One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

TWO MONTHS LATER***

“What symptoms did you say you were having again, Mrs. Axford?” Doctor Paul asked.

Across the table was Mackenzie who was sitting with a nervous expression on her face. Next to her was her father who had a hopeful expression, in contrast to hers.

“The same as the last time doctor Paul, I felt lightheaded and weak when I didn’t eat on time, and kept puking after I ate.”

“Have you been taking your medications on time, Mrs. Axford?”

“Yes,” Mackenzie said with a bit of tenseness? in her voice.

Her emotions were playing with her again and her mind was coming up with the worst possible scenarios that could happen to her. Ever since the surgery she had the previous month, she had a bit of anxiety about her health.

“That’s weird,” Doctor Paul said, “We’ve just done an MRI scan to check your brain. There’s no recurrent tumor. You’re healing at a fast pace. You saw it yourself too.”

“Are you sure?” Mackenzie asked nervously.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Doctor Paul said confidently.

“Don’t worry, Mackenzie, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Mackenzie’s father said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Mackenzie exhaled, letting her shoulders relax.

“I already ran a few samples using your blood but why don’t we do one more to ascertain what the problem is and narrow down the possibilities,” Doctor Paul stood from the table, heading to the wardrobe across his office.

Mackenzie followed his movements with her eyes.

Doctor Paul grabbed a pregnancy strip from beneath a partition, and closed the wardrobe, before walking over to Mackenzie and handing her the strip.Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

“Doctor Paul, I can assure you that I am not pregnant,” Mackenzie said, in a protesting tone.

“Please take the test, Mrs. Axford, just to be sure.”

Mackenzie looked at the doctor adamantly.

“It doesn’t hurt to take the test, Sweetie.” Mackenzie’s father said.

A FEW HOURS LATER*

“I understand that you’re nervous my dear but could you please stop moving your leg like that? It’s quite distracting,” Mackenzie’s father asked sweetly.

Mackenzie froze, then looked at her father with a stern look. “I’m not nervous, dad,”

“Sure,” her father replied, not wanting to get into an argument.

The door opened and Doctor Paul stepped in.

Mackenzie immediately noticed the subtle smile on his face.

“Did you find anything, Doctor Paul?” She asked.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Axford, you’re two months pregnant!” Doctor Paul replied.

Doctor Paul’s words echoed in Mackenzie’s head but she could still not make sense of it.

How could she be pregnant?

Jeffrey… they had kept trying for a year with no result.

Then a pair of stormy blue eyes flashed into her mind. Chase… the last person she had sex with was Chase and they definitely used protection… she couldn’t be.

“I-i don’t believe that, Doctor Paul. And besides, a pregnancy test strip can’t be accurate all the time.”

“Would you like an ultrasound then, Mrs. Axford?”

The moment he asked that her breath hitched in her throat.

An ultrasound?

Mackenzie could barely believe it. How could she be pregnant at this time? It made no sense to her at all.

“Mackenzie, the doctor sounds like he’s serious.” Her father said nervously.

He personally didn’t mind having a grandkid. In fact, he embraced the idea. He was old and he only had Mackenzie. But he was more worried about Mackenzie’s health.

A few moments later, Mackenzie was laying on her back in doctor Paul’s lab with an ultrasound machine next to her.

Mackenzie was beyond anxious.

A gooey sticky gel was rubbed over her belly and she barely moved despite the coldness it left on her skin.

A feeling of dread followed as a medical tool was placed on her stomach.

Was this even real? She wondered.

“Please take a look, Mrs. Axford,” Doctor Paul said, adjusting his glasses with his left hand while adjusting the tool over her belly so she could take a good look at the priceless creature that was forming in her womb on the machine right next to them.

Mackenzie looked over at the machine like doctor Paul said and what she saw next made tears cascade down her cheeks.

My baby…

Mackenzie suddenly felt over-protective for her baby.

She wanted to protect it, with her life.

Thinking about what Jeffrey and her mother-in-law would do if they find out that she was pregnant, she panicked.

“I’m never letting them find out about this baby. I’ll protect him/her from them as much as I can.” She thought.

“Oh my God, Zie. I’m going to be a grandpa?” As Mackenzie’s father beamed, Doctor Paul asked politely, “Could you excuse us for a bit, I need to talk to Mrs. Axford about something,”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” Mackenzie’s father said with a slight chuckle before leaving the room.

When it was just them two, Mackenzie sat up and looked at Doctor Paul who was staring at her with a stern expression on his face.

“I’m going to be honest with you, Mrs. Axford,”

Mackenzie nodded. She had a sense of what he was going to mention to her and it seemed adequately related to her child.

“Carrying this pregnancy isn’t going to be easy as your body is still healing from the previous surgeries,”

“I know, and I don’t expect it to.” Mackenzie placed a hand on her tummy after wiping off the sticky gooey with a tissue, “But since this baby could survive despite the tough surgeries and medications I’ve been on for two months, I think he’s meant to survive and thrive in this world.”

Doctor Paul nodded, “That would mean that you’d have to quit the majority of the drugs you already use and replace them with adequate vitamin supplements and a good diet nutrition to ensure that your baby is born healthy,”

Mackenzie nodded, “I understand, doctor.”

“Well then, I shall write you a new prescription. Excuse me for a moment,”

As Doctor Paul was about to leave, Mackenzie called out to him.

“Doctor Paul, please hold on a bit.”

Doctor Paul stopped in his tracks and Mackenzie stood on her feet and walked toward him, closing the distance between them.

“Please,” she whispered, “I have a favor to ask,”

On hearing the urgency in her tone, he adjusted his glasses as he focused his gaze on her.

“Can you write my pregnancy diagnosis in a file separate from the record you’d keep as Mrs. Mackenzie Axford’s?”

“Mrs. Axford, what are you talking about?”

With a desperate grasp, Mackenzie placed both of her hands on the doctor’s shoulders, sending him into disarray with her random behavior.

“Please doctor Paul, I’m begging you, keep the news of my pregnancy away from the Axford family.”

“W…what are you talking about, Mrs. Axford?” Doctor Paul said with a confused smile.

He had been the Axford family doctor for years, although his specialization was in gynecology. For the several years he’d known Mackenzie now, she’d been desperately trying for a child after losing the first one during childbirth. So it was a bit odd to him how her mind suddenly changed.

“I’m telling you right now Doctor Paul that I don’t want the news of my pregnancy to reach my in-laws. I can’t tell you the details but this is what is best for my child, I’m sure of it. So please… help me out here,” Mackenzie said desperately.

“Alright then, Mrs. Axford, I comprehend.”

Mackenzie released a relieved sigh and loosened her hold on his shoulders.

“Thank you, Doctor Paul,” she expressed her gratitude.

“Now, how should I note down your diagnosis?” he inquired.

Mackenzie took a moment to ponder before answering, “Use the name Mackenzie Torsney.”

“Understood,” the doctor acknowledged with a nod.

“Before you leave, shall we discuss your pregnancy in more detail and the potential risks involved?” he proposed.

“That won’t be necessary, doctor. I’m aware of the effects of pregnancy on the body. Instead, I’ll need a recommendation letter,” Mackenzie stated.

“A recommendation letter?” Doctor Paul raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, exactly. You see, I’ll be residing in North Dakota for a while, and it could be inconvenient if I have to travel back here for medical care.”

“I see,” Doctor Paul mused, “You’re right. If you’re relocating to North Dakota, having access to a nearby public hospital is important for your care and the baby’s.”

“I’ll draft a recommendation letter for you. This way, you can present it to a local hospital and receive timely attention. While in North Dakota, make sure to have regular checkups to ensure the baby’s well-being.”

“Thank you, Doctor Paul,” Mackenzie expressed her gratitude.

With a bundle of written documents in hand, Mackenzie exited the room. Her father was waiting patiently outside.

“Father,” she called out.

“Mackenzie,” he responded, his forehead creased with concern.

He knew that the private discussion with her doctor held significant weight, determining Mackenzie’s decision about the pregnancy.

“Pops, you’re going to be a grandfather soon,” she announced with a broad smile.

Mackenzie’s father sighed, feeling anxious as the smile radiated off of her effortlessly.

She looked just like her mother and how happy his wife had looked back then when she discovered that she was pregnant with Mackenzie.

Although his wife had died while giving birth to Mackenzie.

Seeing Mackenzie like that made him feel a bit sad. She would be risking a lot to bring a child into the world. And judging from the looks of it, she didn’t want to tell her husband about it, yet. However, it was her choice and he was just going to support her.

“Mackenzie, will you be okay?” He asked.

Mackenzie walked toward him and linked their arms together.

Throughout the last two months that she’d been with her father, she’d recovered a lot and felt like herself too.

Her decision to keep the pregnancy was one that was intuitively made so she trusted it. She also trusted that her body could handle keeping the baby and, childbirth. She wasn’t inconsiderate enough to make a decision that would hurt her and worry her old man.

“Father,” She said with a wild smile, “I have you, so I’ll be fine. The doctor said I’ll be fine as well, and so will the baby. Don’t worry,”

Mackenzie’s father sighed before saying, “Let’s go home, I’ll prepare pork meat and rice.”

Mackenzie laughed and walked down the hallway with her father, for all she knew, this could be the last time that she would ever be at this hospital.

When she first came to Greensville and this impressive ‘Crescent hospital’, it was to check on her baby.

Although a lot happened, today she was leaving here with a fetus in her womb. The only difference was that this time, she was leaving with her father and she was a lot stronger than when she first came to Greensville with Jeffrey.

She felt capable of raising a child on her own.

Sure it would be hard.

Sure the journey would be tough, but she felt like her child would be better off protected from the vicinity of people who just wanted to use them.

Right now, the only person Mackenzie could boldly say she would miss in Greensville was her father-in-law. He was a kind man who clearly wanted the best for his family but sadly, the people around him only saw his shining wealth and wanted a piece of it.

She hoped that very soon, his wife and sons would understand just how important his presence was.

For now, she was only going to focus on herself and her baby without looking back.

When they exited the main floor of the hospital and neared the exit, they saw a nurse jogging toward them with a bouquet of pink Camellia flowers.

Just like the last time.

“Mrs. Axford!” The nurse said breathlessly, handing Mackenzie the flowers. “This came from delivery, it’s for you.”

Mackenzie collected the bouquet and said her thanks to the nurse.

Then she focused her gaze on the fresh, pink, Camellia flowers.

“Mackenzie, didn’t we receive a bouquet of these same flowers back in North Dakota?

Mackenzie nodded.

Indeed, after collecting the bouquet of camellia from the nurse after her surgery two months ago, she received more a month later back at home in North Dakota.

Her dad had called it an innocent admirer just showing his affection, but now Mackenzie was beginning to find the flowers creepy.

She walked to the nearby bin and tossed in the bouquet of flowers.

“Let’s go, father,” She said with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“Okay, sure.” Her father said, catching up to her.

“Let’s see how long whoever is sending those flowers can keep up with their act,” Mackenzie muttered under her breath.

She and her father got outside and to the parking lot to hop into their truck, unaware of the hidden eyes in a distant Lamborghini watching them.