She didn’t move.
“Bec?”
She shook her head, and he could see tears swelling along her eyelids.
Aw, shit. He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed. “Come on. I’ll go in with you.”
The brunette came closer. Close enough to speak in a low voice and still be heard, but not so close as to freak out his daughter. She crouched low and gave them a friendly smile. “I’m Kerry Humphrey.”
“Becca thought we’d be seeing Jenna,” he said by way of explanation. He had a lump in his own throat. His daughter wasn’t the only one thrown by this unexpected change of plans.
“Ah. Sorry about the miscommunication. Jenna’s at a birth right now. But we can do the intake together, and she’ll be here for the next appointment. Why don’t we go into the exam room and I can explain our model of care. We work as a group, so you might see any of us for your appointments.”
“Sure.” Owen moved to stand up.
Kerry pivoted her gaze in his direction, her gaze sliding quickly from friendly to coolly professional. “Can I see Becca alone first? You’re welcome to join us in a few minutes.”
No. She’s my baby and she’s scared.But that wasn’t how medical appointments worked, and he knew it. That lump in his throat got harder and he puffed out his cheeks, trying—and failing—to match her professional tone. “Of course.”
Becca gave them both a nervous look.
“Go on,” Owen said, trying to be gentle for her.Fuck. Rachel should have brought her, he was making a mess of this, like a bull in a china shop. “I’ll be right here.”
* * *
Kerry had spottedthe terrified young woman as soon as she’d stepped into the waiting room. She’d noticed the way the man had his arm possessively around her, too. She didn’t recognize him at first, not without the parka and the toque, but as soon as she looked at the file, she recognized the last name, and the address.Pine Harbour.
He was older than her, by a fair margin. A big, tough-looking guy, with a bit of silver at the temples. Almost twice Becca’s age, Kerry would bet. Lore’s words rang in her head.You know he’s off-limits. Becca would kill you.
Well. Holy shit. This was trial by fire for her new community, but Kerry knew what to do. Talking to clients one-on-one was standard procedure any time. Moments like this were exactly why they had that practice in place.
She closed her office door as Becca sat down, then took her own seat. “Welcome to our practice.” Smiling, she waited for Becca to nod, then continued. Each beat of her introduction was followed by a pause, making sure the young woman was easing toward being comfortable. Trust was so important here. “Let’s go over the information you put on the intake form. I’m going to ask some questions that will help us support you with this pregnancy. Feel free to ask your own questions as we go, and know that everything we talk about is strictly confidential.”
“Okay.”
“How is your pregnancy going?”
Becca shrugged. “I dunno. It’s early. I feel fine.”
“That’s great.” Kerry paused. “How do you feel about being pregnant?”
The young woman’s eyes snapped up, meeting Kerry’s gaze. “Because I’m young?”
“Sure, yeah. Your age might be a factor there. But I ask every woman who comes through that door the same question, I promise. A pregnancy can be an unexpected thing to adjust to at any age—and, at any age, it could be a good time or a bad time for the news.”
“Oh.” Becca shifted in her seat. “My parents aren’t thrilled, to be honest. But I’m…” She put her hand on her midsection. “I’m happy. I know it’s going to be hard, but my parents were young when they had me, and I think it’s going to work out.”
Kerry jotted a quick note,optimistic, next to that set of questions, and moved on. “What is your current relationship status?”
Becca made a face. “It’s complicated.”
“Do you live with your partner?”
“No. I live with my dad.”
Kerry made another note about the possibly unsupportive parents at home. If they had concerns about Becca’s complicated relationship with the older boyfriend, that would be important to track as the pregnancy progressed. “Okay. Now I’m going to ask you a couple of other routine questions that I ask everyone—and this is why it’s important that we first talk alone, okay? These are health and safety questions. Everything we discuss in here is just between us.”
“Sure.”
