She turned a knob and seconds later, we heard the heartbeat. That murmur was in actuality tiny, inaudible, but thanks to the marvels of modern medicine, it filled the room. A strong, steady, surprisingly fast murmur that pounded in my ears. It was the sound of life that existed inside of my life. It was...lifeception.

Like an in utero Christopher Nolan–type deal.

More tears from both Mom and I, and she leaned down until our cheeks touched.

“Listen to that,” she said. “That kid is thriving.”

“Yeah, they are.”

I must have had a weird look on my face beyond the rampant snot and ickiness, because she brushed my hair and whispered in my ear, “Happened to me, too, FYI. Wasn’t sure what to do about you, abortion, adoption or whatever, but then I saw you on that screen and heard you. You were doomed to be my forever loin fruit after that.”

“I... Yeah. I don’t think I can—”

“It’s okay. Whatever you decide is okay. And changing your mind is okay, too,” Mom said.

Dr. Cardiff smiled at both of us before reaching toward the printer beside her. She produced a picture of the jelly bean and offered it to me. I accepted it, but my eyes were still fixed on the screen. “Weird,” I said.

Mom sat up beside me and dashed at her cheeks with the butts of her palms. “What is?”

“The baby looks kinda like a chestburster.”

“Oh, my gosh, from Alien? YES! But I can never say that to my patients. They’d get upset, I think.” Dr. Cardiff grinned. “You’re cool, though. You can hang.”

I found a smile, my thumb brushing over the picture clasped too tightly in my hand. I had to relax my fingers or I’d rumple the proof of my fetus.

“I can see the Larssen resemblance. Big head, tiny hands. That’s our mutant superpower, you know. Ridiculously tiny hands. It’s pretty useless in the vast scheme of things,” Mom said.

Dr. Cardiff started laughing.

“Oh, my God. Mom!”

“Little tiny hands, one day pawing at your belly from the inside...”

“Will you please shut up?”

“Never, especially when it comes to torturing my kid and future grandkid.”

Grandkid?

Oh. Right.

Holy crap.

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

The meeting with the guidance counselor turned out to be a meeting with both the guidance counselor and a school social worker. The presence of the fetus made the second a necessity, by policy. I could tell it made Mom nervous to have someone from the state there, but they reassured her they were there as a resource for future family planning. It wasn’t some kind of state-led investigation into whether or not my oopsie reflected on Mom as a parent.

I felt crummy that it even occurred to her that someone would think that way. My mom was pretty amazing.