Ties That Bind

Chapter 24. Sweet Pea

"So, how is it that you are keeping this a secret anyway?" her doctor asked as he lathered gel onto her tummy.

Today was her very first ultrasound; an exciting and nerve-racking thing.

As the two were chatting, the doctor had been setting up---demonstrating all they had to do since she had never been through it before and she would have to be getting used to the routine for the next several months.

"Well, I keep lying. I'm gonna tell him soon, but I gotta find the right time..." she curled her lips to the side as she watched him go about his simple tasks. "And it's not gonna even be remotely romantic because I feel like puking every ten minutes."

"How are you hiding something as prominent as that? Don't you spend most of your time together?" he maneuvered the transducer around her flat tummy, getting a clear shot.

"Yeah... I bought sea sickness medicine. The pharmacist said it was alright for me to take," she shrugged.

"Is it working okay?"

"Mhmm, I feel like I'm building immunity to it already which may not be a good thing. I make sure to at least throw up once if I absolutely have to and that usually is in the morning---the rest of the day it's nausea. Lately, I'm vomiting only once a day anyway, so the sea sickness medicine is for when I am being forced to have dinner."

"Whatever works," he kind of chuckled. "Alright so, that's your baby---you're just about hitting your seventh week; size of a sweet pea. You're getting nausea and vomiting early."

"Wonderful---" she rolled her eyes as she arched a brow at the small bead sized thing because it still wasn't anything for her to get ecstatic about. "Dare I ask, how long the vomiting will last?"

"Don't shoot the messenger when I say about six weeks."

"Six weeks? Oh, hell no!" she tossed her head back. "That long?"

"And it very well could last longer. But it's a big possibility you're fine sooner since you started getting sick at five weeks, but it really depends on the baby, on the woman. Some women have it the entire pregnancy."

"Oh, my God..." she rubbed her head, the thought making her overly dramatic about it.

"Just so you know, I firmly believe you should tell him soon---it would be the smart thing to do with the wedding coming up and family around too."

"Well, now, with all the bad stuff you told me earlier, I wanna wait till the first trimester is over," she explained. "I don't want anything bad to happen, but I know I have to tell him before he leaves."

"Leaves?" he questioned.

"He's been preparing for a business trip in late January and he'll be gone for a while," she stretched the truth a tad.

She had never told her doctor what Lindsey's name was or anybody for that matter just because she didn't know how that would look coming from a rock and roll guitarist. She was, thus far, trying to be discreet for him since she was sure it would blow up if the wrong person found out and she didn't like to have to trust people as it was.

"Do you listen to me when I talk?" the doctor snapped his fingers as he handed her paper towels to clean her stomach.

"Every word," she sighed as she wiped off the gel. Throwing her legs down, she hopped onto her boots and stood tall, though she made herself slightly dizzy so she latched to the bed for stability.

"You okay?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder as he spun around from washing his hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she arched a brow. "I just get dizzy a lot these days."