I’m not prepared to make this call, but I reflexively shake my head no.
Frankie smiles. “Okay. Me neither. But Dr. Shirvani, can you tell me what your thoughts are on horseback riding while pregnant?”
“In the first trimester, it’s generally fine, as long as it’s not vigorous and you’re experienced. Moderate exercise is good for you and the baby.”
“Ha!” Frankie says.
“But,” Shirvani goes on, “there’s definitely more risk on a horse than, say, riding a bike. Or going running. And since you are going into your second trimester, I’d weigh the risks seriously before continuing to ride. I wouldn’t recommend it at all in your third.”
I stop myself from blurting “ha” right back at my wife. But ooh, do I want to.
Dr. Shirvani looks at the monitor again, eyes scanning the screen.
“Everything’s okay, right?” Frankie asks, sounding worried. “I didn’t…hurt it, did I?”
“All good,” the doctor says with a smile, turning back to us. “I was just checking all the boxes. Looking good. Here, I’ll print a few photos for you to take. I love these new machines.”
A row of somewhat blurry black and white images of the sonogram roll out, and the doctor rips them off and hands them to me. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.
Frankie lets out a deep sigh of relief as the doctor finishes with the scan and wipes the gel from Frankie’s belly. She’s still clinging to my hand. I gently let go of her and carefully tear one of the images off the strip, then hand the rest to her as I slide the picture into my breast pocket.
In the car on the way home, with Donovan driving and the security team following in my car, Frankie takes my hand again and turns to me.
“Okay. So maybe trail riding is a little too much for the future…” she admits. “But honestly, that ride fixed my back pain like nothing else has.”
I frown. “I didn’t realize you were in pain. I’m sorry. I could’ve—”
“It’s not that bad. I think it’s just like, all my organs shifting around. I get this dull ache sometimes, shooting down my leg, like a nerve is twisted or pinched or something.”
“Sciatica,” I tell her. “Sounds like it.”
“Well whatever it is, it disappeared after I got on Ytse. Something about the way the saddle moves my hips around, I don’t know. But it made the ache go away.”
I start thinking of all the things we could try. “I’ll bring in a masseuse, an acupuncturist. Whatever you need to be pain free.”
Frankie laughs. “Oh, there’s going to be pain, Dante. Pain and swelling and cravings and all kinds of uncomfortable things. If there’s one thing I learned from Charlie, it’s that being pregnant is extremely gross sometimes.”
“I didn’t know Charlie and Clayton had a baby.”
Her smile drops and she looks away, out the window. “They, um…didn’t. She’s had two miscarriages. And until today, I didn’t even think about that happening to me. But now it’s all I can think about.”
I pull her against me, smoothing her hair back as she rests her head on my shoulder.
“I was born two months premature,” she says quietly. “Growing up, whenever my dad got mad at me for doing something stupid, he’d say it was because I didn’t cook long enough.”
“Frankie—”
“I know it’s not true, he’s just an asshole…but what if something bad happens? What if I do the wrong thing, or not enough of the right things, or the baby—”
I cut her off with a kiss. “We’ll buy every baby book we can get our hands on.”
“How about just the good ones?” she says with a laugh.
“The best ones. I promise,” I tell her seriously. “And when we get home, I’ll give you a massage. I’m sure I can find a way to make you forget all those aches and pains.”
“I’ll take that bet,” she purrs.
A lump forms in my throat and I hold her more tightly. “I swear to you, Francesca. You will be safe. You are protected, both of you, and this baby is going to be perfect just like you.”
