The Substitute Bride

The usual prenatal checkup is always something that an expecting mother always look forward to. And for Autumn it was twice the amount of joy. Listening to the heartbeat of the babies and trying to identify their features out of the hazy ultrasound pictures were something that could fill her heart with joy that can't be expressed in words. Walking through the corridor of the hospital, Autumn touched her belly gently and smiled. She said to her babies silently,"Are you ready to meet mom?" As she reached Anthony's office door, she could hear him speaking to the other patient. She tapped on his door. His voice came from inside,"Come in, please!"

Anthony walked out of the door with his patient who was here for her delivery. His eyes met Autumn's and he gestured her to get inside the room and wait for him. Autumn seated herself in his office looking around the room. She toyed with the paper weight kept on his table for a while to kill her time. Soon she heard Anthony's footsteps pacing fast towards the room and in a flash of a second he flung open the door and took his seat in front of her. "I hope I did not make you wait for too long. Actually the patient you just saw..." He tried to explain as Autumn gave a reassuring smile saying,"Its okay."

"Come, let's get the checkup done," Anthony said as he gestured Autumn to lie on the bed. Autumn made herself comfortably on the bed, as he started with the check-up. Anthony started with the procedures. He pressed on her abdomen to feel the growth of the babies and then used other testing devices to hear their heart beats loud and clear. The smile on Autumn's face spread to her eyes. She laid still focusing only on the sound of the heart beats. It was that one priceless moment that she looked forward to every time she came here.

Anthony asked her several questions regarding her health and the usual symptoms that showed up during the stage of pregnancy she was going through at the moment. After making sure that her babies were safe, Autumn turned her attention towards Anthony.

She had a faint idea about the budding relationship between Anthony and Lisa. And she was curious to know more. After dealing with the initial hesitation she asked,"How about you and Lisa?" She sounded inquisitive. She had a quirky smile on her face.

As Anthony looked up at her, he looked a little startled. "What do you mean?" Anthony asked, his eye brows stitched together into a frown. He had never expected this coming from Autumn. He looked at her and tried to be put up a casual demeanor. "Lisa and I are just good friends. Nothing else," he said.

"Oh! Come on!" Autumn had an impish smile on her face. "I'm not a fool, Anthony. I can see that she is completely into you." Autumn was not ready to rest the topic so easily.

Anthony kept scribbling on the prescription pad silently. He hoped the moment would pass if he showed his ignorance towards it. But Autumn was not ready to let it go. She again started after a pause,"Besides, you guys had a relationship earlier. She traveled a long way for you. You should give her a chance."

Anthony maintained the solemn look on his face and answered in a calm voice,"She has a thing for me, so I must like her. Is that what you mean?" Anthony looked up at Autumn for a moment and glanced straight into her eyes. Autumn could sense it was difficult to break through with him at the moment. Then again he went back to his writing pad.

The was a momentary silence between both of them. Then Autumn uttered stammering,"I don't mean that..." She was taken aback to see the indifference in Anthony's behavior. This made her rather uncomfortable. She felt Anthony was overreacting. Still unwilling to rest her case, she pushed it a little further,"Don't get me wrong. I just think that... Lisa i

brows were knitted in a frown. He even looked at Lisa in a reproachful glance.

When Lisa met Anthony's angry eyes, she realized that he had misunderstood herself. So she quickly tried to explain,"Anthony, it's not like what you imagined. It's grandpa…"

She had just started explaining when Anthony raised his palm and gestured her to stop. "He is my grandpa, not yours. Please call him Grandpa Craig." Lisa turned pale with embarrassment. It was as if someone just sucked all the blood out of her face. She stood there with her mouth half open. Craig gave Anthony a tight slap on his back that startled both the girls.

"Child, don't pay attention to what he said. He is talking nonsense," Craig said to Lisa. He tried to make up for his grandson's heartless comment. "You can just call me Grandpa. Just ignore him."

"Grandpa!" Anthony called out to show utter disgust and disapproval to what Craig said to Lisa. Craig retorted to Anthony with sharpness in his voice,"You stop calling me that. If you don't want to see me, then I won't live with you." He then turned to Autumn,"Autumn, ask your grandpa to leave a room for me and tell him that I will move in with him." Anthony looked helpless, not having a clue about how to handle the situation.

Craig's words put everyone feel rather awkward. Autumn glanced at Anthony and sensed the dilemma he was going through. She tried to pacify Anthony and said in a gentle voice,"Well, don't get angry, Grandpa Craig. You must have got him wrong. Anthony is a dutiful person. I'm sure he'd like to live with you. Now I must excuse myself because I have something really important to deal with."

"Okay. Be careful, my child. Watch yourself on the way," Craig said to Autumn with an approving smile. Autumn did not waste a single moment before she walked out of the scene without turning around even for once. 'I don't know what will happen if I continue to stay here, ' she thought to herself. She never expected the situation would become so grave.

Seeing Autumn leave, Lisa also found out a way to sneak out of the situation. She looked at Anthony and Craig, and said to Anthony,"Well, I gotta go now. Talk with your grandpa patiently, Anthony."

She then turned to Craig and smiled gently. "Grandpa, please let me know if I can be of any help. I need to go back to my work. But I will see you soon."

"Bye!" Craig watched her receding in the corridor and smiled approvingly.

'She is such a good girl! Why does Anthony have no feeling for her?' he thought to himself.