Almost Easy

Liz’s POV

“Hey Elizabeth.”

“Hi Dr. Heely.” I smiled as I walked in to work Friday morning, putting my purse down under the desk, “How’s everything looking today?”

“Pretty good, and I told you, call me Greg. How are you feeling this morning? I noticed you weren’t feeling so good yesterday?” He asked, turning in his chair to face me, I shrugged, “Are you sure you want to work right up to your due date?”

“Of course I do.” I smiled and sat down, internally crying at the relief my feet felt, “I would go nuts sitting at home doing nothing, waiting for this to happen.”

“Well, let me know alright? My wife was asking about you last night, she was wondering if there was anything she can help you with? Do you need anything?”

“Oh, good, Liz you’re here.”

I looked up from my conversation with Dr. Heely to the lobby where his wife, Anita, had just walked in, “We were just talking about you, dear.” Dr. Heely smiled.

“Oh, well I’m flattered. I came in to talk to Liz about our conversation last night because I assumed you’d have one of your man moments and forget.” She smiled and walked behind the desk to the chair beside me, “I was telling Greg last night that I want to know if you need anything at all, Liz. Honestly, don’t hesitate to ask ok? I know this can all be so confusing, I was so lost as what to do when we had our first it was a nightmare.”

“Oh, I’m fine-“

“Don’t be humble, Liz. You’re a single mother and I can’t imagine being so far from your family during this time.” She sighed, I had met Mrs. Heely a few times before and she was no joke the sweetest woman I’d ever encountered. The woman was an actual saint if you asked me.

“Thank you, I do appreciate it. I’ve kind of been holding off to the last minute to do anything nursery related-“

“You don’t have nursery things yet?!” She gasped and shook her head, “That’s not acceptable, at all.” Her phone was instantly in her hands as Greg smiled at me, giving me a slight wink, “I’m going to email you a couple choices of cribs, changing tables, and décor type things and you just send me back what you like. We’ll make sure that you don’t have to worry about any of that.”

“You don’t have to do that Anita-“

“Please, Liz.” She smiled at me, “I have three sons, and I prayed every pregnancy for a daughter just so I could be doing exactly this, believe me when I say I am more than happy, more than happy, to help.”

“Well, I can’t complain. It’s definitely a relief.” I laughed as her email popped up on the desktop screen, “I should probably get to some paper work, file some things, and I’ll definitely look over that email at lunch. Is that ok?”

“That’s perfect, and if you feel like looking before hand by all means go for it.” She smiled and hugged me gently, “You can’t get in trouble because I’ll just give him hell when he gets home.”

“Thank you again, it’s really more than I could express my thanks for. You’ve done so much for me as it is with giving me this job with no experience..”

“Honestly, for lack of experience, you’re the best receptionist we’ve had here in ages.” Greg laughed as he began making his way back to the exam room to prep for his first patient of the day.

“If you make some decision today on those pieces, I can have Danny come over and move them in for you when they get delivered.” She smiled, I nodded and gave a small wave as she left.

Danny was their youngest son, he was two years older than me, that put him at twenty-six. He had been in a couple times to help his dad out, he was the only son of theirs to actually pursue dentistry. He was just as nice as his mother from what small interactions I had with him but I was welcoming the help of moving large boxes in to my apartment without hesitation.

I sighed and looked at the computer screen as the time began passing on the screen, today was going to be a long day and that was sure. We had three root canals, a braces exam, and about a dozen other procedures that I’d be fielding grumpy patients in and out all day. First up was a sixty year old woman who was having her first impressions for dentures today, god help me.

.:.:.:.:.:.

“So did you get a chance to look over those cribs?” Greg asked as we finished up around the office at the end of the day.

“Oh, yeah. I looked her email over at lunch.” I nodded and took a sip from my water bottle, another thing the Heely’s were on my case about was staying super hydrated. It was like having another set of parents, again I couldn’t complain. His silent stare was a signal he was waiting for the end result of my look, “I sent her the ones I liked, don’t worry.”

“She’s really excited, she’s always wanted to have a daughter to dote on and she’s really taken a liking to you. If she’s too much tell me, I know how over bearing my wife can be. Believe me.”

I laughed and suppressed the feeling swelling in my chest, “It’s nice. Especially with my family situation.”

“I’m glad to hear she’s comforting someone,” Greg grabbed his suitcase and laughed, “She’s always making our sons lives miserable by nagging them to start families and find girls, our oldest Jeff has a girlfriend but they’re so on and off she’s given up dropping hints to them.”

“Well, I welcome the advice and help, it’s nice.” I smiled and slung my purse over my shoulder, “Enjoy your weekend, I’m sure I’ll hear from you soon.”

“Anita, more than likely. I like to spend my weekends at the golf course or at the pool.” He smiled as we parted ways at the door, both of us walking to our respective vehicles.

I closed my car door and instantly turned the AC on, it was by no means scorching like California but my fat pregnant ass was sweating no matter what. I glanced down at my stomach and sighed, “You’re ruining my body Colton, I hope you know that.”

I looked around my vehicle before shifting to reverse and leaving the parking lot. My drive back was short, thank God, and less traffic than I’d ever been accustomed to. By the time I had reached my buildings parking lot, my bladder could sense the fact we were home and suddenly it was like a thousand pounds of cement were pressing against my bladder. I groaned the whole walk to my door and locked it quickly behind me as I bolted for the bathroom, that was something I was glad would be over soon.

The sudden intense urge to pee was definitely not in my wheelhouse of things I could handle. While I was washing my hands after emptying what was less than an ounce of pee, I heard my cell phone ringing from my purse in the living room. I waddled my way out and picked it up, regardless of the unknown number flashing across the screen.

“Hello?” I asked, instantly realizing the fact I should have taken more consideration of thinking over the number before hand but it was too late.

“Elizabeth?”

“Uhm, yes?” I asked, violently relived at the lack of familiarity in the voice on the other end.

“Hi, it’s uh, Danny, Greg and Anita’s son.” He clarified as I hummed a response, “My mom told me to come over there tonight to help you with something and I really just wanted to make sure you knew about this and she wasn’t just sending me on some odd surprise where you would have a can of pepper spray at the ready for being scared.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, he wasn’t very far off from my current reaction to being scared, “She did mention volunteering you to help me move some heavy things in but not that it would be tonight.” I laughed a little bit, “You know what you’re moving right?”

“Yeah, she said a crib and baby stuff, so, I’m assuming it’ll be ok if I bring a friend to help?” He asked.

“Oh, yeah definitely. Bring whoever you need to, I’m really thankful you’re willing to help it means a lot. I couldn’t lift that stuff if I tried.” I laughed, “Even if I wasn’t pregnant.”

“Yeah I wouldn’t recommend it. Ok, so we’ll be over there in about an hour if that’s ok. We have to go pick the stuff up first.”

“That’s totally fine, do you guys like pizza? Chinese food? Subs?” I asked, “I’ll definitely order something for when you get here so I don’t feel like a total asshat for using the manpower of my boss’s son and his friend.”

“Pizza sounds good, cheese is fine by us. I’ll bring drinks.” I could tell he was smiling, he and his mother had this tone of voice that depicted their facial expressions, “See you in a bit Liz.”

“See you.” I hung up and looked at myself in the mirror hanging in the entry way, “Fuck.” I was a wreck, my hair was half out of its bun and my makeup was smudged from holding a phone to my head half the day. I looked at my phone clock and realized I had just enough time for a shower and refresh before I had to order pizza. I kicked my shoes off and are my way to the bathroom, turning the water on as cold as possible and stripping my clothes off. The feeling of the ice cold water over my annoyingly bloated skin was welcomed and something I didn’t want to step out of anytime soon, but I really needed to not smell like a dentist office for once. That would be nice. So I embarked on my journey of trying to feel like a somewhat normal looking pregnant chick.