The Girl With the Pink Bat
Copyright© 2025 by DB86
Chapter 9
That evening, I went to see my doctor. He listened to me, and sent me to see my gynecologist right away.
“Congratulations, Kara. You’re pregnant,” Dr. Natalie Carroll told me. She was the only gynecologist for a hundred miles. Right then, I wished I’d just taken one of those home-pregnancy tests because hearing a professional’s word on the subject made this feel way too real and unavoidable.
I couldn’t be pregnant. Could I? Now that I thought of it, when was the last time I had my period?
“My periods are fairly irregular, but even so ... How could I have missed this?”
Dr. Carroll told me that spotting in the first month or two of a pregnancy could be mistaken for a light period.
The only man I had slept with was ... Shit!
The doctor appeared to choose her next words delicately. “Are you going to go ahead with the pregnancy? Because if you’re not...”
I didn’t even have to think about it. Some things you just knew, with a bone-deep certainty. I drew a deep breath, scared yet sure. Very, very sure. “Oh, yes. Very definitely.”
Getting an abortion was out of the question. I wasn’t going to kill my baby because I had forgotten to wear condoms.
“I’m going to give you a list of over-the-counter prenatal vitamins,” Dr. Carroll kept explaining to me. “What I want you to do is choose one brand and start taking it immediately. Your body needs all sorts of nutrients it didn’t before, and you remaining healthy is of the utmost importance. Now, don’t forget to schedule an appointment with Tania at the front desk for next month before you leave. Here are a couple of pamphlets you need to read through.”
It was one of those pamphlets like the ones you see in a Simpsons’ episode, ‘So you’ve ruined your life’.
Too stunned to argue with the doctor, I nodded in understanding, slipped the pile of papers from her hand with limp fingers, and walked like a zombie toward the secretary’s desk.
Dr. Carroll’s receptionist, Tania Brooks, liked to stick her nose in other people’s business. She was one bitter bitch.
“Hi, Kara,” Tania greeted me. “I didn’t realize it was time for your yearly already. I thought you visited more around the end of the...” Her words died off as she opened my file and read the reason for her visit. “Oh my!” she gasped, and raised wide, curious eyes. “You’re ... you’re...” Her gaze fell to my stomach.
“I need to schedule a new appointment for next month,” I growled.
Tania didn’t pry for more details, though she did try to talk about the weather as we hashed out a date for my next appointment. Not in the mood for any kind of chitchat, I merely booked it out of there as soon as Tania handed me a card bearing the date of my check-up.
I walked to my car in a trance. I sat there numb and dazed.
Pregnant. I was going to have a baby.
My heart was thumping against my chest and I felt every beat as if time had slowed down.
It didn’t seem real. What was I going to do with a baby? I didn’t know anything about kids.
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