“How many are alive today? Total?” Mandy picked up the paper and looked at it.
Tess closed her eyes. “Six.” Then she opened them to watch her friend.
Mandy was silent as they looked over the paper and then looked over Tess. “Are you feeling well?”
“Yes, I am fine. No symptoms at all. That is why I did not realize I was pregnant for so long.”
“How long?” Mandy turned to the computer and started typing.
“Since February. Am I going to lose her, Mandy? Is it bad?” Tess asked point-blank.
“I don’t know, Tess. I have a friend I want to send you to. I’m concerned about your mom’s history. You were right to be nervous about it. It’s not good. The promising thing is your sister seems to have a good history; one miscarriage and four live births is promising,” Mandy said, looking at the paper again.
“Twelve,” Tess replied, looking at the paper with all its marks.
“Twelve what?” Mandy looked at her.
“Ilya had twelve babies, not four,” Tess said, pointing to her on the list.
Mandy raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Your sister has twelve children?”
“Of her own, yes. Her second husband had six when they married, so she claims eighteen.” Tess looked over the paper.
“With no issues?” Mandy picked up her pen again.
Tess shrugged. “Oh, I’m sure it was not as rosy as she always made it out to be, but she made it look like it was nothing.”
“No, I mean she only had one miscarriage in thirteen pregnancies?” Mandy restated.
“Sorry, yes, just the one.” Tess bit her lip.
“I’m starting to not worry,” Mandy said and leaned back in her chair.
“Because of my sister?”
“That’s right. If she had no issues, then maybe you will follow her and not your mother’s path. Can I get your information in the system?”
Tess nodded, but she was already in the system since it was tied to the one in Grand Forks where she usually went to the doctor.
Mandy’s eyes went to the screen. “Have you ever been pregnant before? I should have asked right away.”
“No, never,” Tess answered, watching her read.
“You were not born in this country.” Mandy pointed at something on the screen.
“That is correct.”
“When did you move here?”
“When I was eight.”
Mandy grinned and turned back to her. “You don’t even have an accent. I am now completely fascinated by you.”
“What?”
“You are a bank president, and you were not even born in this country. And you’re going to have my brother’s baby. Does he know?” Mandy leaned forward.
“That I am a bank president, yes. Not the rest of it.” She admitted that it was Mathias’s baby, wondering if his sister would keep her secret if she never told him. Suddenly, she wished she had just gone to Grand Forks for this appointment instead of dragging Mandy in the middle of it.