“I do and it’s going to be the death of me.” Dr. Foster smiled. “Any other questions?”
Anthony looked over, frowning. “Dr. Foster, she was at work today. She should go home, right?”
“Maybe, just to relax, though it’s not medically necessary.”
Anthony shot Mary an I-knew-it. “But Doctor, when you say ‘take it easier,’ what do you mean? Should she cut down on her hours at work? Or work part-time?”
Judy squeezed Mary’s hand. “Mare, if you have to, you could take it easier at work, like, take it down to three days a week. I’ll watch your desk and pick up the slack, or you can work from home.”
Dr. Foster shook her head. “There’s no medical reason for Mary to do that unless she wants to.” The doctor turned to Mary. “Do you want to?”
“No,” Mary answered, avoiding Anthony’s eye. “But on the other hand, I would never do anything that hurts the baby.”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t advise you to go back to work if I thought it would compromise the pregnancy or the baby.” Dr. Foster put her hand on the doorknob. “But you’re perfectly healthy, proceeding along right on track. Today was a blip on the screen, but that’s it. Feel free to call if you have any other questions and of course if you have any further spotting. Okay?”
“Okay.” Mary smiled, almost reassured. “Thanks so much.”
“Dr. Foster, thanks,” Anthony said, and Judy waved good-bye.
“Thanks from me, the aunt-to-be!”
Dr. Foster smiled. “See you at your next appointment, Mary. Just put your gown in the basket and leave when you’re ready. Take care.” She left the examining room, closing the door behind her.
“Okay,” Mary said, heaving a heavy sigh, and Anthony bent over and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“That was scary.”
“I bet.” Mary felt a wave of love for him, and concern. “I didn’t mean to freak you out when I called.”
“Not at all, I’m glad you told me.”
“You didn’t tell my parents, did you?”
“Are you nuts?” Anthony smiled crookedly.
“Okay, I won’t go back to work, I’ll go home with you.”
“Yes, the car’s in a lot. You check out, and I’ll come pick you up.”
“No, Anthony, I can go with you.”
Judy touched Mary’s arm. “Mare, Anthony’s right. Let him get the car. You get dressed, and we’ll meet him.”
“Thanks for the assist.” Anthony shot Mary a look. “Hear that, honey? Listen to reason.”
“Or failing that, listen to me.” Judy grinned.
“Ha.” Anthony walked around the examining table, giving Judy a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for taking her, Judy. You’re the best aunt-to-be ever.”
“I so am!” Judy grinned, and Anthony left the room, closing the door behind him.
Mary heaved another sigh. “I guess I should go home.”
“You really should.”
“I hate leaving you and Bennie in the lurch.”
“You’re not.” Judy waved her off. “We have more than enough lawyers on the case. If anything, we have too many.”
“But we have work to do on London Technologies, with John gone.”
“We’re not going to get it done today, and I already have a plan. The case is in the discovery phase now, so I’ll team up with Anne, read the file, and review interrogatories and documents. I’ll get up to speed, and she and I will take the depositions.”
“But that’s so much. What do I do? I want to help.”
“You can, by defending the depositions. That will be easier. You don’t even have to know the file.”
“That’s too easy,” Mary said, feeling a wave of guilt. Defending depositions was much easier than taking them, since the objections were the same in every deposition, regardless of the subject matter of the case. The gist was to make sure the client didn’t volunteer information or say something stupid.
“No, it’s fine. Plus if you’re defending the dep, the witness will have to come to us, so you don’t have to travel. All you have to do is sit on your butt in the conference room. It’s the perfect division of labor.”
Mary knew it made sense, even though it was the lighter load. She had a baby and she was thinking for two. “Okay, Anne said there was a dep to defend on Monday. I can do that.”
“It may be too soon for you.”
“No, I’m fine. We’ll meet with Anne and she’ll get us up to speed on the big picture. Meanwhile, I’ll email her and get any passwords to the file, so I can read it at home today. I’m not that busy, I was already cutting back because of the baby.”
“Okay, now, let me help you off the table.” Judy took Mary’s arm, and Mary slid off the white sheet to reveal her hospital gown, which was open in the back.
“Don’t look at my butt.”
“I’ve seen your butt.”
“Not lately. My stretch marks look like a bear attack.”
“Hush. You need help getting dressed?”
“No thanks.” Mary smiled, touched again by her friend’s thoughtfulness. Judy may have looked wacky to the outside world, with her magenta hair and fashion-challenged outfits, but she was one of the most reliable and levelheaded people Mary had ever known.
“Okay, I’ll meet you in the waiting room.” Judy let herself out of the examining room, and Mary padded into the adjacent bathroom, where she dressed avoiding the mirror, her enemy for the past seven months. Whoever said pregnant people glowed needed glasses. Pregnant people sweated. Even in March.
She picked up her purse and left the examining room, trundling down the hallway and taking a left toward the billing and reception area, when she heard a hubbub coming from the reception area. She went through the glass door, only to be greeted by a reception room full of bewildered patients, a nervous Judy, and most of South Philly, in the form of Mary’s mother, father, El Virus, and The Tonys, who surged forward as a vaguely hysterical group when they spotted Mary.
“Pop? Mom?” Mary recoiled, horrified. “How did you know I was here?”
“HONEY, YOU AWRIGHT? ANT’N’Y TOLD HIS NEIGHBOR HE WAS GONNA MEET YOU AT THE DOCTOR AND SHE CALLED CAMARR MILLIE WHO KNOWS COUSIN TOOTIE WITH THE EYE SO HE…”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Day turned to night at home, and Mary sat in her favorite chair by the window, which was called a chair-and-a-half since it was wider than normal. She and Anthony used to cuddle in it on Saturday nights and watch Netflix together, but now that she was pregnant, she needed the entire chair to herself. On her left was a box of saltines and on her right was a bag of popcorn, as if she had traded in her husband for carbohydrates. She had her feet up on the ottoman and her laptop open on her lap, though she had to type around her belly and her navel kept hitting the space bar.
She found her gaze wandering outside the window, watching her neighbors giving their dogs a last walk or coming home from restaurants or the movies. Her and Anthony’s townhouse was in the Rittenhouse section of the city, a three-story brick colonial that was nevertheless a rowhome, although in a higher-rent district than South Philly. It had been their neighbors two doors down, the McIllhenys, who had spilled the beans about Mary’s emergency visit to Dr. Foster, and it had taken Mary hours to persuade her parents that she and the baby were fine, so that they’d finally gone home.