Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fictional made-up story, except for Ian Stevens and a few other characters. If you don't recognize them, they're mine. The rest are owned by Ann M. Martin. I also do not own the George Strait song "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa". It belongs to him and the songwriters.
A/N: well, this is the fastest I've ever updated! I'm proud of myself. This chapter will bring on many a challenge to me to come up with some awesome chapters to follow this one up, but I'm up to the challenge. Enjoy and please review.
I was confused. What should I wear to a friend's doctor's appointment? Should I wear my jeans and a nice shirt, or should I wear some slacks? I pondered this as I was preparing to go with Mary Anne to her appointment. I finally decided to just wear everyday clothes. I put on my newest pair of Wranglers and a cobalt blue button down shirt.
I drove over to Mary Anne's house. She saw me from the window and waved. I parked and she came outside. She got into the car and smiled at me.
"Thanks, Logan. I'm really glad that you've decided to come with me. I'm glad that someone would want to come to my appointment with me." she said.
"No problem. Now, let's get going. We don't want to be late.," I said. She nodded.
We drove along in silence. Well, almost silence. The radio was on and George Strait's new song, "Tell Me Something Bad About Tulsa" was playing. I turned the radio up slightly.
"This is clearly one of George's best. Have you heard it yet?" I asked. She shook her head.
"I've only heard parts of it. I liked what I heard." she said.
We listened in silence and then, when it was over, she grinned.
"That is a good song. It makes me think of a magnificent place." she said.
"Yeah. It's definitely a keeper," I said.
We soon arrived at the doctor's office, where we had to wait for a few minutes until they called her name. She grinned at me as she saw how uncomfortable I was sitting in a room full of pregnant women and women with small children.
"Mary Anne Stevens. The doctor will see you now," a blonde nurse whose name tag read 'Cindy'. said.
Mary Anne grinned and pulled me into Dr. Smith's office. A tall, thin woman in her mid-fifties smiled at us. She reminded me of one of those grandmotherly type women who were always kind to everybody and who still remembered when Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn were the biggest thing to come out of Hollywood.
"Hello, Mary Anne. I see you've brought a friend with you today. I'm Dr. Karen Smith, Mary Anne's obstetrician." she said, holding out her hand for me to shake.
"Hello. I'm Logan Bruno, Mary Anne's neighbour. It's a pleasure to meet you," I said, taking her hand and shaking it.
"I brought Logan here today because Ian is out of town on business and I didn't want to come alone," Mary Anne explained. Dr. Smith smiled.
"Well, that's a good idea. Now, shall we listen to the baby's heart first, then maybe get a sonogram?" she asked. Mary Anne nodded.
She went over to the ultrasound machine and started it up. She then poured some clear conducting gel on Mary Anne's abdomen and then moved a small transductor the size of a small jewerly box around over the gel. She turned on the monitor and a fuzzy, gray image came up onto the screen.
"Look, Mary Anne. That's your baby. Now, let's see if we could hear the heartbeat," Dr. Smith said, pressing a button.
A loud, rapid thumping noise filled the room. Tears filled Mary Anne's eyes as she listened to the baby's strong heartbeat.
"It's so beautiful," she said, wiping her eyes. I smiled and squeezed her hand. Dr. Smith grinned.
"It's a nice, healthy baby, Mary Anne. The size is good, the heartbeat is strong, and you're nice and healthy. Have you and Ian enrolled in child birthing classes?" she asked.
Mary Anne shook her head. "We want to, but Ian doesn't have much time to go to class with me," she said. Dr. Smith nodded.
"Well, you might want to have a friend go with you, then. It's a good thing to know. You can sign up downstairs. It's best to start when you're around your fifth to sixth month, so you have a couple of more months to sign up. I strongly recommend taking the class. Now, do you have any more questions?"
Mary Anne shook her head. Dr. Smith printed out the latest sonogram for her, then thanked us for coming and then told her to come back in a few more weeks. We thanked her and left. After setting up an appointment, Mary Anne gasped.
"I just remember something I wanted to ask Dr. Smith. I'll be right back," she said.
When she was gone, the secretary smiled at me.
"I think it's nice of you to come with Mrs. Stevens to her appointment.," she said. I nodded.
"Well, since Ian is out of town, I thought I'd come with her today," I said.
The nurse looked at me, a confused look on her face.
"Mr. Stevens is out of town? Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded.
"He left yesterday. He went to New Jersey. Why do you ask?," I asked.
"I could have sworn I saw him at the Rosebud Café yesterday. He was with some pretty redhead. I thought it was his sister or something," she said.
"Are you sure it was him?" I asked. She nodded.
"Yeah. It was him. I know it. I guess he's not out of town.," she said, frowning. I frowned too.
"I guess he's not." I said. She nodded in agreement.
I wanted to ask her more about what she thought she saw, but Mary Anne came back and then we had to go. I pushed the horrible thought into the back of my mind. But I couldn't keep it there forever. I later decided that I would have to call an emergency meeting of the (former) Baby-Sitters Club. I picked up the phone and told Kristy my idea.