Sickness

~Part 9~

~ Part 9 ~ Vala's P.O.V ~

Gale gives me a questioning look and I laugh out loud. "So you just gunna stand there and look pretty or are you going to get dressed and help me clean this place up?" I tease.

I walk over and start rummaging through the drawer. I pull out jeans and a tank top. Gale takes a pair of pants and walks to the bathroom. Once I hear the door close, I throw my hair in a ponytail and change my pants. I pull my arms into the tank top, and pull it over my head, but it's too tight to go any lower. (If you know what I mean.....) I pull it down fast and end up ripping it right down the center. Great. I'm going to have to pay for that. I take it off like a jacket and go to the small closet to see if they have any t-shirts in my size. 

"The train is temporarily having some technical problems. Please do not try to turn on the television, use the phone, or turn on the radio. Thank you. That is all." the train P.A. system said. 

Since that might mean the cameras are out... while I have the chance I rush over and check around the room to see if maybe, just maybe, I could find where the cameras are. I check the corners, behind the furniture, then hit the floor military style to check under the bed. I couldn't see anything. Probably one of those microscopic cameras. I stand up on the bed and run my fingers along the crack of the ceiling. Training definitely paid off. I found a pin size black camera. I crushed it in my fist. Yes. It was a small victory, but I was actually really proud of myself. I start jumping up and down on the bed, and smiling like a school girl. I hear laughing and turn around to Gale standing in the doorway of the bathroom with his head thrown back smiling huge. 

I flop down on the bed and cover up with the blanket. "Uhm hello!" I say angrily. 

"No worries. Nothing I ain't seen before." he laughs and claps his hands.

"You don't have to act... the cameras are off." I say blandly. 

"Oh.. in that case." he throws his hands over his eyes jokingly. "Eww! Cooties!" 

I laugh and throw a pillow at him. "Get back in the bathroom so I can actually put a shirt on." 

"No need to throw things. Just because you didn't get to make me all nervous before the cameras went out isn't my fault.'' he says as he closes the bathroom door. 

I get out of bed and start to walk to the closet. "How did you know my evil plan?'' I joke.

Gale pokes his head out of the bathroom. "I have my ways." I run over and slam the door shut. 

Oh it's nice to laugh. This will probably be the last time I laugh in awhile. Oh, what have I gotten myself into?

~* ~

"Half hour until arrival. Until then, you can enjoy the working technology. Thank you. That is all." the P.A. system says loudly.

"Come on. Let's watch some t.v." Gale says quietly. 

He leads me over to the bed. We sit down and he takes my hand. And that's what we do. We don't have television at the base, so we enjoy the little bit we get here. 

Once we arrive at the station, Gale and I exit the train slowly as everyone on board eyes us, and I know why. All the people on board were pregnant girls. They didn't have the dad with them. They came alone, the fathers bailed. So, they were surprised to see that the 'father' of my 'baby' stuck around and took the responsibility. Not to mention that he was extremely attractive. I couldn't help but be sort of braggy about Gale being my 'baby daddy'. Because I'm Gales girl, and the only thing these girls can do is stare, because he's mine. 

Gale puts his arm around my waist and leads me out the train car as girls as young as 13 watch us leave. I may be pretending to be pregnant, but I'm still against it. I like the old ways, when you should be married before having children. When children out of wedlock wasn't encouraged. That's how it should be. Not like this. Some of the girls were already obviously pregnant... why were they here? This is where you're tested to see if you're pregnant or not.... I think it's pretty obvious she's pregnant.

We walk out into a huge containment center made of..... glass? I run my hand along the the thick see through material. I slap it hard, it's see through iron. Transparent. The long line of girls,.. and Gale, made their way through the huge gate and started heading towards the clinic. Gale leans into my ear and whispers; "After they say you're not pregnant and send you back... we'll make a break for it and bust it into the woods."

"Okay." I nod as we walk into a large waiting room where a man in a gray lab coat stood. 

"Alright we're going to go ahead and start. There isn't many of you today so we'll do this fast and get you all home as soon as possible. We have 5 doctors and 12 of you guys, so just wait for your name to be called. Thank you." he said.

"Alright. Let's start with our first 5 girls." a young dark haired woman in nurse uniform said as she flipped through a clipboard. "Alright, let's have, Joanna, Erica, Vala and Gale, Ellie, and Vanessa."

Gale and I stand up along with 4 other girls. One was the 13 year old. She moved over next to me. "Is that your baby's daddy?" she asked innocently. 

I look up at Gale then back down to her. "Yes, this is Gale, and I'm Vala.''

''I'm Vanessa. My babies daddy isn't around." she rubs her large belly. "I'm just here for a check-up."

"Well where is the baby's daddy?" I ask as we move down the long hallway.

"BABIES." she says slowly.

"More than one?" I ask.

"Yes." she nods and rubs her belly again.

"Well where is the dad?" I ask.

"He's... he's just... not around. I have to go." she turns off into a near exam room.

I learned something from that moment. I was so lucky to have Gale. Even if he was only pretending, I couldn't pick anybody better to be a father. I gripped Gales hand tighter as we move into the last exam room at the end of the hall. "Here we go." he says. We go in and I sit down on the bed as the young woman that called everyones names followed us in and closed the door. 

"Alright, let's see this baby." she says going to a cabinet. She slowly pulls out a glass rectangle. About a foot long and 6 inches wide. She asks me to pull my shirt up to reveal my stomach. I did as she said. She laid the glass plate down on my stomach and started tapping it all over the place. "Uhm, what exactly are you doing?" I ask trying to sit up.

"Stay still dear. This will do an internal x-ray showing us the baby. You can't see but this glass plate has buttons on it that starts the x-ray, takes the photos, and video tapes it." she says blandly.

"Wait? Aren't you supposed to put gel on my stomach then run that wand thingy over it?" I ask.

She just laughs at me. "Dear, that hasn't happened for a very long time. That ended about 15 years ago. This now allows us to see everything, including the sex of the baby a lot sooner that those old ways did. Plus it can tell the father of the child, and the day of conceiving."

"What's that?'' Gale asks as he points to the glass plate.

"That?" she points to the center of the frame. "That, my dear, is the baby."