Igniting the Wild Sparks (65 page)

“Look I’m a fucking rooster!”

I try hard not to laugh. “I hate you.”

“No,
this
is a fucking rooster.” He chicken struts to the counter and dry humps it.

Holding my stomach, I say,
“I
really
hate you.”

He laughs
and takes the glove off his head, only to slowly release air from it, making rude, squeaking noises. I greatly implore, “Will you stop? It hurts to laugh, you moron!”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” He lets the glove go and it noisily deflates at his feet. He sighs. “The
mocking sound of my loneliness,” he announces forlornly. I giggle, but another sharp pain lights me up and I gasp.

“Sorry, Hadders. I’m such a jackass.”

I nod, blowing out the pain. “You are.”

The
blonde doctor walks into the room, interrupting Rod’s bizarre descent into despair. Opening the folder he’s holding, he leans against the counter. “Hadley, I have your urinalysis. Do you want some privacy?” He discerningly glances at Rod.

“No, he’s
okay.” …despite appearances.

“
Well, it’s not your appendix.”

“Then what is it?”

“You are pregnant.”

Rod shouts, “What?”

The doctor looks up from his folder. “Are you the father?”

Rod
avidly shakes his head. “Not that I know of!”

“What?” I ask,
shocked and awed. “I can’t be. I just had my period about two weeks ago.”

“Probably not your period. Was
it lighter than normal?”

“
Maybe only a little.”

“
Still, it most likely was breakthrough bleeding, when the fertilized egg implanted into the uterine lining.” He looks at my stomach and says, “I am concerned with the acute pain you’re having. Although, some pain is normal for early pregnancy, I want to be sure it’s progressing as it should. How’s the pain now?”

“It’s
a constant ache, but manageable until I have an extremely sharp jab every so often.”

“Okay. We need to get you checked right away.”

“Do you know how far along I am?”

He flips through the folder and pulls out a wheel-like piece of cardboard. “When was the first day of your last period, not counting the one you said you just had?”

“Um, wow. It was the first week of April. Not sure which day.”

“Well, I can give you an estimate. You are roughly 10 weeks pregnant. You conceived…” If I had to guess, it would’ve been around Easter when Finn was being more daring than he’s ever been. Surprise blind sex at Bethany’s? Outdoor sex under the stars? Easter morning sex after pancakes? Possibly one of those times is when Finn
Wilder and I made a baby.

As he looks, I ask, “Easter?”

“Actually, no. It would’ve been the week before Easter.”

“
It can’t be. I was using birth control then.”

“What kind?”

“Spermicide or condoms.”

“Not together?”

“No.” I glance at Rod and he’s biting his lip. I know he wants to laugh.

I ask the doctor,
“Why?”

“Spermicide shouldn’t be used alone. It’s only 80 percent effective by itself and you have to replace it each time you have intercourse. If you used it alone that week,
then you have the reason why you conceived.”

Oh, how embarrassing. I feel like I’m in health class and I just horribly failed an oral pop quiz.

Rod says, “Technically, I don’t think it was the gel that got her pregnant.” The doctor chuckles with Rod as I gape at both of them.

Beyond astonished,
I say, “I can’t believe I didn’t know I was pregnant. I thought I had my period.”

“You may have had some symptoms and not realized it. Fatigue, nausea, weight loss or gain, headaches, food cravings or aversions. There are
many symptoms you could have had and not realized why or even noticed that you were experiencing them out of the ordinary.”

“I’ve been tired, nauseous and have lost weight,” I mumble. I thought it was because of other things.

“That happens a lot in the early stages. Any other questions?” I quickly shake my head and he smiles. “I’ll have them come get you for the ultrasound.” He writes in his folder and leaves the room.

Rod covers his mouth and looks down at me. “Had
ders, holy shit! You and Wilder actually had
sex
?” He giggles and I turn my head. I can’t even joke around about this since I’m now in this bittersweet predicament.

I have a baby, but not my Sparks
.

As that chokes me,
I whisper, “Oh, my God.” My hand goes to my stomach and I cry.

“Aw, Ha
dders, it’s okay.” He grabs my hand and leans down onto his elbows next to me. “It’ll be great. We’ll find Greg Jr. a good school where they won’t judge him for the impeccable clothes he wears.” My fingers dig into his skin and he yelps, “Ow, woman!” He stands, but I still hold onto his hand as I blankly stare at the stark white wall in front of me.

He suddenly snickers. “You thought it was Easter? So, you
were
getting down and dirty on a holy day? You must’ve
really
liked his tattoo. Whore.” He giggles and I huff a small laugh, while rubbing at the pain.

“I got pregnant the week
before
Easter?” I disbelievingly ask nobody in particular since Rod’s no help. “That means—”

“He knocked you up
during your celebratory fuck after his race.” I scowl up at his amused face, but I know he’s right. “Or, what about when you were late for the kite festival the next morning?” He snorts. “Hadley Beckett, you are a real skank.” No. We used a condom then. It was definitely after the race. The night he gave me my ring…that I threw at him.

I scrub at my wet cheeks and crack a smile. “Thanks, ass clown.”

Rod reaches for my hand and says, “Seriously. Do you want me to go with you to the ultrasound or wait outside?”

I tearfully plead, “Don’t leave me,
Greg.”

He shakes his head and gives me a reassuring smile. “I won’t. I promise.”
We’re quiet until he asks, “Do you want me to tell Morticia? She’s probably in the waiting room by now.”

Another pain hits, forcing me to squeeze his hand and
bite my lip through more discomfort before wheezing, “Yeah.”

“
Uh, shit. Do you want me to…?”

I close my eyes and gradually nod. “Yes. Tell Finn.”
I think he’d want to know.

“Okay.”
Rod lets go of my hand and I open my eyes. He sits near the gurney and starts texting. I’m curious to how he’s going to tell Finn.

“Yo, Wilder. The woman you used to fuck on the weekends is now your baby mamma.”

I amend, “I’ll talk to him in person. Just get him on the phone and tell him to come over to my apartment tonight.”

He distractedly says, “Okay.” Then, comprehending what I said, he adds, “Not alone, though. I’ll be there, too.” I smile at Rod as he continues tapping on his phone.

When he’s done sending his message to Morgan, he puts the phone up to his ear, but after a few seconds, he frowns. He pulls the phone down, taps the screen and tries again, telling me, “It’s saying the number is no longer in service. Maybe there’s something wrong with his phone. I’ll tell Morticia to try him at work. It’ll keep her busy.”

“The number is in my phone, but I don’t have it with me.”

“I’m sure she can find the station’s number online or something.” He again texts Morgan. I guess he tries to avoid hearing her voice as much as possible.

The nurse returns and
says she wants me to get into a gown. She eyes Rod. Sensing us staring at him, he glances up from his phone, his brown eyes dart back and forth, and he feigns hurt. “What? That’s not part of the show?”

I
sit up and grumble, “Out.”

“
Jeez. You help people…” he jokingly pouts. Shoving his phone into his back pocket he imparts, “I shall return.”

The nurse helps me change
and I’m glad because I’m too physically sore and mentally numb to attempt doing it myself.

I’m pregnant.

Another human is growing inside me. Finn’s baby. Finn got me pregnant. His baby is in my belly, a baby that we made together with our love…or the love we used to have. It’s all so much to comprehend that I have to keep repeating all of this until it finally sinks into my brain.

He said he was trying to get me pregnant, but when did he change his mind exactly? Was it after our Easter night blowup? Yet, he was ditching a condom before then. Regardless, I’m positive he wasn’t trying to get me pregnant after his race.

I wonder what Finn Wilder will say when he finds out he’s a father.

Will he be happy? What does this mean for us as a newly estranged couple?

When I’m changed, a brunette orderly arrives to escort me to Ultrasound. As I’m wheeled out to the hall, Rod meets us.

“Morgan is working on getting ahold of Wilder.”

I whisper, “Thanks.”

“It’ll be okay, Hadders.

When I’m in the small curtained-off area, the orderly helps me move to the examining table. The blonde, female technician looks at Rod and then back to me. “This is a transvaginal ultrasound. Is he the father?”
Rod
?
That’s funny.

Rod teasingly scoffs, “I wouldn’t sleep with this
chick even if we were sewn into a sleeping bag together.”

The woman raises her eyebrows in
bafflement, but I only roll my eyes and tell her, “Definitely not the father. He’s my friend.”

She glances down to my legs and explains,
“It’s an invasive procedure. Do you want him in here with you?”

“Um, yeah. He’ll just turn his head.” It does feel weird to be in the same room with
Greg Rodwell without my underwear.

Rod smirks and pulls a chair up next to me.
He must be biting his tongue so hard.

She drapes a big napkin-like sheet over my legs. “Okay. I’m going to give you th
is transducer to insert, so it’s more comfortable for you.” She shows me a long magic wand-looking thing.

“Wow,” Rod says
, his eyes huge, before quickly shifting away from me in his chair.

The technician instructs me to put my feet into the stirrups and hands me
the probe. I pathetically whimper when I put it in because it hurts so much. Without looking, Rod reaches his hand out and I grab it. The tech tells me she needs it to go in further, so I push it in more and squeeze Rod’s hand tighter.

When s
he takes over holding it, the pain radiates throughout my stomach as she rotates the wand, and I cry. She gently tells me to not shake because she can’t get a clear picture and it’ll take longer for her. She instructs me to take a couple deep breaths, reminding me of telling Morgan that before she walked down the aisle, and continues the examination in silence. Along with my huffs, the only immediate sounds are a whining noise coming from the wand and clicking of buttons.

Sniffing and wiping my tears with one hand,
I grip Rod’s hand with the other as he strokes mine with his thumb. It’s comforting to have him here, but I wish it were Finn. This affects him. He’s a…father. I’m afraid of what he’s going to say or how he’ll react.

The technician slowly removes the wand and I
weepily moan from the pain. She says, “I’ll be right back.”

Pulling
my knees together, I rub my tear-filled eyes and take more deep breaths.

Rod asks to the curtain, “Are you okay?”

“You can look, but try to keep your eyes up here.”

He moves and
immediately looks up to my face, cringing. “That had to suck.”

“Yeah, it did.”

“Probably felt much different than when your baby was conceived. Right? I bet that thing puts Wilder’s cocktail wiener to shame.” Recalling what I said to Finn when I was drunk, I bitterly giggle through my tears.

“Shut up. Didn’t I already say I hated you?”

He laughs. “I think so, but I get that a lot.”

The technician
pushes the curtain aside, bringing the ER doctor with her. He sits at the machine and she points to the screen, lowly saying things that I don’t understand. He clicks through the shots and studies them. I’m nervous.

After several harrowing minutes, he slowly swivels his chair and sighs. “The egg sac and placenta aren’t located in the uterus. They’re attached to your right fallopian tube.”

I try to digest that bit of information, but my mind is already on overload. “What’s that mean?”

“It means you need to have a laparoscopy to remove it.”

I slowly ask, “Remove it?” Rod’s hand firmly clasps mine as my heart and stomach abruptly slam into me. “You mean
remove
my baby?”