Gini looked at Robert with her eyes wide open, wearing a big smile with her dimples prominently in place. “Jess… eeca.”
Robert checked his buzzing phone, a message from John.
I’ve set the scan appointment for one.
Okay, thanks.
Linda was still waiting for the blood work. She left the room to check on it after capturing a still frame from the sonogram, which she gave to Robert.
“Gini, I don’t want you to ever keep anything from me again, okay?” Robert said in a kind voice. “We’re a team now, and we don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“Rob… ber, be… uff, Guiney, mad… uff, tell.”
“I probably would have reacted the same, but at least I would have known a long time ago. I love you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. I can’t live without you.” He put her fingers back on his mouth and a tear trickled down his cheek. “God, I love you.”
“Rob… ber, lah… uff. Bay… be, Jess… eeca, lah… uff, Rob… ber.”
He started to weep. Debbie walked up to him and rubbed his shoulder. “I’ll go find some place for us to go so Gini can sleep before her scan. She’s had quite the morning.”
“I have a resting room with a bed,” Linda said, coming in the door. “She can sleep there. The blood work all looks good.” She handed the report to Robert. He wiped his cheeks and took the sheet of paper.
After a few minutes, Gini was up and dressed.
Robert got a page and looked toward Debbie. “I need to go check my patient.”
Debbie stood next to Gini, holding her hand. “Go ahead. I’ll stay with Gini while she rests.”
When Robert left the critical care unit, he headed straight to Maggie’s office.
“Come on in, Daddy,” she said, smiling big and hugging him. “Congratulations.”
“Oh God, Maggie, how did this happen?”
“Really, Robert, do I need to explain the birds and the bees to you?”
“Of course not.” He gave her a glaring look, then sat down.
“If you didn’t want her to get pregnant, maybe you should have figured out a way to prevent it.”
“I always use a condom. I thought about a vasectomy, but, well, our lovemaking is very sporadic, mainly because I’ve been working so many hours, and she hardly ever has periods. I just figured she couldn’t conceive.”
“Don’t you remember she was carrying twins when she had her accident?”
“Yeah, I guess. But I promise, every time we made love I used a condom.”
“How about the second night of your honeymoon, did you wear one then?”
He sat up straighter. “Well, no, I mean she completely surprised me when she wanted to make love. I didn’t have any. I didn’t think she knew anything about sex. How did you know?”
“Gini said that’s when she got pregnant, and she told you, but you were emphatic she was not going to carry a baby, so she stopped talking about it.”
Robert sat back and started trying to recall any such conversation. Then it hit him. He had told Gini about John and Vicky becoming grandparents for the first time and thought it funny when Gini rubbed her own tummy and said baby girl. That was when she told him, and when he told her no children.
“Oh, Maggie, I’m such a bad husband. You’re right, she did try to tell me. But really, how did she know she was pregnant the next day? Is that possible?”
“A lot of women know. They say their bodies immediately feel different. However, most don’t know the sex and have a name.” She smiled. “I’m convinced Gini has a sixth sense.”
“It’s going to take me a while to get my head around this,” he said, smiling.
“I’ve been a parent for a long time. If you have any questions, I’d be glad to try and provide an answer. Our girls are in high school now. Soon they will be off to college.”
“High school, no, Maggie, they can’t be that old already.”
She shook her head yes.
“I remember the tears you shed for each of them when they started kindergarten.”
“Yeah, time goes by so fast. My advice is to enjoy every single second you have with your children. It’s a fun ride, believe me.”
“Children, let’s not get too far ahead. One will be enough. Maggie, I was a bachelor for so long; I didn’t think I knew how to love. And then this whirlwind came into my life. Every time I think I’m back standing up straight and steady, I’m twirled around and round again. I didn’t think I could love anyone so deeply.”
“Well, when the person is a perfect fit, it’s easy; right?”
“How can I find more love for a child?”
“There’s plenty of love in that heart of yours, believe me.”
He smiled, looking at his watch.
“I’ve got to get going. I’m a little frightened with all of this. If she has trouble being a mother—if it hurts her—” He stopped.
“You’re going to be fine. You’ll love that little girl.”
He started to the door. “Yes, apparently named Jessica.”
Maggie laughed as the door closed behind him.
The brain scan was nearly the same as the last one. If anything had changed, it was for the better. John once again reassured Robert that Gini was capable of having a child. A lot of young women had babies after traumas in their lives. It was a way they could prove to themselves they were still alive and as normal as they could be. Robert had to admit, Gini was very happy about having a baby. He just hoped he could be strong enough for anything that happened.
That night after Gini had gone to sleep, Robert apologized
