• Chapter 18: Surprises Inside the Office

    The three followed the tall blonde woman through the extensive halls until they reached the first open door. The woman stepped to the other side of the door and turned around, obviously waiting for them to enter. They walked in and the doctor looked up from his papers with a smile.
    “Hello, Nancy,” he said, obviously familiar with her. He turned to Kauri after Nancy returned the greeting. “Now, how exactly do you pronounce your name?” he asked, as polite as possible.
    “Car-ee,” she pronounced for him.
    “Well, nice to meet you, Kauri. I’m Dr.Natson.” Dr.Natson walked over to his desk and grabbed his clipboard. “Please step on the scale. I just have to get your weight and height real quick, if that’s fine with you.”
    Kauri stepped on the small electronic scale. She gasped at the weight it read, especially since she had never weighed that much before in her entire life. Since she was so tiny, she usually weighed 105. Now, she weighed 120. She was afraid of what she would weigh right before she had the baby, considering she wasn’t even showing. The doctor took her height, putting her at 5’3’’.
    “Now, if you could lay down on this bed. You’re done with all the standing stuff,” Dr.Natson invited. As Kauri walked towards the bed, he grabbed this gel and adjusted a machine just a little closer to the bed.
    Kauri lay down on the blue-sheeted bed, hoping the ultrasound would only show positive things. The doctor moved her shirt to only expose her stomach. He rubbed the cold gel on her and turned on the machine. He began moving a small device over her stomach. He paused for a moment to point the baby out.
    “That’s your baby,” He said, pointing at the screen. “There on the right.”
    Everyone’s attention became glued to the right side of the screen, trying to discover the small, developing baby. Cameron turned his head back and forth, trying to make out the figure.
    “Wait, isn’t the baby on the left?” Nancy questioned.
    Dr.Natson paused for a moment and looked closely. “Yea, there too.”
    Suddenly the whole room became completely silent, as if it could get any quieter. Kauri couldn’t figure out why, so the silence felt very awkward, especially since Cameron’s eyes were wide. “Why does that matter? Big baby, small screen, what?” she asked, demanding answers.
    Cameron leaned over and whispered into Kauri’s ear, “That’s a separate baby.”
    Kauri’s eyes got very wide and her jaw dropped. “Oh, no no no no no. If you people are pulling a joke, you better tell me now before I panic. I can’t have twins. What if they’re identical and I mix them up every day? Then how will they know which really is which? I’d be a horrible mom of identical twins!” Kauri began to breath deeply, panicking about the current situation. She didn’t even want to raise one child, and she doubted she could raise two.
    “Who plays a joke on a pregnant woman, in the hospital, about her ultra sound in front of her? She could just check for herself!” Cameron pointed out.
    “Well, you guys know I’ve never had any experience in this, and I might believe anyone. Also, Cameron, you would do that, and you’re the one who told me.”
    Cameron smiled, knowing she was telling the complete truth. He plays jokes on her that have the proof that he’s lying right in front of her all the time just to see if she’d believe it. “I haven’t done that since you’ve become pregnant,” he also pointed out.
    “Stop you two,” Nancy took control. “Dr.Natson, is it really twins?”
    “Yes. Kauri, you’re going to get bigger than you thought you would. I’m sorry to tell you this.” Dr.Natson began to write in the notes column on his clipboard.
    Kauri was upset. She was so skinny; she knew being pregnant would make her look as if she stuck a big basketball in her shirt. Now it was going to look as if she stuck an entire sit-and-bounce in her shirt. A small smile came across Kauri’s face as she imagined taking the child’s toy and trying to fit it under her shirt and keep it there. She also realized that if she didn’t go to get a job soon, she would never be able to support to children as if she would’ve been able to support one child. She realized it might not be too bad for a little while since she could just breast-feed them for a while, but the diapers and cribs would be an expense.
    Kauri signaled for Cameron to come closer so she could whisper in his ear. “Don’t tell anyone that I’m expecting twins yet. I want it to be a surprise when two babies pop out and no one is expecting it.”
    “Why does it really matter?” Cameron questioned
    “Well, people have only know I’ve been pregnant for a moth, if they’ve known since the beginning of it spreading. I think it’s just a little too soon to be laying it on them that there’s going to be more than one. I might tell them a little later, but not now; it’s way too soon,” Kauri explained every detail to Cameron.