Chapter 13
672 Words
It's now the third month of my pregnancy and I'm doing better than I thought considering how
bad my month one symptoms were.
I still get nausea, so Troy keeps me off the treadmill and has me do the elliptical or the excersize
bike for at least fifteen minutes a day.
It's not exactly strenuous, but it gets harder by the month.
"Ready to go?"
I nod to my boss and follow him and his wife out of the mansion and into the back of the car.
I give Carl a bright smile and thank him for opening the door before we buckle up and take off.
By now, the baby is fully developed and we're going to see what gender it is today!
"Do you want a boy or a girl," I ask the couple curiously.
Jasmine doesn't look up from her phone as she mutters, "girl."
I nod and Troy shrugs.
"Either would be a blessing."
He gives me a fond smile through the mirror and I return it.
We've been getting closer over the weeks and I think we're actually great friends now.
We have movie night twice a week. Jasmine even joins sometimes. In my opinion, all is going
well.
Unfortunately, Jay was sent away four days after the... Incident. He was having trouble keeping
his hands to himself and Troy caught sight of the situation two too many times.
"What about you Carl? Girl or boy?"
The driver chuckles as he turns the car around the corner and pulls into the parking lot.
"It could be a unicorn for all I care. I'm just excited to have a little one run around."
I make a mental note to ask later if he's married and has kids or not. He seems like wants some.
Within the next ten minutes, Jasmine, Troy, and I are all sitting in a room and the doctor is lifting
my shirt.
"This'll be a little chilly."
And it was. "Ooooohhh!!!"
Troy chuckles and even Jasmine smiles a little at the dolphin like sound I make.
"That is cold!"
The doctor rubs the gooey substance around with a stick while we all stare at a screen that looks
like the static on a faulty television channel.
"Your baby is roughly the size of a grapefruit right now," she says trying to get a good view.
I scrunch my nose. "Why do we compare babies to fruit? There are small grapefruits and big
grapefruits that are almost watermelons. It's just inaccurate."
The doctor pauses and looks back to me with a frown.
"I don't know. We just-oh! There it is."
She points to the screen and for some reason, I can't help but tear up.
It's so small.
Troy looks at me with a smile until he sees my state.
He puts a comforting hand on my shoulder and looks back to the screen joyously.
"It looks like... A boy! Congratulations!"
I giggle a bit in delight. A boy! Then my face falls. A boy, but not MY boy.
"Great," I say as enthusiastically as I can. "When should we come in for another checkup?"
The doctor sets our next appointment before clearing me up and before long, we're out the door.
"A boy," Jasmine sighs in disappointment.
Troy looks at her strangely, almost... Smugly before we reach the car.
Maybe he did really want a boy. He's probably just happy about being right.
As we head home, I secretly cry in the backseat. I'm pregnant. I'm having a baby. A baby boy
that I'm not going to get to raise or keep. How on Earth did I think this would be easy?!
Did I really not think that giving up a whole child would be hard?
Leaning my head against the window down, I try to look into the future. Would Jasmine and
Troy let me visit the baby? Would I be invited over for holidays? Would I be a second mother, or
a cool aunt?
Just how much am I missing out on?
- Writer
