Caching In by Tracy Krimmer

glimpse of side-boob, so seeing her cooch wasn’t on my list of things to see that day. Or ever. She hopped on the table and put the sheet over her lap.
    The silent room drove me crazy. “So, you’re keeping it, huh?” I blurted out. Foot. In. Mouth.
    Chelsea’s mouth dropped, and the color drained from her face. “Of course I’m keeping it! I didn’t ask you here to help me decide if I should abort this child for Christ’s sake. I asked you here to support me because Daniel doesn’t know yet, so he can’t.”
    Of all the times stupid shit came out of my mouth, this topped the cake. “I’m sorry. It’s just that he’s engaged . Can you do this on your own?” This time I chose my words with sincerity. Chelsea needed to come terms with the fact if Daniel didn’t step up (he wouldn’t), single motherhood masked her future.
    “Who said I planned to do it on my own? Even if Daniel doesn’t come around, my parents aren’t going to turn me away.” She placed her hand on her belly. “This is their grandchild. Their first grandchild. And I have you …. I hope.”
    Could I be wrong about her? Did she have it all figured out? I needed to give her the benefit of the doubt. She wasn’t a teenager making horrible choices. Of course, in all honesty, her choices as an adult weren’t the best, either. Who was I to judge? I ended up with the same kind of guy. I dumped him right away, while she went into the relationship well aware the guy was a cheater. Did that make me better or smarter than her?
    “I’m sorry, Chels. I guess I’m not sure how to handle all this.”
    “And I do?” She pressed her hands against her chest. She made a point.
    “You’re right.”
    “Good. I like to be right.”
    With that, the doctor entered the room, a tall, slender woman with blond hair just past her shoulders, and clearly in need of some work on her roots. If not for the grays, I would have guessed she wasn’t much over thirty, but probably was actually in her early forties. “I’m Doctor Koenig. Glad to meet you, Chelsea.” She glanced over at me. “Friend? Partner?”
    “Friend. I’m Ally.”
    “Hi Ally, it’s wonderful for you to be here to support your friend.” She then ignored me and started talking to Chelsea about her medical history, as well as the father’s, which Chelsea couldn’t be more clueless about. She promised Dr. Koenig she would get as much information as possible before the next visit, which would be in four weeks. “Let’s get to that ultrasound!”
    Sandra rolled a large machine in, which to me looked like a computer from 1990. It had a humongous keyboard and what I could only describe as an outrageously large dildo attached to it, but that couldn’t be right. “Since you’re not too far along, the best way to measure how the baby is doing is with a vaginal ultrasound. I’ll utilize this and we should be able to see the heartbeat and all that fun stuff.”
    This doctor annoyed me with her perkiness, but I sensed Chelsea was in good hands, which was the most important thing.
    The nurse dimmed the lights and I flinched as the doctor shoved the wand up Chelsea’s hooha. The cringes in her face spoke worlds of Chelsea’s discomfort, but when the black and white picture came on the screen and Dr. Koenig pointed to a blob and a flashing light labeling it the heartbeat, Chelsea’s face loosened and tears began flowing. “There’s your baby.” The doctor’s long, slender finger pointed to the blob. I wanted to think it only as a blob, a measly little blob, but that flashing little light told me different. It was a baby … a baby grew in my best friend’s tummy, and soon, she would be a mom . A mom . Here I was, trying my best not to embarrass myself in front of a guy I just met, attempting to get a promotion at a job I didn’t like, and my best friend was growing a fricking person inside of her. If there existed a time in my life I felt a complete loser, this was