Ruby
Ruby
R uby locked herself in the bathroom and cried until she was sure that she had no more tears left. She had to focus on the fact that she was going to finally get answers to the many questions that had popped into her head over the past couple of weeks.
When she first started throwing up every morning, she never imagined that she could possibly be pregnant. She thought for sure that she had come down with a stomach bug, but then, she started doing some math, realizing that she hadn’t had a period in months, and came up with the possibility of being pregnant.
At first, it terrified her to realize that she might be carrying Luke’s baby. She thought for so long that it was simply impossible, but the more that she allowed herself to dream about it as a possibility, the more she liked the idea. Ruby thought that Luke would make a wonderful father, but now, she worried that she had pegged him all wrong.
At least he had agreed to run her to town to the local clinic. She needed confirmation that she wasn’t losing her mind. She needed to hear from a doctor that she was pregnant, and then, she’d find a way to go home. It was time for her to take back her life. Mr. McTavish had been kind enough to hold her job for her, but sooner or later, he’d have to fill her position. She wanted to go home. Knowing that Luke wasn’t ready to be a father had her fantasy of the two of them raising this baby together vanish, just as quickly as it had formed. She was a fool for thinking that Luke might be happy about the baby. Why would he be? They had only been together for four months and now, she was telling him that he was going to be a father. Of course, he wasn’t happy about her supposed news.
After she showered and got dressed, she found Luke in the spare bathroom. He had showered and dressed in clean clothes and when he saw her looking at him in the hallway, she wanted to run and hide, but changing her mind now wasn’t an option. The damage was already done and if she was pregnant, she’d have to find out sooner or later.
“Ready,” she said. “Thank you for agreeing to drive me to town.” She walked downstairs to wait for him at the front door.
Luke caught up with her about halfway down the stairs and grabbed her arm. “Wait,” he insisted. “I don’t want things to be this way, Ruby.”
“I know that I’ve sprung a lot on you, Luke. I’m sure that my puking my brains out never registered with you that I could be pregnant. I know it was a shock, but if I’m pregnant, I want to know for sure. After this visit, we can sit down and come up with a way that I can go back to my apartment and my job. I’ll need to have a way to pay for my and my baby’s medical care, and my job won’t hold forever.”
“It’s not safe,” he said.
“I’ll figure that out as I go,” she said, “but, I can’t wait to stay here with someone who doesn’t want me.”
“I never said that I don’t want you, Ruby,” he argued.
“Right, but you don’t want to be a father and if I’m going to have this baby, and you won’t want him or her, then you won’t want me.”
“It’s not like that,” Luke insisted. “I didn’t mean what I said earlier. I’m not sure how I’ll handle the news if you’re pregnant, Ruby. I just need to figure it out,” he said.
“Well, don’t take too long, Luke,” Ruby spat. “If I’m pregnant, you’ll only have about seven months to figure it out.” She pulled her arm free from his grasp and finished down the stairs. She was done discussing this. It was time for her to figure out her next move because, in her heart, she knew that she was going to have to come to grips with being a mother, and she was pretty sure that she was going to have to do it alone.
The doctor who saw her seemed to be nice; sympathetic even when Ruby basically told her the whole story behind her possible pregnancy. Of course, she left out the parts about the two of them being on the run and possibly having someone coming for them. That wasn’t something that she’d be able to share.
They had her pee on a pregnancy test and took some blood, just for good measure—the doctor’s words, not hers. She’d be fine just peeing on the stick, but apparently, they weren’t always conclusive. Luke stood in the corner of the room the entire time as if she had the damn plague, and she almost found the whole scene funny—but then again, none of this was funny.
When the nurse came in holding her pregnancy test with a paper towel and wearing a smile, she knew that she was going to get her answer without the help of the blood test. “I’m guessing that you’re about to tell me that I’m pregnant,” Ruby said.
“I am and you are,” the nurse said. Ruby felt the hot tears spilling down her face as she choked back her sob.
“Really?” she asked.
“Well, I hope that I’m not giving you unwanted news, honey,” the nurse said, “but, yes, you’re pregnant. The doctor would like to do a quick sonogram to check on the baby since you’ve been having so much morning sickness with the pregnancy.”
“Is something wrong with the baby?” Luke asked. It was the first thing he had said since they left the house.
“Not at all,” the nurse assured. “Doc just wants to check in on the little guy or girl. Give us a minute and I’ll be right back in with the machine.” Ruby nodded and swiped at her tears. She hated that she couldn’t seem to stop crying, but the waterworks didn’t seem to have an off switch.
“I’m sorry that this didn’t turn out the way you were hoping, Luke,” she sobbed. “But I’m not going to be sorry that I’m pregnant. It’s a miracle that it even happened, really. I won’t ever be sorry about any of it.”
“You shouldn’t be,” Luke said. He crossed the room to stand next to her and when he sat down in the chair next to her and pulled her hand into his own, that damn hope bubbled up to the surface again.
“I wish I could take back what I said earlier, Ruby. I was surprised by the idea of us having a baby, and I fucked it all up and said all of the wrong things. I’m sorry.”
“You did say all of the wrong things,” she agreed. “You said that you weren’t ready to be a father,” she reminded.
“That wasn’t the truth. I couldn’t see myself being a father—ever,” he admitted.
“Yeah—that’s so much better,” she mumbled.
“Let me finish,” he insisted. Ruby nodded and waited him out to go on. “I never saw myself with a wife and family—not until I met you, Ruby. I never had a true steady girlfriend. Hell, you’re the only woman that I’ve been with for longer than a few dates.”
“What we’ve been doing isn’t necessarily dating,” she said.
“I know, but it counts,” he argued.
The nurse and the doctor reappeared in the tiny room and went over things like prenatal vitamins and follow-up visits. She found herself only half listening and nodding to the doctor’s instructions. When they finally did the sonogram, she held her breath waiting to hear the baby’s heartbeat and when the loud whooshing sound filled the room, she looked up to find Luke wiping away tears of his own as he watched the monitor and held her hand.
“You’re about three months along,” the doctor said. “Does that sound about right?”
“Yes,” Ruby agreed. “I was told that I couldn’t have children. Is the baby okay in there?” she asked.
The doctor smiled and nodded, “He or she looks to be just fine.”
“Can you tell the sex yet?” Luke asked.
“Not yet,” the doctors said, pointing to the image on the screen.
“Our baby,” Ruby whispered. Luke squeezed her hand into his own and smiled down at her, and for just a second, her whole world felt right.
“We plan on going back home soon,” Luke said to the doctor. “Can she have her follow-up appointments back there?”
“Of course,” the doctor said.
“We’re going back home?” she asked Luke.
“Yeah, but there are conditions. We can talk about all that later,” he promised.
“It’s okay for me to travel, right?” Ruby asked.
“Yep,” the doctor said. “But if you have a long trip ahead of you, make sure that you stay hydrated and get out of the car every two hours to head off the possibility of blood clots. Other than that, I think you are safe to travel.”
Ruby sat up and pulled her shirt down. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything.” The doctor nodded and turned on the lights. “When you both are ready, come out and we can give you your prescription for prenatal vitamins and you can be on your way.”
As soon as they left the room, she turned to Luke. “What are the conditions?” she asked.
He chuckled, “I knew that wouldn’t sit long with you, honey. First, I want you to move into my house once we get back home. Your apartment isn’t safe, and I’ve got great security at my place.”
She didn’t even have to think about agreeing to that part of his conditions—her answer was an easy, yes. “Sure,” she said, going for casual. “Anything else?”
“I’d like for us to go into the office and leave together after work,” he said. “I won’t take any chances with either of you, Ruby.” Luke put his hand protectively over her tummy and God, she lost another little piece of her heart to him.
“Deal,” she agreed.
“I’m sorry that I fucked things up earlier. I feel like I’ve been doing that to you since we met—fucking up your life. If I hadn’t shown up on your doorstep, you wouldn’t have been in so much danger that you had to go on the run with me,” he said.
She didn’t let him finish, covering her hand over his mouth and cutting him off. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she assured. “I’m happy with the way things turned out. I honestly, wouldn’t change a thing,” Ruby admitted. “Not even this,” she covered his hand with her own and smiled.
“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah, really,” she said. “My life before you was boring and you opened up a whole new world for me. You gave me something that I never thought that I’d have—a baby. I’m so thankful that you showed up on my doorstep, Luke,” she admitted.
“I’m pretty okay with the way everything turned out too,” Luke agreed. “And Ruby, I do mean everything.” He rubbed his hand over her tummy again and she knew that she had finally found a guy worth giving her forever to. She just hoped that Luke felt the same way about her.