This Wasn't Suppose to Happen

Monday morning I was sitting in my OBs office and saying every prayer I knew, hoping that I wouldn’t see a familiar face walk in through the door. I obviously needed to attend church more because the next time the door opened; Sid walked in and took a seat next to me. He had his hat pulled down so low that I was surprised he could see. He was going for the incognito look and succeeded pretty well, I don’t think anyone noticed who it was. Then again, the 5 other women who sat in the waiting room were so heavily pregnant I’m sure Lady Gaga could do a concert in front of them and they wouldn’t even blink.

“How long are they going to keep us waiting?” Sid asked under his breath as he shifted in his chair, obviously out of his element.

“You just sat down; can you just have a little bit of patience?” I asked him as the nurse called out my name and motioned for us to follow her.

We walked in and sat in front of a desk, Sid kept himself occupied by looking around at the walls and the framed certificates. “Is this guy legit?”

“Yes”, I muttered. The more he talked, the more he bothered me. I just wanted to get this appointment done with and get out of there. I was still stinging from my last visit with Sid and I was afraid that he would say something else that would hurt.

The doctor entered and we discussed the fainting incident. I told him that I was doing well on the prescribed medication and was finally gaining weight. We went into the examining room and he estimated that I was now about 14 weeks pregnant. Sid stayed seated in the office, away from everything and for once, was quiet.

When we entered back into the office and I took my seat next to Sid, he glanced up from his phone and looked at the doctor. “So doc, when can we do a DNA test?”

The doctor raised his eyebrows, “is there a question of the child’s paternity?” he asked as he looked at me. I nodded, “I know he’s the father but he’s questioning it”, I explained as the doctor made a note in my chart.

“Well, since you’ve reached the 14 week mark, we can do DNA testing safely right up until the 20th week. It would involve doing an amniocentesis, which means we insert a needle into the uterus and into the amniotic sac for a fluid draw. The fluid can also be tested to check for mutations to see if the child is at risk or has developed any medical conditions such as Down ’s syndrome.

“Sounds good to me”, Sid said as he put his phone in his pocket. “When are we going to do this?”

I turned quickly to look at him, “aren’t we even going to think about this?” I asked him. The doctor looked uncomfortable.

“No, the earlier I know, the better it is. My PR team is going to need as long as possible to try to cover this up if it’s mine”, Sid said as he stood up. “Let me know when the test is going to be done”.

The doctor cleared his throat. “The test can be done today, we just have to go down the hall into a sterile room with an ultrasound and the results can be rushed and back in as little as a few weeks”. Sid nodded, “even better”.

My heart was pounding and I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Why was this being decided without me? Papers were being pushed across the desk and next thing I knew there was a pen next to my hand. “Sign here saying that you agree with the risks of the amino”, the doctor said as Sid paced in front of the door.

Reluctantly I signed the consent and was ushered down the hall into a room where I was placed on the table and a cleansing solution was rubbed onto my naked belly. An ultrasound technician used the probe to find the baby and I caught a quick glimpse of the little tiny thing that was causing me so much trouble. I looked away as the needle was inserted and saw Sid sitting there, watching the monitor with no emotion on his face. He made no move to take my hand or try to comfort me, no words were spoken, and he sat there like he was carved out of stone. When the procedure was over, he finally glanced in my direction. “You okay?” I nodded and waited for the go ahead for me to sit up.

Leaving the office with papers regarding the procedure and another appointment for 4 weeks’ time, I walked slowly in front of Sid as we exited the clinic. As we neared my car, which was parked closer to the entrance than Sid’s Rover, he gave me a nod and a quick “take care” as he continued on his way to his vehicle while I climbed into the driver’s seat of my car.

I started the car and watched as Sid climbed into his vehicle and peeled out of the parking lot. Driving back to my apartment, I couldn’t help but feel deflated. Sid was denying fathering this child, but he certainly had no problem taking control of my pregnancy. Once we had the results and he knew he was the father for sure, what was I going to be in for? That thought sent chills down my spine.