Amusing You - Claire Cullen Page 0,71
Samuel and Dante.
Having space and time to think and talk about what they wanted helped both of them, and Harper found he was excited when he and William finally made their way to their first appointment with Dr. Lowe. If William had any opinions on them seeing an omega doctor, he was keeping them to himself.
“Mr. Jones? If you’ll follow me.”
Harper trailed after the midwife, tugging William along with him.
“Can my partner sit in?”
She smiled at them both. “After you and I have a short chat, he’s welcome to be there for the rest of your appointment, if that’s what you want.”
William squeezed his hand and nodded encouragingly. “I’ll be right out here if you need me.”
Taking a deep breath, Harper followed the midwife inside. She started by asking some general questions about his health, his pregnancy, and then his relationship. She didn’t bat an eyelid when he told her that he and William weren’t married.
“But we’re working things out,” he told her. “This wasn’t exactly planned.”
“You’d be surprised how many pregnancies aren’t,” she said.
There were a few awkward questions that made Harper feel a little defensive until he realized their purpose—she was looking for warning signs of domestic abuse, addiction, and other things. He relaxed once he figured out there was no judgment being aimed his way. This was just a midwife trying to do her job as best she could.
William was able to sit in the room with him while she took his blood, and he answered questions about his own circumstances and medical history readily, hesitating only when asked if he’d ever fathered a child before.
His ‘no’ was definite, but Harper could see the midwife’s skepticism.
“It’s a little complicated,” he explained, squeezing the alpha’s hand.
William sighed and clarified for her. “I have never fathered a child, but someone once made me think I had, that’s all.”
She simply accepted his answer and moved on, to Harper’s relief.
It wasn’t long before they were meeting with Dr. Lowe. Zac only had good things to say about him, so Harper was hopeful it would be a better experience than his first. He couldn’t help getting tense and worried, even with William right by his side.
The doctor bustled into the room.
“Good morning, gentlemen. First appointment, lots of formalities to get out of the way. Mr. Jones, is it? Do you mind if I call you Harper?”
They shook hands, and Harper blurted out, “We might as well get on close terms now, given what’s coming down the road in six months' time.”
He winced even before he’d finished the sentence, cursing his stupid, tactless babbling.
To his surprise, the doctor laughed. “That’s the spirit. And you are…?”
“William.” The alpha held out a hand. “Harper’s boyfriend and the baby’s father.”
“Excellent. Now that we’ve all been introduced, I note here that you have seen a doctor already, but you declined to provide contact information for us to get a hold of your notes. Is there anything I should know about that?”
Harper made a face, trying to decide how to answer that awkward question. Thankfully, William spared him that.
“It was a mistake. We were barely there half an hour, and it was clear they didn’t have Harper’s best interests at heart. Afterward, a family member of mine was able to get access to our information through an employee of the clinic, and that information has since been used to harass us.”
The doctor took all that in his stride.
“And, naturally enough, you don’t trust them to safeguard your information or its destination if we were to ask for your files to be sent over. Duly noted. To be on the safe side, I’m going to flag your files here at the hospital. What that means is that there are extra checks to go through for anyone trying to access your information. That might give you some peace of mind. Are you both okay with that?”
Harper let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. “That sounds good. I like my business to stay mine.”
“Don’t we all,” Dr. Lowe agreed quietly.
They moved on to easier topics, and just when Harper was starting to think they’d never get there, it was time for his first ultrasound scan. He didn’t even have to change into a gown, just tug his shirt up and shimmy his pants down a little.
William took a seat next to the exam table, holding Harper’s hand in both of his.
“This will feel a little cold,” the doctor warned, and Harper bit back a yelp as the freezing