Bear My Babies

“Yes, c-day. If you’re busy, I’ll let you go.”

“I’m just out with some of the people from the office. We are celebrating.”

“What are you celebrating? You told me earlier you had some good news.”

“I landed the Hilary Dalton account. McMillian and Company will be throwing the biggest product launch party ever for her new scent she created.”

Even though Melissa didn’t have much time to watch TV or read magazines that weren’t medical-related, she knew who Hilary Dalton was. Everyone knew Hilary Dalton. She was, at the moment, the biggest name out there. She had her hands in everything from hotels, TV, make-up, clothing, and from what Thomas just said, perfume, as well. She understood why landing the account would be such a huge accomplishment.

“Congratulations. That’s amazing,” Melissa said, feeling some weird form of pride.

She quickly justified it by the fact that he was going to be the father of her child. Of course she would want success for the man they looked up to. Melissa wondered if Thomas would be working closely with Hilary. She was on everything, so Melissa knew how extremely gorgeous she was. Melissa looked down at her blanket covered body and realized there was no comparison.

Hilary was a busy woman. She secretly hoped that Thomas would be working with her personal assistants and never really have any contact with the beautiful Ms. Dalton. She couldn’t understand where the jealousy was coming from. Maybe the injections were not only messing with her libido but also doing a number on her other emotions. If she was this bad now, how bad would she be when she was actually pregnant?

“Thank you. I’ve been working hard to get this account.”

“Hey, Thomas, come on man. We’re doing shots.” Melissa figured it was someone from his work, and she didn’t want to keep him from his party.

“Go on, I’ll talk to you later. Go celebrate.”

“Why don’t we go out to dinner tomorrow? I’ll pick you up at seven thirty,” Thomas said before yelling that he would be right there, and not to take the shots until he got there.

“See you at seven thirty,” Melissa said, hanging up the phone.

She tossed and turned on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position. Melissa would choose the couch over her bed any day of the week. When she first sat on it in the furniture store, she knew she had to get it. For some reason tonight, she just wasn’t singing its praises. The whole Hilary Dalton thing threw her off. What if Thomas decided he wanted someone like her to be the mother of his child?

Melissa rubbed her hand over her not-so-flat stomach, which was a little smaller than normal. The injections suppressed her appetite and the constant nausea was turning out to be an amazing diet. Melissa pictured a baby growing inside of her. She was already altering her future planning to include the child she hadn’t even conceived yet. The thought of losing those plans made her eyes well up. After hours of tossing and turning, sleep took mercy on her and she drifted off.

***

Melissa’s day was chaotic. Because she had to reschedule all her appointments, her normal patient flow had increased. The sleep she got the day before renewed her, and she felt better than she had in the past week. Maybe her body was finally adjusting to the treatments. A girl could dream.

Tilly threw her another sandwich in between patients. Melissa was fairly certain she hadn’t sat down once today, and she could barely remember if she’d stopped to pee. Swallowing the last of her sandwich, she knocked on the door and entered her patient’s room. A newly-married were-giraffe couple.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sampson. Are you ready to find out what you’re having?”

The couple nodded their heads vigorously. The Sampsons were pregnant with their first baby. Today they were going to find out the gender. In any other situation, an ultra-sound tech would perform the procedure, but being this was a paranormal office, Melissa had the pleasure of doing it, and she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

“Butch thinks it’s going to be a girl. My mom and I are betting on a boy,” Mrs. Sampson said as she shifted on the bed to get a better look at Melissa.

“Well let’s find out.” Melissa squirted the jelly on her Mrs. Sampson’s belly and swirled it around. The baby was a mover, turning this way and that. It took a while for her to get the money shot she needed. “It looks like we have a winner. Butch, congratulations. You’re going to be the daddy of a precious little girl.”

The couple squealed happily and hugged each other. Butch swung Melissa around the room after she cleaned up his wife. She exited the room, giving the couple privacy. Melissa thought about her soon-to-be baby. Seeing the Sampsons’ reaction made her even more ready to get started.

Melissa pried off her shoes when she entered her apartment, and headed straight toward her shower, shedding her clothes as she went. Thomas texted her the restaurant they were going to and told her he’d pick her up. She had an hour to get ready. A thrill went through her body as she washed up. She’d been looking forward to tonight. Throughout the day, Melissa had assured herself she had nothing to worry about with Hilary. It wasn’t like the two of them saw each other regularly. Besides, she was his client. Thomas was too smart to get involved with someone he worked with.

She also decided she would tell Thomas about how her ex had been behaving. For some reason she trusted him, which was a good thing, being that he was going to be in her life if the pregnancy resulted in a baby. It was only fair that Thomas knew about Nathaniel’s temper and who he’d been involved with.

With the Hilary account on her mind, Melissa took extra time getting ready. She tamed her red hair in big fiery ringlets, letting it fall down her back. She took her time getting her eyes to do the perfect smoky effect, and then ran to the back of her closet. Because of the extra weight she had lost, she had the nerve to slip into a tight-fitting, black dress that she was normally too self-conscious to wear.

She pulled on a pair of short black pumps and went to double-check herself in the mirror. Pulling out the only lipstick she owned, Melissa swiped it across her lips and went downstairs. She was excited to see Thomas. With their busy work schedules, they hadn’t seen each other since their dinner. Tonight was going to be interesting, since the subject was going to be scheduling the time they would make their baby.