Bailey
Aiden came back into the room after I’d gotten undressed letting me know that Momma was going to have the lawyers ask for Daniel’s medical history. Relief washed over me at having that taken off my plate.
The sound of a swift knock comes a few minutes later, and a middle aged brunette woman walks into the room.
Aiden hesitates, giving me a quick look. I nod, a silent reassurance that I’ll be okay.
“Sure,” he says, and squeezes my shoulder before he steps out.
The exam was quick, barely even five minutes. Dr. Richards asked me a few personal questions while she gently prodded against my uterus. Aiden stepped back into the room and took his place by my side.
“Since we are guessing you’re between seven and eight weeks it will be too early to do the ultrasound on your belly, so we will have to do it internally.
” She says pulling out a long wand. “If you’ll put your feet back into the stirrups and fan out your legs.
I will keep everything covered. Sir, if you’ll just stay by mom’s head you’ll be able to see everything on the screen on the wall right there.
” She gestured to the big tv screen on the wall behind her.
The use of the word mom has my heart rate ramping up, it’s the first time someone has called me mom, and it makes things very real.
“You’re going to put that inside her? Is that safe? It won’t hurt the baby will it?”
I swear Bear’s eyes are as big as dinner plates right now.
“It is perfectly safe. I promise I would never do anything to harm mom or baby,” Dr. Richards says with a patient voice, amusement shining in her eyes.
She must get this question a lot. She inserts the wand and clicks a few buttons on the screen then says, “That gummy bear looking thing right there is your baby.” A whooshing sound fills the room. “And that is its heartbeat.”
Tears fill my eyes as I listen to Little Bear’s heartbeat, and look at the cute little gummy bear on the screen.
I look up at Aiden and his eyes are shiny.
He looks down at me with the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen from him.
A look of complete awe overtaking his face.
I’ve seen a lot of sides of Aiden, but this is a new one.
The sound of Little Bear’s heart cuts off much too soon, and Dr. Richards says, “I’m going to take some more measurements and check a few things while we are in there.
” She looks intently at the screen as she does her measurements.
I can’t tell if everything is okay by her face.
I sit there as long as I can, just watching.
“Is everything okay?” Aiden asks just as I am about to.
“Everything looks great. Baby is measuring at 7 weeks exactly, but that isn’t anything to worry about.
I’ve got your due date as July 23rd based on the date of conception.
Let’s keep that as your due date. Baby looks perfect.
Congrats mom and dad!” she says, and before I can correct her that Aiden isn’t the dad, she’s talking again.
“I will see you again in four to five weeks. You’ll have another ultrasound at that appointment, and that is when we will do a blood test to check to make sure the baby doesn’t have anything major genetically going on.
Since we don’t have the biological father’s medical records I would highly recommend getting them, if possible.
It can be quite expensive, and most insurance companies don’t cover it, but if there is any chance to make it work, I would suggest it.
You can also find out the gender of the baby with that blood test if you desire. ”
“We are already working to get the father’s records, but we will do the test anyway at the next appointment,” Aiden replies.
He doesn’t seem to care that she said the test could be expensive. I know his parents are willing to do whatever, but fuck, how expensive is this blood test?
“Alright, I will see you both in four weeks. Please call or message me if you have any questions. Nothing is too small. If you have a concern, please ask. I think Margo is going to come back and check your blood pressure one more time. If it is still high, I want you to get a cuff at home and record your pressure first thing in the morning before you get out of bed, before you eat lunch, and once you’ve crawled into bed.
Send me the results at the end of the week and we will discuss options if you continue to have high blood pressure.
Prenatal hypertension can be very serious and can lead to some things we would want to avoid if at all possible if we don’t keep your blood pressure at normal range. ”
“Thanks Doc. See you in four weeks,” I say before she exits the room and Margo enters.
She takes my blood pressure again, and it’s still higher than they would like. Margo tells me she already sent the message to my portal about cuffs she recommends and that she sent a prescription for the doctor’s favorite prenatal vitamins to my pharmacy to pick up.
Once we get back to Aiden’s car, I send pictures of the ultrasound today to the Baker family group chat. I’ve just put my phone away when Aiden’s phone is in front of my face.
“Here, why don’t you order the blood pressure cuff from my account. Once the card Momma and Pop ordered you comes in you can add it to your account, but just use mine for now. We’ll stop by the pharmacy on the way home and pick up your vitamins.”
“Thanks, Bear,” I say as I take my phone back out to see what Margo had recommended, so I can search on for the right cuff. Once I’ve pulled up the message Margo sent, I open Aiden’s phone and navigate to and purchase her top rated cuff.
I spend the rest of the drive searching job boards, trying to find somewhere that might be willing to let me work a few hours a week.
I know the Bakers want to help, but I want to try and contribute in some way.
They say I’m like their child, but I’m not actually their kid, so I don’t want to take advantage of them.
9 weeks pregnant
The last couple of weeks went by in a flash of studying, finals, and exhaustion.
You know how they call it morning sickness?
Yea, that’s a fucking lie. It’s more like all day sickness.
I have been sick morning, noon, and night.
Aiden finally convinced me to call the doctor and they gave me medication that helps, and luckily I have been able to keep at least one meal a day down.
My blood pressure also stayed high, but since I started taking the medication she prescribed me, it has, thankfully, leveled out.
We have been home from school for the last week.
True to their word, I haven’t heard a peep from my parents.
According to Momma, they tried to convince her to talk me into doing what they wanted when she called to buy my car from them.
Pop said that Momma went off on them, telling them how horrible they are as parents and how they should be ashamed of themselves.
They didn’t take it well, but honestly, I don’t really care anymore.
My parents made their choice when they tried to convince me to get rid of my baby.
I support a woman’s right to choose when it comes to pregnancy, no one has the right to tell anyone what to do with their body, but I don’t think I could have gone through with it.
The little life growing inside me was loved from the moment those two pink lines appeared on that little white stick, and anyone who doesn’t support and love them with every once of their heart doesn’t deserve to be in their life.
We have a couple days before Christmas, and I’m scrolling my phone on the couch when Momma comes and sits next to me and says, “Hey Bailey Girl, how are you feeling?” Momma’s case load as a family court judge also seems to pile up around the holidays, so she has been busy since we got home.
This is the first time we have really had a chance to talk.
Tears prick behind my eyes without my consent.
“I’m so tired, Momma,” The words are more of a breath, and she wraps her arms around me.
“I constantly feel like I’m going to throw up, I’m always two seconds away from falling asleep standing up, and I seriously just want to cry ninety-percent of the time.
” I take a deep breath and let it out trying to suck the tears I know are coming back in.
“My parents hate me, the father of my baby has plans to sign away his rights as soon as we can get the DNA test done, I am a junior in college having a baby the summer before my senior year. I am going to be a single mom with a newborn come next fall, if I can even find a way to pay for school next year.” I close my eyes, shaking my head.
“And don’t even get me started on how I’m going to get through studying for my boards after graduation with a toddler around.
I wanted to go back to school to be a nurse practitioner, how am I supposed to do that as a single mom?
As much as I know he would try, Aiden can’t take care of us forever.
He has LSATs and law school after graduation, then the BAR exam, and establishing his career as a lawyer after that. What am I going to do Momma?”
“Sweet girl, don’t borrow tomorrow’s problems. Yes, the next few years are going to be a challenge, but you’re never going to be alone.
You know my boy isn’t going to let you do anything alone,” She says with the raise of an eyebrow and a look that says ‘come on girl,’ “I’m fairly sure he will take care of the two of you forever if you’d let him.
Pop and I will be there every step of the way, as well, don’t you worry about any of it. I love you, my girl.”
“Momma, you are already doing everything for me, I can’t keep taking from you guys forever. What do you get in return for all of this?” I wipe the tears that have been streaming down my face away with the sleeve of my sweater.