Esther looked out the window and chewed on her bottom lip in thought. "I feel like I'm gonna be such a bad mom," she admitted. "I haven't even been taking any of them pregnancy vitamins. Prenatals or whatever. What if my baby comes out with an extra little toe or a weak heart or something?"
Joy shook her head and removed a hand from the steering wheel to give Esther's leg a reassuring squeeze. "That won't happen," she promised, speaking firmly. "Look, you've got to stop being so hard on yourself. I've met a lot of teen mothers over the years, and every single one of them felt no different than you do now. No woman feels prepared to be a mother, not even the ones my age, but you have people who are willing to help you. No more pity parties, you hear me?"
Esther gave Joy a teary smile as they pulled into the parking lot and found a spot. "Yes ma'am."
Together, the women made their way up to the building where Blair's office was housed. She'd made a name for herself in recent years, the end product being her very own family medicine practice. Silas aside, she was the only other person from Joy's past who had done quite well for herself post-graduation. Apparently the two even still saw each other from time to time, but only because he sold her pharmaceuticals at a deeply discounted rate.
Joy swallowed hard as she thought back on the last time she'd ever seen Silas. She'd caught sight of him leaving a bank a few years after she'd completed graduate school, and she could still remember being blown away by how much more mature he looked. It was a reality she wasn't sure would have been the case had their daughter lived, and it was that thought which catapulted her into a deep depression for weeks after the fact.
"Joy?" Esther spoke up, bringing the older woman back into focus. "Should we head in now?"
Joy nodded and took a moment to regain her composure before pulling open the door. "This way," she said, stepping aside to allow the younger girl to wobble ahead of her. Not wanting to rush her, she took a moment to study her reflection in the glass. She didn't usually dress up this much on a Saturday, but she had an appointment shortly after this, which made the black pencil skirt and stuffy blouse she was wearing necessary evils.
Joy and Esther entered the lobby and headed straight for the elevator. Little did they know, it was at this exact moment that Silas was pulling into the same practice. He was running late, something he rarely ever was, but he and Lara had gotten into yet another lengthy argument that morning about their inability to make a baby the natural way, and it went without saying that he'd gotten a little held up.
Silas grabbed his briefcase off the passenger seat and pushed the thought aside, squaring his shoulders and making his way inside the building. He couldn't afford to be in a bad headspace today. Blair would only continue buying from him on the basis that they were friends for so long before some other salesman found his way into her office with a better offer, and he most definitely couldn't allow that to happen. He needed to make this pitch, and he needed to make it good.
His problems could wait.
Upstairs, Joy and Esther were in Blair's office awaiting her return. She'd just gotten done examining Esther, and both women were eagerly awaiting her results.
"Good news," Blair announced when she reentered the room with Esther's blood work in hand. "It appears you and your daughter are in good health. The only thing that stood out to me in your chart was that your iron level is a little low. I'll be sure to prescribe you something for that along with your prenatal supplement."
Esther gasped. "D-daughter?" she stuttered, "I'm having a daughter?"
Blair smiled and handed the young girl one of the sonogram pictures from her file. "Yep, and she's big too."
Esther stared down at the photograph at a loss for words. "She's beautiful," she whispered, struggling to hold back tears.
"She sure is," Joy chimed in, reaching out to pat her back. "Just like her mother."
Blair excused herself then, waving Joy out too so that Esther could have a moment to digest the news of her baby's sex alone. "Girl, look at you!" she gushed as soon as they were out of earshot of her. "You look even better than you did the last time I saw you. It's not fair. It's like you're aging in reverse or something."
Joy beamed. "Yeah, well, you don't look too bad yourself."
Blair smirked at the compliment. "Try telling that to the men in this city," she deadpanned. "My love life is beyond pathetic right now. Then again … I guess you don't get your own practice before the age of forty by going on Tinder dates and having noncommittal sex every other night."
"Sex? What's that?"
Blair cackled. "So I take it you haven't been too lucky in that department either?"
Joy shook her head, eating her words when Esther appeared in the doorway behind them.
"Can you tell me where the bathroom is?" she asked Blair, gesturing to her stomach. "I swear, it's like I'm made of water these days."
Blair nodded, waving for the young girl to follow her down the hall. Joy fell in line beside them, and all three women were enthralled in a conversation about different birthing techniques when they encountered someone approaching from the elevator.
At first Joy didn't even notice. She was so caught up in what Esther was saying that she didn't realize Blair's attention was elsewhere. Confused, she turned to follow her gaze, inhaling a sharp breath when she came face to face with Silas.
Time, it seemed, had only done him favors.
Chapter 11
Esther was the first to break the silence. "Um … am I missing something?" she questioned, glancing back and fourth between the two women for an explanation for the abrupt end to their conversation.
"Everything's fine," Blair rushed to respond, exchanging an anxious look with Joy in the process. "Right?"
Joy forced a nod, but her eyes never once left Silas's. "Of course," she mumbled. "Why wouldn't it be?"
Giving the women an odd look, Esther pushed past them to enter the bathroom.
"It's great to see you," Blair said to Silas once she was gone, stepping forward to give him a loose hug. "But … um … I don't remember us setting up an appointment … "
Silas nodded as he pulled away from her, looking past her to meet eyes with Joy again. "I know," he said, rubbing his neck. "I just thought I'd drop in and see if you needed to restock on anything. I'm running a great deal on Viagra right now. I wouldn't want your geriatric patients to go without … "
Silas could hear his voice, and he could feel his lips moving, but he was still far too taken aback to register the words that were coming out.
"Well I appreciate your dedication, but I still have more than enough leftover from the last time I bought from you," Blair said in a joking manner. "You don't look like you're in any danger of going hungry anytime soon though."
"Yeah," Joy chimed in. "It seems like you've done pretty well for yourself … "
Silas's heart skipped a beat. "Uh … yeah," he responded, scratching his jaw. "I guess you could say that."
An awkward lapse of silence settled over the trio, but Blair cleared her throat to dissipate it before it could spread. "Well I have other patients to attend to, but how about we get together sometime next week for lunch?" she offered Silas. "You can pitch to me then."
Silas nodded. "Sure, sounds good," he said, giving her a tight smile. "I'll give you a call in a few days to confirm."
"Great," Blair said, turning her attention back to Joy. "Let Esther know that I'll call those prescriptions in for her. She can pick them up at the Walgreens on 22nd."
Joy thanked her, leaning in to give her a hug before she walked off.
"So what're you up to these days?" Silas questioned once they were alone, wanting to stretch out the encounter for as long as possible. "You look amazing, by the way … "
Joy shrugged off that last part, not wanting to send herself into a tailspin overanalyzing his words. "I'm a long-term substitute teacher up at Woodrow," she explained. "But I volunteer at a shelter for runaway teens in my free time. The girl I came here with is one of the newest residents."