Chapter Fifteen
GAbrIELLA-ROSE
I SAT IN THE WAITING room wondering whether staying here alone was a good idea. A sudden wave of anxiety came over me, as though something terrible was about to happen. I went to get my phone out of my bag to call Gino, but just as I was about to dial his number, a young nurse came into the room.
“Miss Quinn? Dr. Lawson will see you now, if you would like to follow me.”
I put my phone back into my bag and walked out of the waiting area and into the office. I was greeted by Dr. Lawson’s smiling face as I walked toward her. Instantly, I felt at ease with her, even though she hadn’t said a word. She was probably around ten years older than me and appeared warm and friendly. She held out her hand, which I took as she spoke.
“Miss Quinn, lovely to meet you. Please take a seat.”
I took a seat in front of her desk as the door behind me closed.
“So, what brings you here to see me today? As if I couldn’t already guess.”
I was a little shocked. She couldn’t already know what was wrong with me just by looking at me, could she? Was it that obvious?
I looked down at my stomach to see if there was any trace of a life growing inside me, but I couldn’t see a thing. I looked back up and could see her chuckling at my reaction.
“I’m sorry. I have been Hudson and Nico’s doctor for a long while. Hudson told me about your symptoms the other day when he made the appointment. As soon as he told me, I guessed your reason for coming here, although I didn’t say anything to him. So I'm guessing you're here because you suspect you are pregnant. Am I correct, Miss Quinn?”
I should have known that Hudson would send me to someone he knew well. He was probably the most protective of my men, and he would have wanted me to feel comfortable with my doctor. He had certainly made the right choice with Dr. Lawson.
“Please call me Gabriella, or just Gaby. I really don’t like formality. Yes, I am almost certain I am pregnant. I have all the same symptoms I had with my previous pregnancies. Before you say any more, I’m not sure how much Hudson has told you. But I had three miscarriages due to my previous abusive partner, so they never went past three months.”
I watched her smile drop. Hudson hadn’t told her everything. However, she needed to know that just in case there had been any permanent damage done. My previous gynecologist hadn’t seemed to think so, but I wanted to make certain.
She looked at me with a sad smile. “Hudson didn’t mention that, Gaby, but I’m glad that you did. We can check that everything is fine in just a minute. And please call me Monica. I’m not all that keen on the ‘doctor’ stuff either. Plus I suspect, knowing Hudson, that I will be seeing a lot of you, so much so that we will probably be best friends at the end of this.”
We both started to laugh. I could tell it would be very easy to be friends with her. I also thought that, as she knew both Hudson and Nico, she might also be aware of their relationship, which would make appointments far easier when it came to them both wanting to see and hear the baby. I went to speak, but it was as if she could read my mind.
“Yes, I know you are in a polyamorous relationship with Hudson and Nico. I also believe that Gino has joined you. So you don’t have to worry about them coming to appointments. I can hold them after my usual surgery so it isn’t obvious that you're coming in here with three men, if that makes you all feel better.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Monica. You don’t know how worried I was. It was one reason I came in here alone. I didn’t want anyone thinking Gino was the father when I highly suspect he isn’t, considering we have only been in a relationship for a few weeks.”
“Well, we don’t know anything yet, do we? Let’s get all of your medical history out of the way, then we can do a test and see if there is a little life inside you.”
For the next thirty minutes or so, we ran through all of my medical history, as I had never been to this clinic before. I was surprised that Monica had allowed me this much time, but she assured me that I was her final appointment for the day and she had booked the rest of the afternoon out to put both Hudson’s and my mind at rest.
“Okay, now that we have all that out of the way, we get to find out.”
She passed me a test and asked me to go into the restroom outside and bring the test back into her office. I went and did what I needed to do, and then walked back into her office.
“Okay, while we are waiting for that result, I will just take some of your blood so we can do a blood test and make sure everything is okay.”
Luckily, I wasn’t one of these women who hated needles. Good thing, as I knew this would be a regular occurrence from now on if I was indeed pregnant. Monica took all the blood that she needed for the tests and placed them in the bag ready to send off to the lab.
My heart was beating hard in my chest. I knew that it would soon be time to find out the truth. I really hoped that I was pregnant, because I would be devastated if I wasn’t.
“Do you want me to check, Gaby?”
I looked at her with trepidation.
Did I want someone else to tell me? Or did I want to look myself?
I decided the former would be easier to take if it was just a figment of my imagination. I nodded my head to tell Monica to go ahead. I couldn’t watch as she got up from her seat and walked over to the basin where I had left the test. I heard a trash can open and close and then her footsteps as she walked back to her desk and sat down with a completely neutral expression on her face. I was about to burst into tears when a massive grin swept across her face.
“You’re pregnant, Gaby.”
I sat there for a moment, not sure that the words she had just said to me had truly sunken in. I must have looked at her in total shock because she got up from her seat and walked around, kneeling in front of me, and took my hand.
“Gaby, did you hear me? You're pregnant.”
Tears of joy started to roll down my face.
I was pregnant. I was finally pregnant and at last had a chance of becoming a mother, without it being torn away.
I felt two arms come around me as Monica started to hug me. I knew right then we would be friends forever. The care and compassion she was showing me were far greater than a doctor would usually give to their patient.
“I can’t believe I’m finally going to be a mom. I have wanted this my whole life.”
She pulled away from our embrace and passed me a tissue to wipe my eyes. “Let me see if Victoria is free. You never know, we might get to see and hear the baby if we are lucky. Plus, we might be able to get an indication of how far along you are. Then we can put a plan together to bring this little one into the world.”
Monica left the room, and I placed my hands on my stomach.
“I promise to take care of you, little one. Your daddies and I won’t let anything happen to you. I can’t wait to meet you.”
I didn’t feel at all stupid talking to my unborn child. I vowed to do it at least once a day. When this baby was born, it would recognize all the important people in its life.
I heard Monica walk back into the room as I finished speaking and turned to look at her.
“We’re in luck. Victoria has just finished her last appointment for the day, so she can do a scan on you. We might not see much, but we can give it a go. Have you had any water to drink today?”
“I did drink a couple of bottles before I came here, and tried not to let it all out when I did the test earlier, just in case.”
“Perfect. Let’s see if we can see that baby.”
I wasn’t sure who was more excited: Monica or me. She was bouncing as we walked into Victoria’s room, where she was all set up and ready for me.
“Gaby, lovely to meet you. I’m Victoria, and I am one of the midwives here. Monica tells me we are hoping to see a little one today.”
I could tell that Victoria was of the same disposition as Monica just by the way she spoke. Hudson had found exactly the right clinic for me to visit. I smiled and nodded.
“Okay, let’s get you up here and comfortable, and then we can see if the little one is big enough to measure. Do you have any idea of dates?”
I had been trying to work this out myself for the past three weeks.
“Well, I was due for my next contraceptive injection around four months ago, so I’m guessing probably around four to six weeks. My periods were always very haphazard. However, that wouldn’t explain the three weeks of morning sickness, so I’m not really sure.”
Both Victoria and Monica laughed at my confession.
“Well, let’s just take a look, shall we?”
I got up onto the table, and Victoria exposed my stomach and squeezed the cold gel onto it. She started to move the wand over my stomach. I looked over at the screen, and all of a sudden, I could see and hear the precious sound of my baby. I couldn’t help the tears of joy that started to fall again.
I felt someone take my hand and looked over to see Monica smiling at me.
“Well, it looks as though we have our dates slightly confused, Gaby. Going by this, I would say you are around three months pregnant, which would make sense with the morning sickness.”
I watched as Victoria continued to take measurements and check the baby’s health. I couldn’t believe that I was three months pregnant! This was the furthest I had ever gone into a pregnancy, and I hadn’t even realized.
“Yep, definitely three months, so I would say we have a May baby on the way. Perfectly healthy heartbeat, and everything seems to be developing normally. Would you like some pictures?”
I eagerly nodded my head. I was now excited to get back home and to tell Nico and Hudson that they were going to be fathers. I knew none of my men would care who the father was, but they would make sure they were the next one if they weren’t.
Victoria printed out the pictures while I cleaned the gel off my stomach. In a few short moments, I was almost ready to go. Monica had popped out of the room to get a list of vitamins that she wanted me to take. When she returned, she also gave me my pregnancy book so we could keep a record of everything. I placed everything into my bag and eagerly waited for my pictures.
“There you go, Gaby. Congratulations. I look forward to seeing this one grow.”
“Thank you, Victoria, for everything.”
I said my goodbyes to Victoria and headed around to the front desk with Monica.
“Marie, would you make an appointment for Miss Quinn with me in a month? Can it be an evening appointment, please? Around six or seven.” Monica turned to me while Marie, the receptionist, was making the appointment for me. “I just want to keep an eye on everything, with what happened in the past. I’m sure everything will be okay, but better to be safe than sorry. Now, I’ll leave you with Marie, and don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything.”
She engulfed me in a hug, and we said our goodbyes.
I turned to Marie, who was smiling at me.
“Monica has taken a real shine to you, hasn’t she? I can tell. I have booked the appointment and sent an email over to you for your schedule. I’ve popped it onto a card as well.”
I took the card she was holding out and placed it in my bag.
“Thank you, Marie. I’ll see you in a month.”
I felt excited for the first time in ages. Things were finally starting to work out for me. I had three gorgeous men I shared my bed with, and one of them was the father of my child. I couldn’t wait to tell the world. I walked out of the clinic, expecting to see Gino either standing outside or by the car.
But I couldn’t see any sign of him anywhere. I looked over at the car and saw that the door was open, but he wasn’t there.
“Where could he have gone?” I said out loud to no one in particular.
I opened my bag and pulled out my phone as I walked along the front of the building toward the parking lot. As I started to call Gino’s number, I came to the end of the building and was suddenly grabbed from behind. The phone and my bag fell to the floor as a hand came over my mouth to cover it and stop me from screaming. I was dragged over to a parked car that was behind the building. I struggled as much as I could to try to get out of my captor’s grip, but they just held me tighter.
My heart was thumping in my chest and my anxiety was building. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. Today was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life.
What was happening to me, and why was I being pulled over to a car by a complete stranger? Did they know who I was? Was this some kind of kidnapping to get a ransom from Hudson? Alternatively, was it something to do with a rival gang that wanted to get back at Nico?
I looked over toward Gino’s car, and that was when I saw him lying on the ground covered in blood. I started to hyperventilate.
He was dead. Someone had killed him. He wasn’t moving, and the amount of blood that was on him…
I could feel myself start to go dizzy as the amount of oxygen I was breathing in became too much for my body to take. We reached the car, and my captor opened the door, reached inside, and pulled something out.
I was desperately trying to calm myself enough so I could stay awake throughout this. I needed to know who I was dealing with so, if I escaped, I could give a good description to the police.
However, I wouldn’t need to see the person who took me once I heard him speak. I felt hot breath against the side of my face before he whispered in my ear.
“Did you really think you could escape me, Ella? All this time, I knew exactly where you were. I just needed to bide my time before I could have you again. This time, I’m not letting you go.” The sarcasm in Vincent’s voice was enough for the world to fall apart beneath me.
I said a silent prayer to God to get me through this and protect my unborn child. Then I allowed everything to go dark as I passed out in his grasp.