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Cadence had spent a couple of miserable days contemplating her options. She pushed out the jaunty yellow door onto Maple Street. The sun-bleached sidewalk was already bright from the midmorning rays. She had borrowed one of Emily’s gray knit skirts, along with a white blouse. A little tight, but she couldn’t bear to wear any of the clothes that Lacy had given her anymore.
Her appointment to get her ultrasound was today, and the clinic was in walking distance from Emily’s, so she took the opportunity to get some exercise. Dr. Motaoka Santana was a general practitioner, not a regular OBGYN, but Cadence was eager to see her baby.
Her thudding heart tried to escape her chest the closer she came to the small practice. It was a cute little brick building with a wraparound porch. The clinic had been converted from an old home in historic downtown.
She hopped up the steps, her hands sliding over the railing. Cadence pushed open the creaking door and found a tidy well-run clinic operating inside. The floor creaked under her feet. Approaching the administrator’s desk, she reported her arrival to the clinic receptionist. The woman pushed back her long, gray-streaked dark hair and smiled at her over her computer screen as she pulled up Cadence’s information. “You’re here for the ultrasound?”
Cadence nodded.
“My daughter will be right with you.”
Her daughter? Cadence was both surprised and unsurprised. Everything about Harvest Ranch boldly declared family unity. Of course she’d stumbled on a mother/daughter team.
Cadence sat down on a hard wooden chair near a tiny playground of toys. The arms squeaked the moment she put any weight on them.
The bells on the front door jangled when it opened again. This time it was Liv. She had Pip with her. The cute boy hopped up and down, running his hands over every surface that he could reach. Hopefully they’d sanitized everything, or he was about to catch every disease running through town.
Liv didn’t seem worried, or at least she was too preoccupied with walking steady to notice. She approached the desk. “I’m here for my blood pressure appointment.”
The administrator nodded and directed her to sit.
Liv turned and caught Pip pretending to eat an ice cream cone from the toys in the corner. “Do not lick that!” she cried. “You are way too old to think that’s real.”
He made a face. “Can we get ithe cream?” The kid’s missing teeth took out his S’s too.
“No! Wait for Charlie’s party.”
Cadence ducked guiltily. After hearing that West would be there, she’d told Porter that she couldn’t make it. Luckily Charlie wasn’t here to give her a guilt trip with those impossibly big eyes. Liv glanced over at her and smiled. “Angel!”
Cadence straightened. Unconsciously, her hand traveled to her belly. Immediately she removed her hand. “Hi, yeah, I’m just…” To her horror, all her stress and emotion from the last few days rose to the surface and she started to cry. Oh no! Where had that come from?
Liv’s face immediately flooded with concern. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”
“Mommy?”
Great, that was Pip. He wandered over, looking concerned.
Cadence shook her head. “I-I’m fine! I’m just feeling emotional today. That’s all.”
“I get that.” Liv sat down.
Pip ran to Cadence and threw his little arms around her. She startled, even as his mom cried out for restraint.
“It’s okay,” Cadence said. Strangely, it felt great to get a hug from a little guy who seemed to be overflowing with love. She felt his tiny hands pat her back. She broke into a smile.
He pulled back, watching her with those big blue Slade eyes. “Do you need chiches?” he asked.
“Chiches?” Cadence asked.
“Stitches,” his mother translated. “He had to get some last week.”
Cadence broke into a laugh as he solemnly showed her his arm. She wiped at her cheeks. With all the crying she’d been doing this past week, they’d get soggy. “Something like that.” She’d appreciate if some do-gooder came along to patch her heart all up. Her fears, guilt, and worries had all been pent up to bursting. She should’ve known that she couldn’t keep it all inside for long.
“Do you want an ithe cream cone?” Pip asked her. He pulled up to her ear to whisper, “Mommy thaid, ‘no,’ but you can have one if you have chiches.”
“Aw, thanks little guy.” Cadence’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.
Liv smiled and grabbed both sides of the chair to sidle out so that she could move to the chair next to Cadence. It was quite the process. Would this be how Cadence looked in a few months?
