The woman started fishing through her tote and Kate knew what was coming. “Would you mind signing… damn, you’d think I’d have a pen in this thing… would you…?”
Kate stood, walked over, and sat down next to the woman. “I have a pen.”
Her fan passed her the book with an absolutely giddy expression on her face. Kate opened the front cover, careful to hold the woman’s place. “What’s your name?”
“Amanda,” she said. “Thank you. This is so exciting.”
Kate inscribed the book and handed it back to her very happy admirer. The reaction she received from people still surprised and embarrassed her. Maybe it was because Kate still heard Richard’s voice when she thought about her work. She patted the child’s hand. “Be extra nice to Mommy, okay?”
The little girl nodded. “Did you write all those words?” she asked.
“I did.”
“Jeez Louise! I don’t even know that many words.”
Kate laughed, as did the munchkin’s mom. “You will someday.” Kate smiled again at Amanda and went back to her sister.
“Show off,” Trish said.
“I do what I can. You still have me topped with that vaccine you worked on.”
“Eh, I guess. But no one has ever asked me to autograph a syringe.”
They both laughed.
*
In the examining room, Kate waited on the table, looking anxiously at the stirrups and all the instruments lying out on a silver tray. The room was comfortable and nicely appointed for what it was, but everything in there made her think about some dungeon where prisoners were tortured. And Kate was nervous.
An attractive woman with long, blonde hair and dark brown eyes entered the room. She wore a wide smile, a white coat, and extended her hand. “Katherine, I’m Michaela Emmanuel.”
Taking the doctor’s hand, she felt herself relax a little. “Call me Kate. This is my sister, Patricia Reed.”
“Brought moral support? Perfect! So…” She pulled up a rolling stool and sat. “Let’s chat. You’re forty?” She had Kate’s file in her hand and she started reading. “One child, uncomplicated pregnancy, but you had a section seventeen years ago. Placental abruption. Dr. Mariani delivered. Okay.” She looked back at Kate. “Your daughter is fine, though?”
“Oh, yes. She’s perfectly healthy, intelligent.”
“Good.” She stood and kept her eyes on the chart. “No father listed. Any reason for that?”
Kate drew a long breath. “We’re not together and we won’t be. I don’t feel the need to involve him.”
“Except that it’s his child, too.” Trish shot out the comment before Kate could stop her.
Dr. Emmanuel glanced over and grinned. “It’s your decision, naturally, but if there are medical issues, it would help if we had his family history. Just having his blood type could give us an advantage.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“You don’t remember when your last period was?”
“I’m very irregular. It could have been September.”
“Oy. Okay. Let’s get you settled in. I’m going to do an exam and a sonogram to see how old your baby is.”
During the sonogram, the doctor asked about medicines, alcohol, and stress. She also alluded to the abuse Kate acknowledged on her intake form. By the end of the exam, Kate had a prescription for prenatal vitamins and a picture of her child. She was eleven weeks pregnant. She made an appointment for a screening test the following week and she and Trish left the office.
“Eleven weeks,” Trish said. “Plenty of time to break it to Mom before you start to show.”
Kate felt sick. “Oh, good God.”
“Forgot about her, huh?”
“She’s going to go nuts. It’s not like I haven’t caused her enough grief.”
Trish laughed. Their mother was the least of Kate’s worries.
*
After the game, David walked into the hospitality room where he and Jay were meeting Annie. Even though David wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, he’d agreed to go to dinner with them. Annie suggested she could invite a friend to come along, but David wasn’t into to a fix up. And honestly, he didn’t know when he’d be ready to date again. His friends were being as supportive as guys could be, but that usually meant they would drive him home if he got drunk. He didn’t have anyone to confide in, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be baring his soul any time soon. As much as Jay was his best friend, he didn’t get it. If David was this miserable over Kate, he hoped Jay never had to find out what life would be like without his wife.
Playing in Washington was always a good time, especially when they won. The city had great restaurants, and for some reason this weekend a good number of the wives had decided to drive down and see the game. They were gathered in the room like a giggly pack, waiting for their husbands and boyfriends, gossiping, talking about the upcoming holidays and reveling in this very unusual life. He knew a good number of the women were different—mature and settled—especially the women the guys tended to marry, but some of them were just like Chelsea.
He heard a peal of laughter from one side of the room. Mark Blauvelt’s wife was at the center of a small group, telling a story. He liked Amanda. He didn’t know her well, but it seemed she was pretty level headed, and that was always a plus in his book. She and Mark were a nice couple, and when her husband came in the room Amanda’s face lit up. The night David was with Kate, he thought maybe she looked at him like that, like he was everything. He was such a fucking goner it was pathetic. It was just like David thought when he first met her—Kate owned him.
“So,” Amanda said, “I’m sitting in the O-B’s office and Carissa goes, ‘Mommy, there’s the lady on your book.’ Can you believe it? Katherine Adams was sitting right across from me. She was so gracious. She signed it without a problem.”
Annie was standing with the women, a fake smile plastered on her face. She looked at David, who felt his legs turn to stone. He was stuck where he stood, trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
“So I guess I’ll be seeing her because we use the same doctor. Maybe if we’re pregnancy buddies, she’ll tell me about her next book.”
Annie piped up, hoping to get more information. “Are you sure she’s pregnant, Mandy? Dr. Emmanuel sees women for a lot of reasons.”
“She’s pregnant. I overheard her make a screening appointment.” A flutter of conversation rose from the assembled group and Amanda continued. “She must be older than I thought—they gave her the information about amnio.”
David felt physically sick and leaned into the wall. That was why she’d called, to tell him. Why hadn’t she called him back? Annie walked over and placed a hand on his back.
“I’m guessing from the look on your face you didn’t know.”
“No. I got a call the other night…”
“From Kate?”
“Yeah. She didn’t leave a message.”
Annie rubbed his back like a child. Of everything that could have blindsided him, this was the last thing he expected. He looked down and shook his head. He was going to be a father. David may not have thought about getting married much, until recently, but being a dad was always high on his “important things to do” list. “She has to tell me, doesn’t she?”
Annie shrugged. “She should. That would be the right thing to do, but I don’t know, Dave. She may not be planning on it.”
Jay came into the room after working through the reporters. “So are we ready? I’m freaking starved.”
The last thing David wanted to do was go out, but he didn’t know what to say. Jay glanced from his friend to his wife and back, waiting for one of them to answer. David straightened up and made a decision to get the hell out of there.
“I’m gonna pass,” David said. “I’m not feeling very good.”
Jay’s face dropped and he looked at his wife. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” David slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m going back to the hotel. I’ll see you later on.”