The Homecoming: Countdown to Armageddon: Book 5 (15 page)

     “How in the world can she protect her when we don’t even know where she is?”

     “I don’t know. But you might want to prepare yourself for the inevitable.”

     “The inevitable?”

     “I’ll bet you a dollar to a donut that at some point, probably real soon, she’s going to want to go off in search of her mother, and to bring her back.”

     At that moment, Scarlett Butler walked out of the crowd, her husband Rhett close behind.

     “Hi, Beck. I heard you were looking for me.”

     “Yep. Let’s go over to your place. I need to speak to both of you in private.”

              -28-

     “Yes, I have been having cramps in my midsection. But they’re nothing serious. And how in the world did you know?”

     “A little birdie told me. And unless you’ve just finished eating five big burritos covered with hot salsa, your midsection shouldn’t be cramping to the point where you’re almost doubled over in pain. It may be nothing. But then again, it could be something serious.”

     Scarlett saw the look of genuine concern on Becky’s face and relented.

     “Okay, okay. I give up.”

     “Good. Strip down to your underwear so I can give you a thorough examination.”

    Rhett, sitting on a couch in the back of the couple’s living room, said, “Oh, boy.”

     Scarlett stuck out her tongue at him.

     Becky wasn’t so patient with him.

     “Shut up, you, or we’ll throw you out of here.”

     Scarlett couldn’t help but giggle at the look on Rhett’s face. His expression was that of a little boy whose hand had just been slapped for trying to steal a cookie.

     Becky, taking a stethoscope from the backpack that she carried with her everywhere, noticed more important things.

     Like the way Scarlett’s panties clung tightly to her waist. And the way the blue jeans she’d just shed left red marks.

     And the slight belly Scarlett had been hiding under her loose blouse.

     “Have you been gaining weight?”

     Scarlett’s face suddenly took on a decidedly red tint.

     “Why… yes. A little. But I’ve started working out more and eating a bit less. I’ll get rid of it.”

     She looked at Becky, perhaps hoping for reinforcement or approval of her diet plans. Becky, though, remained noncommittal.

     “Rhett, you’ll have to sit somewhere else. I need to have her flat on her back.”

     Rhett’s mouth, as it often did, engaged independently of his brain. He said, “Yeah. That’s my favorite way to have her too.”

     This time even Scarlett wasn’t so patient with him. Her icy glare made him say, “Oops. I’ll shut now.”

     He slunk over to the other side of the room, sulking at the knowledge that in a room full of his male friends, his clever comment would have been better received.

     But his love for his wife and his concern for her kept him from leaving the room entirely, and from that moment on he clung to Becky’s every word.

     “Have you been getting enough to drink, keeping yourself hydrated?”

     “Yes, ma’am.”

     “Have you experienced any dizziness or lightheadedness? Especially when suddenly standing?”

     “Occasionally, but not more than usual.”

     “Any nausea or vomiting, especially in the morning?”

     “A couple of times. But I know where you’re going with this, and the answer is no. Rhett and I have been trying to get pregnant for the last year or so. But last week when I threw up after breakfast, we went to the abandoned CVS Pharmacy. One of the few things still on their shelves was their home pregnancy tests, and we took one. It was negative.”

     Becky looked her directly in the eyes.

     “Did you pay any attention at all to the expiration date on the back of the box?”

     “Uh… no.”

     “All of the home pregnancy tests were manufactured two and a half or three years ago. The shelf life has expired on all of them. They’ll read negative regardless of the circumstances.”

     Rhett and Scarlett looked at each other, both feeling foolish. Rhett maintained his look of concern, while Scarlett’s expression turned to one less of worry and more of hope.

     Becky, for her part, maintained her composure.

     She returned to her backpack and took out a tube of gel.

     “This is going to be icy cold, so brace yourself.”

     She squeezed some of the gel onto Scarlett’s midsection, causing the woman to wince.

     “Brrrrr.”

     “I warned you.”

     “I know, but I didn’t expect it to be that cold. What’s it for, besides turning my belly into a popsicle?”

     “We used to use it to enhance the details of our sonogram images. None of our sonograms work anymore, but it also works to enhance the sound of our stethoscopes. I need for the two of you to be perfectly quiet.”

     Becky turned to Rhett with a glare more icy than the gel.

     “Especially you, funny man.”

     The look of the chastised little boy returned to Rhett’s face and he sank deeper into his easy chair.

     Scarlett smiled, but with a tiny touch of sympathy for her husband.

      The couple watched, fascinated, as Becky prodded Scarlett’s slightly protruding belly with her left hand, while deftly moving the stethoscope around with her right. At several points she lingered, shifting the stethoscope from side to side or moving it very slightly, as she found sounds which interested her.

     She seemed to feel the same tinge of pity for Rhett, and decided to involve him in the process.

     Careful to keep the stethoscope’s cup in place against Scarlett’s midsection, she said, “Rhett, come here and put these on.”

     As he crossed the room, she said, “Breathe slowly and don’t talk. Just listen.”

     After a few seconds, she asked him, “Now, tell me what you heard.”

     He took off the earpieces and looked disappointed.

     “All I heard was Scarlett’s heartbeat.”

     Undeterred, Becky said, “Scarlett, give me your palm, face up.”

     She did as she was told.

     “Okay, Rhett, I want you to put the earpieces back in place and listen again. Only this time, place two of your fingers on Becky’s pulse. Then tell me what you hear.”

     It took Rhett almost a full minute to figure it out. By that time, Scarlett already know. When Rhett took the earpieces off a second time, he noticed Scarlett and Becky smiling at each other, tears in both of their eyes.

     Rhett, for his part, was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning.

     “I heard the heartbeat again. Only it’s beating a lot faster than Becky’s heartbeat.”

     Becky added with a soothing and knowing tone, “Yes. Tiny hearts tend to do that.”

              -29-

     Rhett wanted to burst back out into the street, to yell at the top of his lungs to all his friends and neighbors, “Hey, everybody, we’re having a baby!”

     But his good sense took over, and he wouldn’t make such an announcement without Scarlett at his side. And Becky wasn’t quite finished with his wife’s examination.

     “I’ve got a few more things I want to check before you go.”

     Becky took her stethoscope back from Rhett and continued her probe of Scarlett’s midsection. While she listened, Rhett stayed at Scarlett’s side, holding her hand and staring blissfully into her eyes. Scarlett now seemed almost giddy.

     Becky deftly moved her scope from one spot to another, trying to differentiate the normal grumbling and crackling sounds of Scarlett’s gastrointestinal organs from sounds that might indicate other things at work. At one point she thought she heard something that concerned her, but she couldn’t be sure. And in any event, she was wise enough not to share her concerns with her patient.

     So she kept it to herself for the time being.

     And outwardly she showed no signs of her concern. So the young couple’s mood was unchanged as Becky told Scarlett to get dressed.

     “No more talk of going on a diet, young lady. The weight you’ve gained is normal and not excessive. You’re eating for two now, and I’ll not have you deprive this baby of his nutrition. Instead of dieting, I want you to focus on eating healthier. Eat as much as you like, as long as it’s real food, and not all cobbler and cake. Continue to exercise, as long as you don’t do it to the point of exhaustion. And continue to stay hydrated. That’s very important, especially in the first trimester. Have Rhett take you up to the hospital in a month for your next checkup. I won’t be there, but if you ask for Amy, she’ll take good care of you. I’ll tell her to expect you. Any questions?”

     Scarlett looked nervously at Rhett, and seemed hesitant to ask.

     “It’s okay, dear. You can ask me anything. If Rhett doesn’t like it, I’ll just kick his ass. Go ahead.”

     Scarlett giggled, then found her words.

     “Oh, Becky. It’s silly, I know. But you’re almost like family to us. I don’t know Amy, and I’m sure she’s a fine nurse. But I don’t know that I’d feel comfortable with her. I mean, I trust you with my life, and you’re like a sister to me…”

    “Say no more. Have Rhett okay it with the chief, and then bring you to the compound in a month. Be sure to let me know ahead of time that you’re coming. And expect to come once a month until the baby is born.”

     “Yeah, uh…”

     Rhett finally found his own voice.

     “About that, Becky… exactly when can we expect little Tara to make her entrance?”

     “Little Tara?”

     “Oh, yes. Well, let’s face it. If you were us and expecting a baby, would you want a little Scarlett, or a little me?”

     Scarlett burst out laughing when Becky said, “Well, you definitely have a point there. Unfortunately, without our ultrasound equipment working, we can’t take accurate measurements. At least not as accurate. The best way to estimate the due date is the old fashioned way, with a calendar. Scarlett, when was your last period?”

     She did the math in her head.

     “Fifty one days ago. But I’ve been under a lot of stress over the last few months, and I wasn’t regular at all. Sometimes it fluctuated by as much as a couple of weeks.”

     “Okay, then. We’ll guesstimate nine months from your end of your last cycle, plus two weeks. More or less. Remember that a first child is frequently overdue. Or sometimes they’re early. In any event, as we get closer I can probably give you a better estimate.”

     “Is there any way to identify the sex?”

     “Oh, sure. We just wait until the baby is born and see what equipment he or she comes with. Just like they did for thousands of years before modern equipment came along.”

     Rhett groaned.

     “Oh, man! That’s a long time to wait.”

     Becky chuckled.

     “We might be able to tell with a blood test. But not until you get a
lot
closer to your due date. Any other questions?”

     Rhett and Scarlett looked at each other, then shook their heads no.

     “Good. Then you get your clothes back on, girl, and y’all go make your big announcement.”

     Becky watched as the pair walked out the door, hand in hand. The smile on her face did a very good job in masking her concern.

              -30-

     At a little past five p.m., Scott dropped Becky off at the house she shared with four other nurses on Pecan Grove Drive. The original plan was for her to go back to the compound with Scott to drop Sara off and to meet everyone in the compound. But with one nurse babying a head wound and another with what might prove to be appendicitis, Becky found herself on call.