"So how long are you?" Amber asked.
"About three months," I replied. "getting a little bit of a belly on me now."
"Is Six Shooter still being mister deny?" Amber asked.
"Surprisingly yes," I said. "I am planning on taking him to the doctors office with me today."
"How does he feel about that?" Amber asked.
"Mister deny says that it's a waste of time and gas to go," I replied. "I had to beg him to come with me."
"My father did the same thing," Amber sighed. "my mother says that she had to drag him into the doctor's office by his ear."
"That explains why Uncle Wayne has that bigger ear." I laughed.
The person that I had asked to drive me and Six Shooter to the doctor's office was Alicia, one of my many cousins. She was a week younger than me and a little bit shorter than me, she was five foot five inches. Six Shooter was wearing his best outfit for some reason, he was wearing a white shirt and brown jeans, he had a pair of black boots with gold spurs on his feet, his cowboy hat was brown, over his long sleeve button up shirt was a brown leather vest, he had left his holsters and guns in his room, under his chin was a blue kerchief. I was on my cell phone and he was just standing on the corner of the porch, his head held up by one of his six hands. We had been waiting outside in the cold for almost thirty minutes.
"How cold is it over there?" Amber asked.
"In the thirties." I replied.
"You wearing a jacket?" Amber asked. "My mother says that when you're pregnant you should make a special point to wear a jacket in cold temperatures."
"I have a jacket with me," I said. "it's just not on me at this time."
I saw a red Toyota drive up in the drive, my heart started pounding in my chest, it felt like it was going to come bursting out. Six Shooter jumped off the porch and tapped my leg, the cell phone had somehow turned itself off, I was famous for only charging the battery half way. Snapping it shut, I placed it in my bag and walked towards the truck. Six Shooter had already slid into the seat, when I climbed in I tapped him on his shoulder and made him move towards the window.
"Hey girl," Alicia exclaimed. "how's it going?"
"Pregnant," I replied.
"She ain't," Six Shooter spoke up. "don't ye believe anythin' she's a-got to say."
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that your cowboy is in big time denial." Alicia said.
"Yep," I said, rolling my eyes. "I'm hoping that with this doctor's appointment he'll change his 'tude."
Getting to the doctor's office was easy, Six Shooter was quiet for most of the trip, when we got there he had told me that he was going to wait in the truck. After five minutes of fighting in the parking lot he followed me reluctantly into the building. The inside of the building was painted blue and white, the floor was blue and gray tiled, they must have just washed and waxed it because it was very slick, Alicia nearly fell a few times. Six Shooter plopped down in one of the chairs and pulled up a magazine while I told the receptionist that I was here.
"She said it'd be five minutes." I said.
Alicia and Six Shooter were sitting across from each other. For some reason my eyes weren't steady, I had a magazine up to my face but instead of reading it all I did was look all over the place. I was very nervous, my eyes met Six Shooter's a few times, he looked to be perfectly fine, very relaxed and content.
"Angela," I heard the doctor call.
I must have jumped ten feet in the air, Six Shooter dropped his magazine on the table and slid from his seat, he was at least five feet behind me, his feet dragged the floor a little. When I came within arms reach of the doctor I stretched my hand out, he grabbed my hand and shook it, with his other hand he motioned for me and Six Shooter, who had caught up to me, to walk through the doorway.
"Take a seat ma'am," the doctor said. "I will be with you in a minute."
Six Shooter stood by the door, I couldn't get him to come in so when the door closed I felt a great gust of air fill my lungs, I could just about imagine what he was thinking outside. Crossing my legs and arms, I tilted my head back and said to myself that everything would be fine and that the doctor would change Six Shooter's attitude. It felt like forever for the doctor to come back into the room.
"How long are you in your pregnancy?" he asked.
"Just about three months." I said, nervously.
"May I ask who the guy is outside the door?" the doctor asked, his head held down, I guess he was looking at the papers on the clipboard.
"That's the father of my baby." I replied. "I asked him to come because he is still insistent that I am not pregnant."
"Do you want him to come in the room?" the doctor asked. "It is kind of funny for the father to be standing outside the door when it comes to an appointment to see if his child is healthy."
"Yes!" I exclaimed. "I would very much like for him to get his little butt in here."
The doctor walked out of the room and stayed out for a few minutes, when he returned Six Shooter was behind him, his head was down and his lower hands were in his pockets. I laughed inside a little. Nodding his head to me, the doctor, whose name was Jose Cullen, pulled the clipboard back up to his face. Six Shooter pulled the swivel chair up and sat on it.
"Lets take a look at that stomach." the doctor said.
Six Shooter hissed when the doctor took up my shirt and placed his hands on my stomach, when he placed the linear array transducer on my stomach to check the status on the baby Six Shooter stood up. The screen lit up on the unit a little, sitting in the middle of the screen was a very small baby, Six Shooter's eyes lit up bright and his mouth dropped.
"So mah gal is pregnant!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," the doctor said. "the baby is small for its age but seems healthy."
"Whut's the gender?" Six Shooter asked.
"Doc, can we keep the gender a secret please?" I asked.
"Not a problem with me," the doctor replied. "I can't detect any type of genitalia in the fetus anyways."
Six Shooter turned his back to the doctor and looked at me, the surprise in his eyes made me want to laugh. He was hovering his hand over the spot that the doctor had cleaned a few seconds before, after a few seconds of waiting, he finally placed his hand on my stomach. I heaved a big sigh of relief, although the baby was small the doctor did say that he was healthy, the better news was that Six Shooter had finally gotten over that phase of telling me and himself that I wasn't pregnant.
"I suggest you come back here in a few months," the doctor was saying. "three to be exact."
I didn't really hear what the doctor had said so when I left the office I didn't re-schedule a new appointment. The drive back to the ranch was quiet except for Six Shooter humming to my belly, Alicia and I didn't say a word to each other, in fact I was looking out the window, one hand by my side and the other on my belly. For the last few weeks I had found my eyes drifting a ways, I was glad that I was keeping food down though, I was getting rather sick of throwing up all the time.
"Talk to you in a few," I said to Alicia. "promise."
Alicia was almost always loud, it was rare to see her quiet. She worked at a bar, she had been working as a pole dancer for almost six months and according to her she loved it. She had black hair and green eyes, the only green eyed person in my family. She nodded her head then closed the door of her Toyota and drove off. Six Shooter patted my leg and got my attention quickly.
"Why don't we a-git started on gittin' the lil un' some thangs." he suggested.
"Like what?" I asked. "I've already got diapers, bottles, a pacifier and a few baby blankets."
"The lil un' will a-need a lot more then that sugar." Six Shooter said.
"I really don't feel like saying everything we need out here," I said, I was beginning to get moody. "lets go inside, cold as hell out here."
