The Brocade Baby (Rewrite) Chapter 4

 

Chapter 4: A visit to the clinic

13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Isaiah 54:13

 

Audrey enjoyed eating breakfast with the Blumenthals, especially since she didn't have a chance to eat breakfast earlier and found herself incredibly hungry the moment she saw the food. But once she finished eating breakfast with them (while making sure to apologize to Miranda for wearing her shoes inside their house), she immediately ran home to tell her parents about little Ambroise. She and Timotheos also made sure to go watch the movie that evening in Brussels, with her father Julien Larue driving them there and watching it with them. Her mother, Brielle Larue became quite interested in seeing the baby as she never expected Miranda, let alone the Blumenthals, to have another child. This was especially strange given how Miranda never pursued a lover after her husband died and that she was content with taking care of Timotheos until he was old enough to finally leave the nest. Wanting to see the baby for herself, Brielle decided to pay Miranda a visit but not before going to the store to do some much needed shopping.

That afternoon, Barnim and Timotheos walked all 5 dogs around the neighborhood while Miranda took Ambroise to visit the clinic. Given that Amable was a small town located in the Wallonia Region, along with being close to a forest nearby, the 2 men would walk their dogs for about 15 to 30 minutes. While they were out, Miranda placed Ambroise inside Timotheos' old baby carriage before bringing him to the clinic. The carriage itself was a light blue color, or more specifically a baby blue color no pun intended, and it was still usable despite not having been moved around for a long time. Like with Timotheos' other baby products, she kept the carriage as it brought back nostalgic memories for her that she couldn't let go. It also came in handy when it came to the sudden appearance with Ambroise. She also made sure to cover him with his lavender blanket as he seemed to like it while also giving him an old yellow pacifier that she found along with the carriage. Miranda made sure to thoroughly clean it before giving it to Ambroise as she wanted to be extra cautious when it came to caring for him. Since the clinic was only 5 minutes away and the family lived fairly close to the main street, Miranda was able to walk there without any problems. In fact, the only times she ever used the car to drive there was under certain conditions like heavy rain, rough winds and snowy days. But in the spring and summer, she especially liked to walk there and bask in the warmth and sunlight of the outdoors. The same went with Timotheos and Barnim as they liked to go outside whenever it was sunny or warm enough for both of them, especially since Barnim lived in the rural areas of Belgium. As Miranda was pushing the carriage towards the main part of town, she saw that Ambroise was wide awake and curious about his surroundings. She couldn't help but be reminded of how Timotheos would do the same thing when he was around Ambroise's age. Despite the hooded part of the carriage obscuring his side view, Ambroise was content with sucking on his pacifier while listening to the sound of the spinning wheels.

Once she arrived at the clinic, she had to open the door first before pulling the carriage inside the building. The building itself wasn't too big but it wasn't exactly what one would call small either. Since it was also a walk-in clinic, patients could just make appointments any time they wished but only if it was something important like a check up or even a serious injury. In this case however, Miranda just wanted to have the doctor check up on Ambroise and make sure that he was actually healthy. That way, she and the others wouldn't be caught off guard if he suddenly had a condition of some kind that wouldn't be treated in time. The moment she opened the door, the small bell hanging at the top rang to signal her arrival, making the receptionist sitting at the front desk look up.

"Oh good afternoon, Miranda. I thought your shift would be next Monday," the receptionist said in slight confusion.

"Oh no, Charlotte I'm not here for work. I'm here to make an appointment for this little guy," she replied while bringing the baby carriage in. This made Charlotte curious as she got up and looked over her desk to get a better view.

"Huh, who is this?" she asked with intrigue.

"This is Ambroise," Miranda replied while slowly picking up the baby and carrying him in her arms. "We just found him in front of our home earlier this morning and I wanted to bring him to the clinic to see if he is healthy." As Ambroise was held closer to Charlotte, he started giggling again and waved his arms out as if he wanted to hug her. Charlotte could only smile as she saw how cute he was being and gave his nose a small tap, making him giggle even more.

"Well, he is certainly adorable and quite friendly too," she replied as she poked his right cheek in a playful manner. Miranda was glad to see that Charlotte liked the baby as well and hoped that the doctor wouldn't mind the sudden visit.

 

A few seconds later, the doctor finally came into the clinic waiting room only to be surprised by the sight of Miranda holding a baby. Charlotte quickly straightened herself up the moment she saw the doctor while Miranda held the baby close to her.

"Miranda? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be here on Mondays not Fridays," he said with mild surprise and confusion.

"Oh no, Dr. Fuchs, this isn't related to my job but rather it's something more personal," she replied as she brought the baby to him. "This is Ambroise. My son found him on our front porch early in the morning and brought him inside. I came here to see if I could get a check-up on him to confirm that he is fully healthy and not sick in any way."

"Hmm, I see. Very well then, come with me to the examination room," Dr. Fuchs said before he turned around and started walking towards the hallway. "Oh and Charlotte? Make sure to notify me if there is an emergency okay?"

"Yes, doctor," Charlotte replied as she went back to her desk. Although today was a relatively slow day, neither the doctor nor the receptionist would lower their guards as anything could happen in the near future. Miranda agreed with that notion as she remembered how there were some rather sudden emergencies that happened in the past. At that time, the doctor and several of his employees (including Miranda) were unprepared and had to improvise because of it. As a result, the clinic stocked up on many supplies, tools and protocols that they needed to use in case of another emergency. Nowadays it was pretty rare for anything serious enough to happen but the clinic would not take any more chances.

As Miranda brought the baby to the examination room, she gently placed him on the clinic bed and watched as he laid on the fabric looking around the room. The doctor then approached him with the necessary tools such as his stethoscope and his pen light.

"Alright then let's see what we got here," he said as he prepared to use the stethoscope. Miranda watched as he began checking the baby's heartbeat but only after he had to unbutton the chest area of the baby's onesie. Meanwhile, Charlotte was sitting at her desk and looking at the various files on her desk as well as the ones on the clinic's computer. Although she enjoyed her job as a receptionist, she often felt bored as there hadn't been any serious incidents that warranted a visit to the clinic. In fact the only time they ever had any busy days was during fall or winter as there were high chances of people catching colds or flus of some kind. But even then, it wasn't anything serious like pneumonia, scarlet fever or anything that the doctor couldn't remedy. A part of me wishes something more exciting would happen these days, Charlotte thought to herself before realizing what she just implied and mentally slapped herself. Wait! What am I thinking? I can't wish for something dangerous to happen to the town just to stave off boredom! That's a terrible idea! Shaking her head over where her train of thought was leading her to, she decided to distract herself by singing her favorite song from the band Blue Shocking.

"I'm your Venus, I'm your fire and your desire..."

Just as she was continuing her song, she was interrupted by the sounds of footsteps coming towards the waiting room. There, she saw Miranda and Doctor Fuchs walking outside the hallway door leading to the examination room with baby Ambroise still in Miranda's arms. Wow, that was quick, Charlotte thought to herself as she observed the doctor and Miranda talking with each other.

"So he's perfectly fine?" Miranda asked to which the doctor replied by nodding.

"Yes. He shows no signs of any illnesses or diseases in his body. His temperature and heartbeat are normal and he doesn't seem to have any internal nor external injuries as far as I'm concerned. Overall, he is a happy healthy baby boy," he explained with a smile on his face before giving Ambroise a small tap on the nose, making the baby giggle again.

Miranda was relieved to hear this as a small part of her had become worried over the possibility of overlooking something serious within Ambroise. Perhaps it was the issue of having to take care of a baby again that made her feel anxious and overly concerned for Ambroise's health. Nevertheless, Miranda was glad to see that Ambroise was fine and the checkup confirmed it.

"Oh thank you doctor. I wanted to make sure just in case," Miranda replied as she put the baby back in the carriage.

"Since you said that the baby just appeared today, you'll need to stock up on some baby products," the doctor said before going to his office to grab something. Miranda and Charlotte watched as he disappeared from their view and became curious over what he was bringing for Miranda. A few seconds later, he came back with a small round can that was a pink and blue color and placed it in her palm. Upon closer inspection on the front it showed an image of a putto like figure sitting on a fluffy cloud with the stereotypical angel wings and diapers.

"What's this?" Miranda asked as she held the mysterious can.

"It's baby formula. Given that he is approximately 3 months old and his birth mother is unavailable for breastfeeding, he will have to be bottle fed for a while. This particular brand is called "Infant Angels" and it is said to be one of the best brands when it comes to baby formulas," the doctor explained as Miranda turned the can around and saw its inscription.

"Thank you doctor. Though I must ask, why do you have this in your office?" she asked out of curiosity. When Charlotte heard this, she was curious as well as she didn't know he kept something like that there.

"Well, one needs to be prepared in case something like this happens," he explained while rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean it's not every day you find a baby on your front porch so what can you do?"

"Heh, I guess that's true. Anyways, thank you Doctor Fuchs," said Miranda as she prepared to leave the clinic with Ambroise but not before paying the doctor the money that she owed. Charlotte got up so she could help open the door for both of them to which Miranda responded by thanking her and leaving.

"Stay safe!" shouted Charlotte as she waved goodbye to them.

"We will!" Miranda replied as she waved back without looking. Miranda put the can of baby formula in her purse as she pushed the baby carriage across the street. As she continued to walk through the main street of Amable with Ambroise in tow, she received different looks from some of the people. Some were curious about who this baby was while others were surprised by the fact that Miranda had another baby. Some of the females, both teenagers and adults, seemed to whisper gossip to their friends over why Miranda had another baby with her. Miranda didn't care as she was more focused on going to the nearby store to buy some clothes and diapers for Ambroise. After all, a baby had to look presentable in front of others and not stink so much. She also needed to buy some cleansing products for Ambroise, specifically the kind that was tear free, as she wanted to make sure that his body remained clean and healthy. Thankfully, with the experience of having cared for an infant Timotheos, she was able to remember what kind of products she would need to buy for an infant.

Once she arrived at a nearby store called "HausWart", she pushed the carriage inside and began looking through the aisles for baby products. When she arrived at the aisles involving the products like diapers, pacifiers and baby bottles, she was surprised to see a familiar face standing in the aisles looking at some of the diapers. It was a woman with long blonde hair that was wavy at the end along with having fair skin, red lips and blue eyes. Miranda recognized those features immediately as she had seen that person many times.

"Brielle?" Miranda asked, causing the other woman to turn in her direction in surprise.

"Ah, Miranda darling! I did not expect to see you here!" Brielle responded as she approached both the mother and the baby. "Aw, is that the little one Audrey was talking about?"

"Oh so you've heard?" Miranda asked in slight surprise.

"Well of course. My daughter wouldn't stop talking about how cute and squishy his face was. Not to mention how chunky and tiny his body is," Brielle replied as she walked to the side of the carriage to get a better look at the baby. Ambroise seemed curious as to who Brielle was as he tilted his head with a wide-eyed expression, making Brielle smile and giggle over how innocent his curiosity was.

"He is just adorable. Now I see why my daughter kept fawning over him," Brielle commented as she watched Ambroise babble incoherently while throwing his hands in the air in an attempt to grab something.

"Thank you, though I'm curious as to why you're here?" Miranda asked out of curiosity.

"Oh that, I was on my way to buy some baby products for you the moment I heard about the baby," Brielle replied. "Though it is a shame that the surprise got spoiled before I could even get something." Miranda couldn't help but giggle at the pout that Brielle made when she mentioned this.

"Well, that is thoughtful of you but I was already on my way of getting some products myself. Want to join me if you're still interested?" asked Miranda, making Brielle cheer up almost immediately.

"Of course, darling! I would be honored! It also helps that I get to see Ambroise's cute face for myself!" she replied as she also began to coo over the baby, making him laugh even harder.

"Well, we better get going before the store closes," Miranda said before pushing the baby carriage closer to the section where the diapers were.

"Indeed," Brielle replied as she quickly followed her friend and the baby.

The women were able to find some good diapers and cleaning products for Ambroise. Although Miranda thought of using some of Timotheos' old baby clothes for Ambroise, Brielle insisted that she also get some new clothes for the baby as she believed that it would make him look more fashionable. She also pointed out how some of Timotheos' baby clothes may not fit Ambroise so a new wardrobe would have to be made for him. Miranda reluctantly agreed with Brielle's statement and went with her to the clothing aisle for infants and toddlers. Overall, the 2 mothers were able to have a successful shopping trip for little Ambroise despite the odd looks they got from some of the other shoppers.