Mindy told women all the time that the name 'morning sickness' was a complete and total misnomer, that it could strike at any time. However, this knowledge did not prepare her for the reality of what she had officially dubbed her 'all the damn time' sickness. She had been hoping to be one of those serene pregnant ladies who didn't get sick and floated on clouds through the whole thing; but those delusions were shattered by her first bout of digestive pyrotechnics.
Two months in and battles with nausea and vomiting crept up on her at seemingly all times of the day and night, no matter how inconvenient they may be. If she was lucky enough for it to happen at home it was a blessing, and when it happened on the nights she spent with Danny she had a dedicated hair-holder and back rubber through the process. When it happened at work she had to try to make it to the bathroom without being noticed, but more than once she'd been observed. Honestly, she wasn't sure how many more times her co-workers would buy excuses like too much water at lunch and bad shellfish before they caught on to the fact that something else was going on. It helped to have Danny to back her up when he could, but the office workers were sometimes naive, not completely stupid.
Thankfully, around the beginning of her third month things seemed to be calming down somewhat, with her sprinting trips to find somewhere private to puke coming further and further apart. Granted she was still dealing with it, but she decided that it was a lot easier to deal with less frequently. That attitude worked out really well for about two days.
She was in the office doing a routine exam on one of her patients, a first time mom whose husband was perhaps even more nervous than her. She was just about to squirt the ultrasound jelly on Jessica's barely there bump when she felt a wave of nausea roll over her.
Mindy bent at the waist, bracing her hand against the exam table. "Oh God, not now," she whispered.
"Doctor Lahiri?"
The nervous voice of her patient's husband Darren made her head snap back up and she forced herself to give a smile that she hoped was reassuring. "Nothing, just my phone vibrating; thought I left it in my office. Anyway let's get the show on the road shall…" She trailed off in horror as she was overcome again. Almost without realizing she was doing it she bolted across the room to the trash can and promptly lost everything in her stomach. When it finally passed she pulled out the bottle of mouthwash she had taken to carrying in her pocket and freshened up. Then she turned around to find two expectant parents staring at her in terror.
"Oh my God I am so sorry," she told them, rushing back to the table to do damage control. She took in the way the pair's hands were clutching at each other and how her free hand was clutching protectively at her stomach and knew she was going to have to throw herself under the bus to fix this one. "I promise you that I'm not sick; I would never come in here with some sort of communicable illness and expose you to that risk." Taking a deep breath, she let out the words she had been keeping in for what felt like forever. "I'm actually pregnant."
The atmosphere changed immediately, with the air of panic dissipating and smiles reappearing. "Congratulations!" Jessica exclaimed. "Isn't morning sickness just the pits?"
Mindy gave her a weak smile. "Yes, it really is. Look, I can wash up again and we can continue but I also completely respect if you want me to get one of my colleagues to finish the exam after all this."
Darren and Jessica both shook their heads before he answered. "I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we'd like you to continue. My wife really loves the job you do, and if she's happy I'm happy."
"Okay."
Thankfully she made it through the rest of the appointment without any further incident, but it seemed as if her day was doomed to be interesting in ways that didn't exactly thrill her. She had barely ushered them out of the office when she turned to find Morgan lurking behind her.
"God Morgan, way to give me a heart attack!"
The tall man studied her with his customary strange intensity. "So is it true?"
Mindy raised an eyebrow at him before detouring around his body to deposit her patient file at the desk. "I'm sure that would be an excellent question if I had any idea what you were talking about," she told him. She was so busy watching Jeremy's attempts to flirt with Betsy that she almost didn't hear the question, but when it penetrated her consciousness she froze.
"Are you pregnant?"
Morgan's question hung in the air, and she looked over to see that Betsy and Jeremy were absolutely still as they also waited for her answer. Slowly, she turned to face the nurse. "Excuse me?"
He rolled his eyes, clear on the fact that she was stalling. "I heard a commotion during your appointment and I wanted to check on you but then I remembered what you told me about eavesdropping so I didn't come in, but I heard what you told your patient."
"Everything alright out here?" Danny, evidently attracted by the conversation taking place outside his door, looked over at Mindy with concern in his eyes.
"Dr. Lahiri?" Betsy's question came along with a curious look from the British doctor. "Are you really having a baby?"
Mindy was absolutely clueless about what to say. They hadn't planned to tell anyone for at least a month longer, but now she was faced with the prospect of lying to her friends and colleagues she wasn't sure what to do. As subtly as possible she shifted her eyes to look at Danny. A silent conversation passed between them and finally he gave a barely perceptible nod.
"Yes, I am."
Betsy squealed in joy and rounded the desk to throw her arms around Mindy. "Congratulations Dr. Lahiri!"
"Yes, congratulations," Jeremy said with a knowing smile. "Now, if I may ask, is there anyone else we should be congratulating?"
"That would be me." Danny stepped over to wrap an arm around Mindy's waist, and the certainty and quickness of his response was just what she needed.
Morgan shook his head. "Oh come on!"
"Morgan, seriously?" Mindy cried.
He frowned as he handed a twenty over to an open handed Jeremy. "It's not that I'm not happy for you guys but I figured it'd be at least another year before you admitted you had a thing for each other." He motioned to Dr. Castellano with a thumb. "I mean this guy, emotionally stunted am I right?"
"Seriously?" Danny asked.
Betsy frowned at Morgan and Jeremy before turning a radiant smile on the couple in front of her. "I don't care how long it took you guys, I'm just so happy for you!"
Danny held his hands up in front of his chest before she could complete her launch towards him. "No hugging."
"Right." Smoothing out her cardigan with excitedly fluttering hands, she returned to her desk.
"And you two." Mindy advanced on her colleague and her nurse. "I know that the sheer awesomeness of Danny and I is overwhelming, but I find this completely inappropriate. Plus, we're the only ones who should be benefiting from our relationship, so hand it over." She made a gimme motion with her hand and waited patiently until Jeremy grudgingly handed over the twenty he'd pocketed.
"It won't happen again," Morgan told her with a sigh.
"It had better not, especially not anything involving this baby. There will be no betting on my uterus gentlemen, you hear me?" Her pointed finger was stern as she headed back to her office, but not before she heard Betsy's question.
"So are you guys going to get married?"
