The generic office of mundane white walls and neutral colored furniture was where Jon sat alone, waiting for both the doctor and his wife. His wife was once again emptying her bladder, while Dr. Barnes stepped away after Ari’s exam to check on her patient.
Everything was moving right along. Ari’s blood pressure had finally leveled to where Dr. Barnes wasn’t concerned, which was excellent news. As for progression, she was at the exact stage she was last week when Dr. Cummings checked, but the best part was Ari’s reaction when she stepped on the scale. She had gained three pounds in a week, with a grand total of twenty-nine pounds. She was not happy about any of it and swore off food until she gave birth. Though neither of them believed her.
“Once again, thank you for being so patient.” The stout woman held the door open while Ariana took her seat, then she shut the door and took her seat behind the desk. “Now, what is it you wanted to discuss?”
“We were late in the first place. We should thank you for always being so flexible.”
“Yes.” Jon interjected. “Touring is hectic in its own right, but you have been more than understanding with us, and we are extremely grateful for that.”
“I must say, I had my reservations at first, but those eased a bit when Dr. Cummings came on board.”
“Speaking of Dr. Cummings,” Ariana couldn’t have asked for a better segway for what she wanted to discuss. “Like we said, you and Dr. Laurent have gone above and beyond anything we could have asked for. It’s just that having been on the road and stuck in Italy, I have grown comfortable with Dr. Cummings and… well, umm… I’m not sure how to…” Jon squeezed her hand. “Would you mind if I had her deliver the baby?”
“Ah, well, it’s an understandable request and personally, I have no issues with it. So, I take it then that you are staying put till then?”
“No. I’m still planning to travel with Jon till I have the baby.”
There was an awkward pause as Dr. Barnes flipped the pages of the chart until she found what she was looking for. “I’m not really comfortable with your decision. Have you discussed this with Dr. Cummings and Dr. Laurent yet?”
“We have an appointment with Dr. Laurent on the thirteenth. As for Dr. Cummings, I was waiting to speak to you about having her handle the delivery first.”
“Not to sound too pretentious or anything, but we have our own private plane and Dr. Cummings with us. If need be, we can make a landing.” Jon firmly stated.
“I’m perfectly aware of that, Mr. Bongiovi. Normally, we require our patients to stop flying between 30 to 32 weeks. I have been more than lenient regarding this matter. The reason being, we like to take precaution against DVT, Deep Vein Thrombosis, which is prevalent in pregnant women and/or the cabin pressure causing early water breaking. Have you even taken into consideration what you would do if any other complications were to arise? Not that I foresee any. I’m just playing devil’s advocate?”
Jon scooted to the edge of his seat and rested his arms on the desk in front of him.
“Trust me when I say this, Dr. Barnes. It’s the one and only reason I hired Dr. Cummings. I believe we made that perfectly clear during our first appointment and again throughout the pregnancy. Ariana’s and our baby’s well-being is my first and foremost concern, and I stand by my wife on this decision. She will be with me until our daughter is born.”
“And that is most certainly your right.” Closing the file, Dr. Barnes stood. “I will see that Dr. Cummings receives all the necessary paperwork to extend privileges here at Riverview. If you can see that she continues to send me her weekly updates, I would appreciate it.”
Following her lead, they both stood and walked to the opened door. “Thank you again, Dr. Barnes, for everything.”
“You’re very welcome. I look forward to meeting your little girl soon.”
♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱
The day was too perfect to waste it indoors. Upon returning home, they headed upstairs to change out of their clothes and into their swimsuits. Then Ariana headed outside to the pool, while Jon headed to his office for a bit. He had some foundation business to take care of before he headed to Philadelphia in the morning. In the interim of her relaxing in the refreshing water and soaking up the sun, she caught up on some research and reading. Throughout her pregnancy, she would read about what was happening to her body and what she could expect. She never went ahead of where she was and now,that she was nearing the end, she wanted to prepare herself for what was coming next. Some of what she read made her shudder with surprise.
“Ari, Ari, watch this.” Romeo called from the far side of the pool. He had been the only one who stayed outside with her since they’d gotten home. The others came and went throughout the afternoon.
“I’m watching, sweetie.” Blocking the sun with her arm, she looked up over the rim of her sunglasses.
Tossing the yellow tennis ball into the air, Romeo instructed an already in-flight Meatball to ‘go and get it'. Launching into the air, Meatball caught the ball between his teeth, landing with a thunderous splash in the middle of the pool. Romeo followed behind him, shouting with happiness.
“Yay. You finally got him to do it.” Ari cheered.
The child had been trying to teach him all day, but Meatball would always stop short of the edge of the pool. It was fun to watch, though. In the short time they had been apart, it was amazing at how much the dog had grown. Jon was even shocked, though Ari didn’t think Jon actually knew just how big Meatball would get.
“Do what?” Jon stood on the back deck with a cigarette dangling between his lips and the neck of a bottle of beer between his fingers.
“What are you doing?”
It was a question Jon knew needed no answer. Instead, he just slipped the paper stick behind his ear and took a sip from his bottle. Not that she objected to his smoking, because he knew she didn’t. He wasn’t a chain smoker; it was more of familiarity, a comfort. She’d also smoked casually, but stopped the moment she found out she was pregnant.
“Now, what’s that mutt up to?”
“I finally got him to jump and catch the ball in the pool.”
“Taught him.” Jon corrected as Romeo ran past his father into the house with the wet furball right behind him.
“Yeah. Whatever.”
“Keep him off the furniture, will ya?” Jon called after them as he closed the sliding screen door. He knew too well his request would fall on deaf ears, but asked anyway.
“So?” Ari closed the book she was reading and waved him to come over and sit next to her.
“So, what?” Jon straddled the empty chair and pulled up the legs of his swim trunks before sitting.
“Something on your mind?”
It was funny how well they read each other. How a little thing like him forgetting about not smoking around her had her picking up on that. Holding his hand under hers, his finger skated along her palm until their tips kissed.
“Something came up and I have to head to Philly tonight.”
“And...”
“And I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m a big girl, you know.” She waved a finger at him when he laughed.
“I see that.” he teased anyway. “It’s just with what Dr. Barnes talked about today.”
“I’m not the one going you are, and you heard her. Nothing has changed since Nicole examined me.”
“I know.”
“Then I don’t understand what the problem is. You were going in the morning, anyway. By going tonight, will that get you home earlier tomorrow?” he shrugged in response. “It’s meetings, Jon, not a show. If something were to happen, you’re only twenty minutes away.”
“Forty, tops.”
“Then that settles it. What time do you leave?”
“After dinner.” Her face lit up at his mention of food. “In the mood for barbecue?”
“You cooking?”
“Hell yes, woman.”
“Good, there are still a few hours of good sun left. I need to finish working on my tan.”
There was so much irony to her comment it wasn’t funny. Having inherited her father's olive complexion, the woman was perpetually tan.
Oh boy, I hope nothing happened
ReplyDeleteWhy they on a Plane. I don’t
Think Dr. Barnes was to happy
with them about Them flying
Late in the pregnancy.
Whoo Hoo Meatball catching
The Tennis ball. Meatball must
Be Huge! lol