Murder was the Case they Gave Me

Chapter 4

I sat on the table nervously with Henry by my side. We had already filled out the papers and talked with the nurse. Gone through all the boring stuff. But the time was finally here for the ultrasound.

"You are having one little baby," the doctor, Ramirez, said.

"One? Good," I mumbled. "I don't think I could handle twins or more."

I looked at the screen and frowned.

"Wow, they're tiny," I said.

The ultrasound was merely a black and white image with just a little oval on it.

"Your baby is about one eighteenth of an inch," she said. "About the size of a pen dot."

"Shit, that's tiny," Henry said. "They're healthy?"

"It seems like it so far but obviously the baby is still small at this point," Dr. Ramirez said. "It looks like the embryo is about five weeks old, you should be due around November fifth."

"That's...that's really close to Eli's birthday," I said.

"Eli is the father, correct?" She asked and I nodded. "Will he be coming to the next appointment?"

"He should be," Henry said, and my stomach dropped so much I was surprised you couldn't see it in the ultrasound.

It's been a week. A whole week and we still haven't heard anything new about him.

"His birthday is on Halloween," I said. "We...we would always dress up in fun couples' costumes for Halloween."

"That's cute," Dr. Ramirez said.

"We just got engaged," I said. "W-we're gonna get married."

She nodded, and I looked at the screen again.

"At this age they're starting to get bigger, the cells that form their brain are beginning to form," she said. "In the next week your baby will double in size.

"Oh wow," Henry said.

"The heart is a single tube now," she said. "At your next appointment we'll be able to hear the heartbeat. How's the morning sickness?"

"It started last week," I said. "And it lasts until about one in the afternoon and after it feels better, sometimes I do throw up but not all the time."

"I'll give you a pamphlet on symptoms and pregnancy at your stage," she said. "Do you have a cat?"

"No, why?" I asked.

"Because you shouldn't be cleaning out the litter box while pregnant," she said.

"How do I know if there's something wrong and I should come in?" I asked.

"Well, you can make an appointment with me, but you probably won't be able to tell that something is wrong," she said.

"Stress is bad, right?" I asked.

"Do you experience a lot of stress?" She asked.

"As of recently, yes," I said.

"It is bad for the baby so try to take yourself out of those stressful situations," she said. "Try tea or meditation."

I nodded, biting my lip. Meditation wouldn't help my kidnapped boyfriend but maybe it would help the stress. We finished the appointment before heading back home.

"I miss him," I mumbled.

"I know but just try not to think about it too much," Henry said. "She told you the stress wasn't good for the baby, so you just need to relax a bit, okay? Just relax."