The Rancher's Proposition

Chapter 15 - confirmations

The week seemed to go by in a slow and agonizing blur on Wood's Ranch. Jonathan and Arabella both agreed that since it was early on in her pregnancy they would keep it to themselves, but that to be on the safe side she should keep the labor work down to a minimum. The hardest part for Bella was the fact that the doctor couldn't get them in till Friday to confirm the pregnancy. They also haven't heard from Jackson either on the documents that he was looking into for them. Each day dragged on in a slow repetition and tension rose within the Woods household.

"Good morning you two." Said Stacy as she laid out their breakfast on the table. Arabella loved what was cooked today and praised her sister-in-law on her cooking skills daily.

"Oh my God, this is wonderful, awe even my eggs are fluffy just the way I like them," Bella said with a smile on her face.

Jonathan laughed "Please, we all know your only cooking like this to make sure Bell stays here. " He remarked cheekily. "By the way, Bell and I are going into town after lunch, do you need us to pick anything up for the house?" yet before he could answer Stacy ripped a long list of necessities and groceries off of the notepad on the fridge and placed it on the table with a loud smack.

"Nope, just make sure you get everything on the list. We were supposed to get this stuff over the weekend but that idiot ruined it all." She said irritated "We need to fill up the pantry and the freezer before winter hits us." Then she looked at Arabella "since we live quite a way from town it can be a pain in the ass to go to the store as often as we do now so we just stock up, just in case."

Jonathan stood up and folded up the list and shoved it into his wallet as he said his goodbyes to the ladies and mentioned he would be back right before lunchtime. It didn't take long for Stacy to start on the verbal attack "So sister dearest, what are you and my ugly brother doing in town today?" she asked curious as to why they were just now mentioning going there. She hated secrets and honestly, she was just nosey, everybody knew it.

Arabella sucked at lying but this was something she just couldn't spill out "Honestly, I don't know he said something about a surprise and dinner." She said as nonchalantly as she could before walking out the door to feed the animals and to put distance between the Queen of questions.

After a few hours, Jonathan and Arabella were finally in the dodge heading to their first doctor's appointment. Jonathan wasn't sure what to say in this situation that would make things less nerve-racking as he drove with his hands clenched to the steering wheel. Now and then he felt like he should speak and would glance over at Bella and see her fidgeting and picking at her fingernails but would back down feeling that it wasn't the right time to say anything. Needless to say, the fifteen-minute car ride seemed to drag on in a slow and anticipating silence.

The doctor's office was just on the opposite side of town. As they pulled up Arabella couldn't help but think that the poor dark red brick building looked a bit forlorn, even the sign by the door looked rusted and distressed. However, as they stepped inside she was in awe of how modern it was. Dark mahogany hardwood flowed into the hallway as they walked to the receptionist in the waiting area.

A perky redhead walked to the desk. She was wearing black scrubs that had bright neon-colored paint splatter decorating them. Along with a name tag that read "Kat" in black bold letters. "Welcome to Dr. Amelia Roses office. What can I do for the two of you today?" She asked as she started to pull out some paperwork and a clipboard.

Jonathan glanced down at Bella seeing her tense up and turn slightly pink in the cheeks. He loved when she got some color in them. Then he cleared his throat knowing that she was still a bit uncomfortable and spoke to the nurse. "Yes, well we called earlier this week and made a one-thirty appointment with Mia."

"Well alrighty then, if you could just fill out this information here and bring it back up when you're done we will get you back there as soon as we can. If you have any questions don't hesitate to holler." She said as she handed them the clipboard and pen.

Bella grabbed the papers and they both walked over to a bench seat and started looking over the paperwork. Most of it was normal and simple to answer nevertheless when it asked about insurance she looked over at Jonathan and quietly whispered. "I don't know what to put down for this. Since I no longer work at my insurance was canceled."

Jonathan looked at her and reached for the paper and just scribbled the word pay in cash. Then he handed it back to Arabella where she shook her head and continued. Once she was finished she gently got up and went back to the office desk and handed it to Kat. After about five minutes the door to their right opened and the sprightly Miss Kat looked at the two of them "Dr. Rose will see you now if you will just follow me, please.

Bella and Jonathan slowly got up and walked through the open door and followed her down the corridor. "If you could just stand on the scale we will take your height and weight. Then you can go use the bathroom and give us a sample to run. Mr. Wood's you can just go into room number two and wait if you like." She spoke in a soft and upbeat manner.

After a couple of minutes passed Bella opened the door and sat quietly in a chair next to Jonathan in the exam room. She knew she was going to have to get up on the table but sitting there now would just make her more anxious. Jonathan seeing that his Bell was picking on her finger once again reached over and held her hand in his and softly caressed her skin with his thumb to try and soothe her. Bella looked at him and smiled then rested her head on his shoulder as they waited on the good doctor.

Five minutes passed as the two of them just sat comfortably when the exam room door opened. "Well, good afternoon to you two. It's nice to finally see you in her Jonathan." Said a woman with shoulder-length silvery blond hair who looked to be in her mid to late fifties. "You must be Arabella, I am Doctor Rose but most just call me Mia." She spoke with a soothing voice and glanced at the paperwork in her arms. "Well, it looks as if a congratulations is due, since the pregnancy test we did result in positive. Now if you could just hop on up here we can take a look and see just how far along you are."

Arabella stood up and released Jonathan's hand as she made her way to the stool to help herself up and laid back onto the table as the doctor went out to the hallway and brought in the ultrasound machine. Jonathan slowly made his way to the other side of Bella and held her hand as they watched her turn it on and grab what she needed.

"Okay sweetheart, I need you to pull your shirt up just a bit and brace yourself the gel is pretty cold at first." She said as she made her way over to them. Bella gasped as the bluish-looking gel hit her stomach and Mia started pressing the small round device around. After a couple of minutes, Mia finally pointed to the screen. "Awe well there you go you two. It looks as if you are about nine weeks pregnant." She said cheerfully and then showed them a small dot that kept flashing from black to white. "This right here is your baby's heartbeat, and I must say it is going pretty strong."

She held it there for a little bit as Jonathan and Arabella stared at their tiny bean-looking baby, as tears slowly made their way down her cheek. "Would you like a picture to take with you guys before you leave here today?" She asked them and watched both of them nod at her in pure silence. Once that was done she removed the sonogram and helped wipe off the remaining gel. Then she handed them their picture as they thanked her. On her way out the door she turned and told them "Congratulations again you two and make sure to make another appointment in about seven weeks and we can probably check the gender if it wants to cooperate with us. If anything happens between then just come on in."