Second Hand Waitress

To Kira, the image on the screen didn't look human at all, and no matter how much she squinted and tilted her head, the picture made no sense to her.

“Looks like an alien,” Jake said, unimpressed.

“Are those arms and legs?” Tesah, who was supposed to be quiet, asked.

“Yes.” Sheila May pointed to a couple of white shapes on the monitor, and suddenly the image became clear to Kira. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth as she truly saw her baby for the first time.

“Oh my God.” The shaky breath came from Tesah, who was staring at the monitor with an expression of pure wonder on his face. His eyes met Kira’s and held them. He seemed to be telling her something, and amidst all the joy and amazement, a distinct coldness settled in Kira’s chest. He looked determined, as if seeing the baby’s image had strengthened a hidden resolve. And for the first time, Kira knew that if Tesah decided he wanted this child, nothing would stop him. All her precautions and carefully written legal documents meant nothing to a man with his resources.

She felt completely foolish for letting him back into her life.

“She’s moving,” Tesah said, his voice trembling slightly. “Jesus, look at her wiggle. I never imagined her moving around in there.”

“Hey, look at the ribs! Are those ribs?” Jake asked, sounding a bit more interested now that he could see more.

“Cristo,” Tesah swore softly. “It’s so much clearer than I thought it would be.”

He had moved much closer and was standing right next to the bed, his eyes fixed on the monitor and his face full of wonder.

“Can you tell the gender from this scan?” For someone who was supposed to stand quietly in the corner, he was starting to take over the appointment, and the only reason Kira didn’t tell him to back off was because she was curious about the answer.

“Sometimes we can tell at this stage,” Sheila May said. “But with this one, it’s a little hard to say for sure.”

“And everything’s okay?” he asked, his attention still glued to the monitor. He barely glanced at Sheila May while asking the questions.

“Perfectly fine, from what I can see. That right there is a beautiful, healthy, thirteen-and-a-half-week-old fetus.”

“Thirteen and a half? Not fourteen?” he asked, and Sheila May nodded.

Which meant that the baby had likely been conceived on their last or second-to-last night in Medina. He glanced up at Kira, who caught his eye and shrugged.

“So maybe she hasn’t been practicing her frowns yet. But she has all of next week to work on those.” His lips turned up slightly at her words.

“I’m thinking if it’s a girl, you might want to consider naming her Daisy,” he said, his eyes sparkling mischievously, and she blushed deeply as she remembered those damned Daisy Duck shorts he had been so fond of that last night.

“No comment,” she replied, and his lips twitched slightly as he looked back at the monitor. Kira’s eyes stayed on his profile for a few moments longer, charmed—despite herself—at how completely fascinated he was by the wriggling image on the screen.

They spent another ten minutes exclaiming and marveling at the different features and body parts they could identify, while Sheila May noted the baby’s vital statistics and answered the many questions Tesah seemed to have for her. He asked questions that Kira would never have even thought of.

Sheila May quickly got over her initial flustered reaction and now treated him the way she probably treated most expectant fathers, giving each question a thoughtful and intelligent answer and never showing the slightest bit of impatience.

All three of them were a little sad when she finally turned off the monitor, and the baby’s image disappeared.

“I know it’s hard to say good-bye,” Sheila May said sympathetically. “But I’ll have a DVD and some still pictures made for you. Well, your baby seems to be happy and healthy, Ms. Luc. You can schedule next month’s appointment with Dr. Klein at the front desk. How many copies of the DVD would you like?”

“Two,” Tesah replied before Kira could say anything, and Sheila May nodded and happily made arrangements with Tesah for the delivery of the DVDs. Kira couldn’t help but feel a bit left out. She might be carrying the baby, but her pregnancy was quickly becoming a Tesah Clover Production, and she was terrified that if she wasn’t careful, he would find a way to completely exclude her.

“I have to pee,” she whispered to Jake after she had made her next appointment at the reception desk. “I’ll meet you at the car.” She handed him her car keys so he wouldn’t have to wait in the rain and turned to Tesah, who had watched their whispered exchange with interest.

“I’ll call you later,” she told him. “We need to arrange a meeting with our lawyers present to discuss changing our previous agreement.”

She turned away to hurry to the nearest restroom, not waiting for him to acknowledge her words.

She half expected him to still be waiting for her when she finished five minutes later, and she was relieved to see no sign of him in the reception area when she returned. She waved to Viv, the receptionist, as she put on her light denim jacket on her way out the door. She was so busy adjusting one of her jacket sleeves that it took her a while to notice her car was missing. She looked up and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, still absently trying to force her arm into the jacket sleeve while she stared blankly at the spot where her car should have been. She frowned in confusion before looking up and down the road. Maybe she was wrong about where she had parked it. There was no sign of the plain, faded-blue hatchback. Maybe Jake had moved it. But why would he?

The spot had been perfect.