Turning A New Leaf

Twenty-Seven

After a brief stay in Ocean Shores, Krist and Atira were back home with Rocco. Atira had booked an appointment for the upcoming Monday for her pregnancy confirmation.

She had brought up switching to a different line of work, at least until the baby was born, explaining that he could use the state's paid family leave for twelve weeks and he wouldn't qualify for it while being a gig worker. He hated the idea of working a set schedule over his own hours, but it was a sacrifice that he would make for Atira and their unborn child.

He hoped whatever job he got wouldn't suck balls too hard, and if it did, he planned on quitting and going back to gig work after the paid family leave. Atira working in HR and being familiar with all the parental leave stuff definitely helped them figure shit out together.

Krist had applied at a local cable company for a call center agent and got a callback the same day. He'd worked for the big phone company call center years ago and had stopped showing up to work because he was high. The cable company was just happy to see he had some degree of call center experience, even if it was brief.

"The pay doesn't look too bad," Atira remarked, reading the job posting, "and look, you can get medical, 401k, and paid time off immediately."

He went to his interview the following day and was hired. They set him up with training that began two weeks later, where he'd be in class with other new hires Monday-Friday, nine to five for six weeks, and then given a set schedule once training was done.

****

The week came and went. Monday morning, Atira and Krist attended the first prenatal appointment after dropping Rocco off at Headstart.

Atira had developed a severe case of morning sickness at the point and was hardly keeping liquids down, let alone food. She could manage the occasional few peanut butter-filled pretzels without vomiting, but anything else made her retch.

Krist had picked up a pack of Preggie Pops at the recommendation of Bryana, who claimed that they'd saved her ass the first trimester of her pregnancy. Unfortunately for Atira, they somehow made her even more sick.

In just a few days since she'd gotten sick, she'd lost five pounds-not that she had much weight that she could lose. Krist felt guilty seeing her in such poor shape. She was tired and achy, and her typical pep was gone. With her sick, Krist took over all the housework and cooking so she could focus on rest.

The first appointment was longer than usual, according to her midwife, a hippie-type woman in her early 50s with a pleasant face and long salt-and-pepper hair named Viola. They reviewed family medical history on both sides and discussed things to avoid during pregnancy and warning signs to look out for.

The educational aspect was followed up with a pelvic exam and STD swab. Although Krist had been good about using condoms and was free of diseases the last time he'd been tested, he still was paranoid that he may have had something he somehow was unaware of and passed it to Atira. He knew she didn't sleep around, so if she did have something, it definitely came from him.

After the swab, the midwife assistant drug a portable ultrasound machine in so Viola could perform a transvaginal scan.

Krist stood next to Atira, holding her hand in his as the two stared at the tiny black screen in anticipation. Viola pointed out the ovaries first and then to a black oval on the screen that contained a little grey blurb on the screen.

"So that," Viola said with a smile, pointing to the small mass, "That's your baby. If you look hard, that small white flicker, that's the heartbeat." She printed out a few copies of the blurry ultrasound image.