiled.

"Let's look you over," Dr. Abbott said as she approached Mal.

Mallory laid back on the table. The doctor felt her abdomen.

"So you're eight weeks pregnant counting from your last period. That means your due date is June 8th."

"Grace was just over two weeks early. Is there a chance this baby will be, too?" Mal asked.

"There's definitely more of risk of an early delivery, but you never know. I'd be prepared for it, though."

Dr. Abbott looked over at me. I knew what she was thinking. She was wordlessly telling me to be around during those last few weeks. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, for god's sake. In fact, I'd already told Andrew, my manager, that when Mal got pregnant again, I would not be leaving Toronto for the entire last trimester.

"I'd like to do a transvaginal sonogram, just to check implantation and the baby's size," the doctor said.

We were familiar with the procedure from last time, though it definitely wasn't as uncomfortable for me to be present for it this time around.

Dr. Abbott inserted the wand and almost immediately the image of the baby, nestled inside the little amniotic sac, appeared on the screen,. It was essentially a little lima bean with what had to be the beginnings of limbs.

"The baby is implanted and everything looks good. The size matches with the date you gave me, so we'll stick with the due date we calculated."

She then printed out several photos.

"So everything is normal and healthy?" I asked.

Dr. Abbott smiled at me. "Yes, Shawn, everything looks good. We'll know more with the next ultrasound, which will be around 20 weeks. You can find out the sex of the baby at that point."

I looked at Mal and grinned. We'd argued over whether we were finding that out last time and she'd won. We didn't learn that Gracie was a girl until she'd been born. Mal grinned back and shook her head.

When we got to the car, I leaned across and gave my wife a kiss. "So when do we tell our parents?"

"My mom and dad are visiting soon since they are going to Tennessee for Thanksgiving. We can tell them all together then."

I was leaving in three days and would be gone for two weeks. I'd be back for a week, and then I'd be gone another two weeks. I'd have to miss the next doctor's appointment because of this, which really bothered me. Mal had said it was no big deal when she'd made the appointment before leaving Dr. Abbott's office. I knew these early visits were quick, but I still wanted to be there for all of them.