“Next, I refer you to an obstetrician. I recommend Dr. Viswanathan. She’s well-regarded. I can get you in the door, but you’ll need to make all your appointments well in advance”—she gave Vivian a knowing look—“and keep them.”

Vivian glared.

“What’s her first name, please?” Jules asked, ready to write it down.

Dr. Latchley smiled again and gave her a business card, which Jules carefully filed in her bag.

“And how’s that going to work?” Jules continued. “You’ll make the initial call, or—”

“I’ll tell her to expect you. She knows me. Call her office tomorrow morning, and you should be able to set something up.”

“Thanks.” Jules scribbled away. “Any receptionist in particular I should talk to?”

“They’re all very nice, but if you get ahold of Mary, tell her I want to know how her dogs are doing these days.”

“Dogs…are…doing. Mary. Okay.” She looked up from her notes to see Dr. Latchley grinning at her and Vivian looking at her like she was from another planet. Jules winced.

“In the meantime”—Dr. Latchley turned back to Vivian—“if you plan on continuing this pregnancy, I’ve got a basic care sheet.” She pulled a pale pink sheet of paper from a folder. “This lists dietary and exercise recommendations as well as typical symptoms you should expect. Let me just take this time to ask—what questions or concerns do you have?”

Vivian looked at Jules.

Jules immediately readied to stand up. Vivian probably didn’t want to talk about her pregnancy-related fears in front of Jules, if she wanted to talk about them at all. Especially the possibility that Vivian might not want to continue her pregnancy.

“Julia, what concerns do I have?” Vivian asked.

Or maybe that was not, in fact, an issue. “Diet stuff?” Jules ventured. She looked down at the sheet Dr. Latchley had given her. It was the same information she’d found online.

“Yes,” Vivian said to Dr. Latchley. “Diet.”

“Oh-kay.” Dr. Latchley elongated the word as if making room for incredulity. No wonder; most pregnant people didn’t delegate their worries to their personal assistants. “You’ll want to pay careful attention to that. Geriatric pregnancies are much more likely to result in gestational diabetes, along with other complications.”

Geriatric pregnancies? Jules bit her bottom lip and did her best to look at Vivian from the corner of her eye without turning her head. From what she could see, her face remained composed, but the grip on her handbag was white-knuckled.

“How have you been eating?” Dr. Latchley asked.

“Quite normally,” said Vivian, the great big fibber.

Before she could stop herself, Jules gave Vivian a look of outrage, which Dr. Latchley saw before Jules could hide it.

Fortunately, Vivian did not appear to notice.

“And what’s ‘normal’? What did you have for lunch today?” Dr. Latchley asked.

“Beef tartare,” Vivian replied. “From BABS.”