Brothers in Blue: The First Love Match (13 page)

That shift was one of the longest she ever worked. Many people did ask and lend her congratulations, no one came out and asked her who the father was and for that she was thankful. She noticed she received some curious looks from some of the Ambulance personnel but no one said a hurtful thing or even seemed to be talking about her. With that hurdle behind her Ariel soon got used to patients and other staff members asking her how far along she was and as she approached her six month people touching her belly and wanting to feel the baby move. It was an exciting time in her life. She was often tired and at times a little alarmed by some of the changes in her body, but she felt content with the situation. She was going to be a mom and love this little being as much as she possibly could. At her last ultrasound she had asked not to be told the sex of the baby, but at the next ultrasound she was going to find out, the suspense was killing her.

The day of her next ultrasound arrived. Ariel had switched shifts with someone from the morning shift so she could leave at 4pm and make her appointment by 5:30pm which was all the way across town. Near the end of her shift she was working in the Psych ER which is where she had been working a lot of the time lately. In the Psych area she could spend more time sitting than standing and it was less stress on her body. She heard a commotion outside the doors to the area and two officers were bringing in a man who was obviously either off of his medication or had taken something that he shouldn’t have. He was cursing and screaming at the officers while trying to fight them off all the while exclaiming that he was a pirate who wanted to sink his ship and drown in the ocean. As this qualified as a suicidal threat the man had been brought in to be evaluated as a possible psychiatric hold. He was wearing a spit mask and still fighting as much as he could in shackles in handcuffs. Trying to get information from him was going to be difficult; she hoped that he was a repeat visitor and that the police had his ID already. She didn’t want to have to dig through his possessions in search of it herself. As she readied her papers to approach the officers she saw that one of them was staring openly at her belly and seemed frozen in his tracks. It was Jeff. Of all the people, but in a way she knew that John or one of friends might find out she was pregnant eventually, she just didn’t think it would matter. They didn’t need to know that John was father.

As Jeff stood in the hallway looking at her Brad walked out of the room where the patient had been restrained to the bed he also stopped in his tracks and stood gaping in the hallway. Not knowing what to do Ariel set her clipboard down on a trashcan nearby and raced out the back exit of the psych ER swiping her badge at the nurse’s station and letting the RN in charge know that she was not feeling well and making a run to the bathroom. She planned to stay in that bathroom until she was sure that both Jeff and Brad had left. She slipped her cell phone out of her pocket and texted Jenna, one of her coworkers in the ER and asked if the police car outside the ER doors was still there.  Jenna responded that it was and she thought that the officers were still in the Psych ER area. Ten minutes went by and she received a text from Jenna that they had gone rushing from the ER area and left. Breathing a sigh of relief Ariel went back to her awaiting clipboard assuring her co-workers that she was ok and just had a moment of a weak stomach at the smell of their newest patient. As his scent was already quite strong no one seemed to question her reasoning.

Soon her shift was over and it was time to head out for her medical appointment. As she stepped off the employee shuttle and waddled towards her car she saw that a police cruiser was parked at the end of the aisle and was now idling to her. Jerry, the older security guard on the shuttle asked if she was in any trouble and wanted him to stick around, she shook her head no and headed for her car. Not wanting to have a confrontation she put the car in gear and headed out of the parking lot. The police cruiser never got close enough for her to see the occupants so it was possibly just a routine patrol of this remote lot. She noticed that the cruiser pulled out onto the main road shortly after her but when she turned into the outpatient facility just a few blocks away the police car kept moving down the street. Maybe she was just being paranoid for no reason at all.

After signing in at the desk of the facility Ariel pulled a book out of her bag and began reading. She felt her phone vibrate but quickly noted the No Cell phone signs all over the lobby. After a few minutes she decided to just power the phone off and was going to do so when she noticed the little light flashing to indicate that she had received a message. It was a text from a number she didn’t recognize.

Ariel, this is John. Jeff and Brandon told me that they saw you at work today and you look like you’re going to be having a baby pretty soon. Is there anything that we need to talk about?

Sighing she deleted the message from her phone and decided it would just be better to move on from this situation. John obviously had moved on from her, he had changed his number and everything. She didn’t feel like she was being too drastic or dramatic, she had fallen for this man, become pregnant with his child and he didn’t even want to date her regularly. That really hurt but she also felt at fault in the situation; she had really pushed for things to move quickly based on her feelings but had obviously not considered his quite enough. The tech was soon calling her name and she went back into the dimly lit room and got on the bed in the room. As the tech plopped the ultrasound gel on her belly they chatted about the weather and made other small talk. As the images of the baby came up on the screen Ariel couldn’t help but to feel love for this tiny little person she would be meeting soon.

             
“So you want to know this time? Are you sure?”

             
“Yes, I definitely want to know!”

             
“Well if you look down this way you see the leg, wait a second and maybe, wait, there, see, it’s a girl.”

Ariel felt the tears come to her eyes, she was going to have a little girl all of her own. It was
terrifying, but at the same time she was so excited. For the first time she wished she had someone with her to share this news, it was one of the best moments of her life and she was all alone. But she wouldn’t be alone for long. Soon she would have her daughter to think about.

Leaving the clinic Ariel stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few items to make dinner with. She was eating very healthily during her pregnancy and took what she put into her body seriously. It affected not just her but someone else as well now. After eating dinner she went into bed and read a book for a few hours and then drifted off to sleep. She was awoken by Bruno’s barks at the front door and soon she heard the knocking as well. Mumbling to herself and wondering what in the world was going on Ariel went to the door and looked out through the blinds to see John standing on her stoop.

             
“John, is that you?”

             
“Ariel, can we talk for just a minute please?”

             
“We don’t have anything to talk about, and please stop yelling out there, you’re going to wake up my landlords.”

             
“Ariel, who is the father of that baby you’re carrying? If it’s me then we definitely need to do more than have a conversation through a door.”

             
“Let me put some clothes on, hold on a minute please.”

After slipping into a sports bra and some lounge pants with her t-shirt she went back and unchained her front door. John was standing on her doorstep still in uniform and looking a little damp from the drizzle that was coming down steadily outside the front door. Ariel hadn’t even noticed it had begun to rain, although it was quite warm and humid in the living room area as she only had a window air conditioning unit in her bedroom. She spent so much time sleeping that the discomfort in the living room hadn’t been a problem at this point. John came in and Ariel slumped onto the couch, John sitting at the other end. Neither said anything and then Ariel decided that she was just going to see what he had to say.

             
“John, would you like a drink, I have some juice or milk or water in the fridge.”

             
“No thank you.”

Ariel leaned back
into the couch and propped her very swollen feet up onto the coffee table in front of her. Her feet were absolutely killing her right now. After working a ten hour shift her ankles were almost always MIA and her legs were terribly swollen. She had tried everything to control the problem, from support socks to special shoes but her feet just looked and felt terrible. Without her shoes on it looked even worse and she saw John’s eyes drawn to her feet.

             
“Does that hurt?”

             
“Yeah, it does.”

             
“When are you due Ariel?”

Taking a deep breath she responded
with the date and watched John quickly do the mental calculations in his head.

             
“So unless you hopped into bed with someone the same week you lost your virginity to me, then I am the father of the child you’re carrying.”

The tears were burning in her eyes and she couldn’t help it, the emotions just took over. The first little sob escaped her lips and the next thing she knew she was leaning over with her face buried into the arm of the couch uncontrollably sobbing a
nd crying.

After a minute she felt the cushion on the couch next to her move and an arm was around her shoulders pulling her over and against John. As hurt as she was by him, it still felt good to have him wrapped around her. She cried and cried. It almost felt like a cleansing in a way. She got out all of the hurt that had been building up inside of her and laid it out, just expressing it to the man who had hurt her.

             
“Shhh, calm down, its ok. I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.”

Ariel slowly stopped
crying, an involuntary sob coming out every few minutes until she regained some sense of her composure.

             
“I know you don’t want me, or a relationship, or a baby. I didn’t mean for this to happen and I tried to not let it ruin your life. I’m not planning on filing for child support or trying to get anything from you John. I’m already in love with this baby and I’m going to do everything I can to give her everything and anything she needs.”

             
“Ariel, I know I said those things, but this did happen. This baby is mine too and I plan on being a father to it and providing love and support as well. Did you say her?”

             
“Yes, I’m having a little girl.”

             
“She’s going to be beautiful.”

             
“I Know. She’s moving around and kicking right now, I probably have her riled up with the way I was acting. Do you want to feel her moving?”

John looked unsure for a moment but then he reached over towards Ariel’s belly and she guided his hand to rest gently on the side where the baby was laying.

              “I felt her!”

             
“It’s pretty special isn’t it?”

             
“Yeah, it is. How often does she do that?”

             
“All the time, except when she’s sleeping, it’s pretty hard to sleep some nights because she’s up moving all the time while I’m trying to rest. Last week I think I only slept one night through with all the aches and weird sleeping positions and baby movement”

             
So, you’re working 10 hour shifts on your feet and then barely getting any sleep, isn’t that bad for the baby?”

             
“She’s safe in there, I make sure no matter how tired or bad I feel that she gets the nutrients she needs.”

             
“I don’t think it’s right that you’re working these long hours on your feet while you’re pregnant, can’t they get you a job with more sitting?”

             
“They offered me a desk position that would be in the admissions area during the day hours, but then I would lose my shift differential and I need that money to afford this place and my bills and to save money for the time I’m out of work on maternity leave and for the hospital for the delivery. As it is, I’m barely scraping by most of the time.”

             
“Move in with me and take the desk job, we can make the third bedroom next to the master a nursery and I’ll make sure that you and the baby are taken care of. We should just get married. That way I can put you and the baby on my insurance and we can give the baby the home she deserves.”

             
“John just a few months ago you were telling me that you didn’t even want to commit to being in a steady boyfriend/ girlfriend relationship with me, now you want to marry me? I think you aren’t thinking this through very well. I can’t just move in with you. What happens when you decide that you want to move on? Me and the baby won’t have a place to go.”