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“Why are you in such a lousy mood?” Dylan demands.
“What do you mean? I haven’t said anything,” I protest.
“That’s the fucking problem. Jace and I have been talking like it’s just the two of us.”
We’re having lunch at the hospital café. Dylan is not wrong. I seem to be in a permanently bad mood.
“Is it my fault then that the two of you can’t shut up?” I ask. The question serves its purpose, and it gets the focus away from my mood.
I should be happy, but I’m not. Ivy’s joy haunts me day and night. She wants to talk about our future all the time. My phone vibrates with a message, and it’s from Ivy. She’s sent a picture of herself in a bridal store, flagged on both sides by wedding gowns.
Ivy: Molly made me come here, but I have to admit that it’s fun.
I let out a slow breath. She will look beautiful in a wedding dress. I look at her face again, and I know how much it will mean to her to have an actual wedding date. We’re already engaged; I don’t see the big deal in setting a date.
Me: How about we set a date?
Ivy: Ehhh, what do you mean?
Me: A wedding date.
Ivy: Oh God.
Me: What’s your preference? A small intimate wedding or a big one?
Ivy: Definitely a small, intimate one.
Me: That’s doable. Six weeks from now. Before the baby comes.
Ivy: I’m so excited. Molly and I are jumping around like lunatics. Everyone is looking at us.
“I just set a wedding date with Ivy.” I slip my phone back into my pocket.
They stare at me as if I’ve just announced that I’m going to the moon.
“Look, I understand getting engaged for the sake of the clinic but getting married? That’s a complete bastard move,” Dylan says.
“I love the clinic as well, but I’m not sure I would go to such lengths to save it,” Jace says, staring at me intently.
“I’m not doing this just for the clinic.”
“Are you sure?” Jace asks.
My withering stare is his answer.
“I’ll get Jeanette from PR to come to your office,” Jace says. “She can set up a few interviews for you and Ivy.”
We had discussed this as well. We need to publicize our engagement as widely as we can. It’s part of the strategy of not giving merit to the scandal if it does come out. It’s becoming a very big if. So far, there’s been nothing from the TV station, not even a request for an interview, which is normally how these things play out.
We finish lunch and go our separate ways.
Back in my office, I have two patients to see and then a minor surgery. Jeanette comes by before I leave for the office, and we sit for an hour planning the next few weeks. The hardest part will be telling Ivy about the interview. I have no idea how she feels about being in the public eye.
My chance to find out comes the following day when we meet at my place after work for dinner. I order out as we’re both tired from the day. Afterward, we relax on the couch with Ivy’s legs on my lap. I look at her belly in wonder.
I caress her belly, and at that exact moment, the baby kicks. A good, hard kick that makes Ivy cry out.
“He’s strong.” I sound like the proud parent I am.
