Blue Denim

Part 19

About half an hour later, Stevie and Barbara were sitting around the kitchen table once again, waiting for five different pregnancy tests to reveal their results within the next three minutes.

"I can't be pregnant.", Stevie muttered for the nth time, "I don't even have morning sickness."

"I didn't experience any kind of morning sickness during my two pregnancies either.", Barbara said.

"How can you be so sure I'm pregnant?", Stevie asked her mother, "Lindsey and I just started trying and we barely saw each other. I've been having menstrual irregularities for the past three years. I'm in my forties after all and just out of rehab."

"You've been pregnant before.", Barbara shrugged, "I know what you look like when you've got a bun in the oven."

"You are...-", Stevie was just about to say 'impossible' but got interrupted by the triumphant outcry of her mother.

"Right!", Barbara said. "I am RIGHT!", she pointed at the tests, on every single one of them forming a second dark pink line. 

"Nooo..", Stevie said very slowly, reaching out to take each test into her little hands, trying to find some kind of error about them. She couldn't believe this. How could she have gotten pregnant so fast? For weeks, she had tried to not get her hopes up too high, subconsciously preparing herself that a baby was most likely never going to happen for her.

Barbara looked at Stevie, noticing how quiet she had become. She took her hands and tried to make her look at her. "Teedee, what's wrong? I though this was what you wanted."

Stevie looked up from the tests, realizing that there was indeed nothing wrong with them, "It is what I wanted.", she said before a heavy crying fit overwhelmed her. "I just never thought I'd ever get to experience this."

Barbara smiled sadly, then moved around the table to take her into his arms.

"I don't even know why I'm crying, right now. This has to be the best day of my life."

"Hormones, honey.", Barbara said with a chuckle, "Believe me, that's not going to be the last time you're gonna start crying out of the blue."

Stevie smiled through her tears, then reached out for the telephone.

"Do you want to call Lindsey?"

Stevie shook her head. "I want to call my gynecologist and have an appointment first. I want to be a hundred percent sure before I tell him. I don't want to get his hopes up and then see them shatter into a million pieces."

Barbara nodded and watched Stevie speaking to her doctor on the phone, later agreeing to take her to an appointment in the early evening.

---

Several hours later, Stevie and Barbara entered the doctor's room. Her gynecologist greeted her sympathetically, then listened to Stevie who told her that she had made several pregnancy tests that had all come out positive.

"Those tests are usually very reliable.", the doctor said, "Sometimes they give you a false negative but five false positives are extremely unlikely. To be a hundred percent sure we will draw blood, though."

Stevie nodded and squeezed her mother's hand she had not let go off once eversince they had entered the doctor's office.

"When was the last time you had your period?", Dr. Williams then wanted to know.

"It's been seven weeks ago.", Stevie answered. She was glad she had written it down in her journal so she had been able to look the date up again.

"Well, if you're lucky we might even be able to take a look at your baby, today, then.", the doctor said with a smile. "Our ultrasound scanner has the ability to show us an embryo from the fifth week on."

After the doctor had drawn blood, Stevie was told to lie down and a cool gel was spread around her stomach.

Three nerve-racking minutes went by during which Stevie almost smushed Barbara's hand until the doctor finally eased the tension. "This is your baby."

Stevie looked at the ultrasound monitor with big eyes. A tiny little spot showing the baby that was starting to grow inside of her.

"Congratulations, Ms. Nicks. You are five weeks pregnant."

Stevie instantly started crying again. She couldn't believe that after all she had been through the past few years, she finally got what she truly wanted. A baby. Lindsey's baby.

"As far as I can see everything looks completely normal, right now, just as it is supposed to be. We will take a closer look at your blood work, though, just to be a hundred percent sure. Of course, as I told you before, you need to come more regularly than other women. We spoke about this."

Stevie nodded, "Yeah, because it's a high-risk pregnancy."

"Exactly.", Dr. Williams said, "I don't want you to panic about this. That doesn't mean anything bad has to happen, just that we need to be a little more careful and check on the baby more often."

Stevie nodded again, Barbara leaning forward to place a kiss on her daughter's temple. "Can I.. Can I have a photo?"

"Of course.", the doctor said, handing her patient some paper towels to clean herself off.

"Thank you.", Stevie muttered, standing up to make herself look decent again.

"My assistant will call you back to arrange a new appointment. Until then, try to avoid as much stress as possible. Don't do anything extreme."

"I won't.", Stevie said, placing a hand on her stomach protectively, "I will do everything to keep this baby."