Chapter 9

When the nurse brought in the ultrasound machine, Renee was definitely interested. They put the gel on her belly and started taking pictures of her baby. The nurse pointed at a spot and showed her the baby. It was about the length of a banana and Renee began to cry as she listened to its heartbeat. The nurse left the room after the examination and the doctor came back in a little later.

“You are approximately twenty-one weeks. That puts you a little over five months pregnant. May I ask if it is your husband’s?”

“No,” Renee said as she closed her eyes.

“Okay. So, we have to keep this from him. What happens if you go into labor? Won’t he realize it’s too early?”

“Can we just say that happens sometimes? It does, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it can happen. Are you okay with your husband coming in now?” The doctor asked.

“Yes, he can come in now. He will most likely be at every appointment after this. I wasn’t really comfortable with him being here for the initial examination.”

“Mrs. Morgan, can I call you Tabitha?”

“Yes,” Renee replied.

“When I did your pelvic exam, I noticed some scarring like you recently healed from some trauma. Is something else going on besides this not being your husband’s baby?”

Renee felt her face pale, but she quickly lied and said, “My husband likes it a little, um, rough. We had to stop doing that as I got farther along.”

“Are you sure that’s all there is? The damage looks more like forced sex or some sharp objects were used.”

Renee felt a blush creep up her face as she lied again and said, “We like to use certain, well, certain things in the bedroom. Has it caused a lot of damage?”

“It’s a fair amount. I would suggest not continuing with the role play in the bedroom with whatever you are using. If you stop now, you should be okay as the scarring won’t be too bad. If you continue with that behavior, you may never enjoy sex again. It can also lead to you not being able to have any more children as it is causing a lot of internal damage.”

“I understand. Do you want to tell my husband that when he comes in? I’m not much for that type of role-playing anyway. I only did it to make him happy, but frankly, it hurts,” Renee said, trying to get the doctor to make Jesse understand how badly he was hurting her.

“I can talk to you both about it while he is in here. That’s not a problem. Let me get a nurse to go get him.”

The doctor walked out of the room and a few minutes later, a nurse brought Jesse in. He walked over and kissed her cheek. Then, he sat down in the chair against the wall. Renee bit her lip as the doctor came back into the room after a few minutes. He held out his hand to Jesse and Jesse shook it.

“Mr. Morgan, I brought you in here as I’ve already talked to your wife about this. I noticed your wife has quite a bit of damage internally. Now, she has told me that you guys role play and use a lot of things as she calls them in the bedroom. I have told her and I am going to tell you, that if you guys continue with the toys or whatever it is that you are using, she will most likely wind up not being able to enjoy sex ever again. The scarring isn’t too extensive right now, but it can definitely get worse and it could cause her not to be able to have any more children as well.”

Renee watched Jesse’s face as the doctor talked. To her surprise, he didn’t look angry. He looked thoughtful. He had looked at her when the doctor had said she had told him the damage was from the use of other things, but he hadn’t looked angry.

“Now that we have that out of the way, do you two want to know the sex of the baby?”

Renee looked at Jesse and then said, “Yes.”

“Doesn’t matter to me as long as the baby is healthy.”

“Alright. I’ll take that as a yes. You are having a boy. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Renee said.

“Do you two have any more questions for me?”

“I think we’re good,” Jesse replied.

The doctor nodded and left the room with instructions for her to get dressed. She went to sit up and found it hard to do with her stomach. Jesse stood up and came over to help her. He put his hand on her back and pulled her up to a sitting position. She slowly stood up and he handed her, her clothes.

“You didn’t tell the doctor the truth,” Jesse said.

“No. What would have happened if I did?”

“You already know what would have happened if I had seen anything suspicious. And it wouldn’t have been pretty. You are learning. How about a reward?”

“What kind of reward?” Renee asked, suspicious.

“You need some new clothes. The ones you have don’t fit anymore. I bought a few but you have outgrown those, too.”

“That tends to happen when you are pregnant. Your belly gets bigger and sometimes you put on weight elsewhere. What are you going to do if I stay fat after the pregnancy?”

“Nothing. You still aren’t going anywhere. I told you before, you belong to me now.”

Renee continued to put her clothes on as her mind raced to figure out what to say. She didn’t want to stay with Jesse. Even getting fat and ugly wouldn’t work with him. She sighed. He cupped her chin and made her look at him.

“Stop trying to figure out ways to get away. That’s going backwards, not forwards. You’re mine. The baby is mine. Make it work. You have been doing pretty well so far. Have I treated you badly this past month?”

“No,” Renee admitted.

“We can keep it that way as long as you keep it as it has been.”

“I need something from you, then. If you want me to move forward and go along with this fake marriage, I need you to stop locking me into the house. I need a phone, too. What happens if I fall or if I go into early labor? I have no way to get help.”

Jesse got ready to say something when there was a knock on the door. He looked annoyed. The nurse came in and showed them to the checkout desk. They set up another appointment for Renee in a month’s time. Jesse took the card and they walked out to the car. Once they got in, Jesse turned to her.

“I’ll think about what you want. Show me you aren’t going to do anything stupid, and we’ll see. Show you are truly going to go along with this fake marriage as you called it.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Renee asked.

“Act like my wife. Do everything a wife does.”

Renee knew what he meant by that and sex was the one thing she didn’t want to do with him. She had been doing things for him so he wouldn’t try to have sex with her, but she knew he hadn’t forced himself on her because he wanted her to heal up so the doctor wouldn’t find evidence of the rape. He had anyway, but she had been able to play it off. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Okay. If that’s what it takes, I will do it. I can’t take the risk that something may happen to the baby and I can’t do anything about it.”

“Alright. You can start today. Let’s go shopping.”