Myra's Secret
"I'm going to write you a prescription for some vitamins and you'll have to take them twice a day." The doctor said cheerfully. "And you will have to avoid drinking alcohol and of course smoking, which I've been after you to give up for a while now."
Myra's doctor continued with his speech, telling her all the things she had to be cautious of. Meanwhile she tried to listing to everything he said, her mind was spinning a mile a minute. Honestly, she hadn't heard anything clearly since, "Eight weeks pregnant" was uttered. While it was shocking to hear the doctor say it, she pretty much figured this was the outcome two weeks ago when the overwhelming exhaustion and persistent nausea kicked in. Then there was that strange craving for churros with French onion dip, a symptom which freaked her out no matter how many times she covertly yielded to the craving.
"I'm going to write a referral for you to see Dr. Piero Marini." The continued as he wrote on a different note pad than the prescription note pad. "He's one of Krimson City's finest Obstetricians, I think you two will get along well."
The doctor slid over all of the tiny slips of paper to Myra and she picked them up and looked them all over. Two were for vitamins, one for nausea, and the last was the referral. When she was done looking them over, she smiled feebly to the doctor.
"Do you have any questions for me Mrs. Castellanos?" He questioned.
"No." She said with a slight sigh. "Not right now."
"Ok then." The doctor said getting up from his seat. "If you think of anything please feel free to call and I'll answer any questions you may have."
"Thank you, Dr. Wells." My said kindly, as she stood up and tucked the slips of paper into her purse.
"Congratulations Mrs. Castellanos." Dr. Wells said with a smile.
"Yes." She said softly. "Thank you, Dr. Wells."
Myra shook the doctor's hand and walked out into the lobby. She still was in complete disbelief. Eight weeks pregnant?! Grant it this was happy news, but she wasn't sure she was ready for motherhood. She and Sebastian hadn't even been married two months; how could this have possibly happened? Myra, stopped and thought for a moment and she knew exactly how it happened, it was then she remembered. In the days following the wedding, she kept forgetting to take her birth control pills regularly. In fact, during their honeymoon, an entire week had passed before she realized that she hadn't taken any at all. Mercifully, it was the week that had no hormones in them, so it didn't matter if she took them or not, however a week after that incident, she had missed a few days. Add to that the fact that she and Sebastian couldn't keep their hands off one another and every private moment they spent together was spent in the throes of martial pleasure, it was honestly no surprise this was the outcome.
"Are you ready to check out Mrs. Castellanos?" The nurse behind the front desk asked politely.
"Yes." Myra said snapping out of her deep thoughts and walking up to the desk.
The nurse typed in all her information and pulled up the records.
"I know you recently got married." The nurse stated retaining her sweet tone. "Did your address and home telephone number change?"
"Neither has changed." She said. "We're living at my place."
"Nothing to change- good." The nurse said. "How was your wedding?"
"It was really nice." Myra said kindly.
"Where did you have your wedding, if I may ask?" The nurse asked happily.
"We had it at the Veranda Hotel." Myra answered.
"I attended a wedding there back in the summer." The nurse answered. "It's really nice hotel. Did you have the ceremony in the Atrium?"
"Yes we did." Myra answered.
"Oh it must have been so lovely." The nurse said sounding positively giddy. "I know it takes a little while to get your pictures back from the photographers, but when you do could you show me a few?"
Myra looked at the nurse and smiled. She was young, she couldn't have been any more than 20 years old or so, and looked at weddings as most women did, with starry eyed princess dreams of their "big day". Honestly, she didn't share those girlish giddy feelings about weddings. When she thought about it, she figured she would eventually get married, but she always assumed it would be a quick City Hall event and have little fanfare afterwards. However, at the insistence of her mother, four brothers, and Sebastian she ended up having a grand wedding, complete with white dress, long veil, formal ceremony, and all the rest of the traditional wedding accruements. While it was both a beautiful and fun day, it really wasn't what she wanted for a wedding day.
"Sure I can." Myra answered still smiling kindly.
The nurse thanked her and continued to thumb through her records.
"Ok." The nurse said finishing up. "It looks like you're all set for today."
"No co-payment?" Myra asked.
"Not this time." She said. "Do you want to make an appointment for next time?"
"Sure."
Myra and the young nurse finalized their business and Myra walked out of the doctor's office. The streets of Krimson City were as busy as always. People dashed around to various buildings and zipped along in cars, but Myra moved sluggishly, her mind was consumed with thoughts of the news of a child. She wasn't sure who to break the news to first. She should probably call her mother, but once her brothers found out, the news would be all over Krimson City. She also thought about calling Sebastian and letting him know, but for whatever reason, she couldn't bring herself to reach in her pants pocket for her cell phone. It was a strange moment. Why didn't she want to tell him? She loved Sebastian and the news she was pregnant would be happy… Why was she feeling this way? Myra quickly worked to shrug off the strange apprehensive feeling. With a sigh she walked over to her white Foord Aquarius and got in. Closing the door and shutting out all the noise and calamity of the bustling city around, she closed her light hazel eyes, and took a deep relaxing breath, letting the scent of the vanilla lavender air freshener relax her weary mind. After a few moments of trying to settle down, Myra slowly opened her eyes and to focus and not let her thoughts completely overwhelm her.
Myra touched the ignition button to her car and the engine roared to life, but she couldn't bring herself to put the car into Drive. Looking away from the windshield, she looked down at her stomach and touched it lovingly.
"A baby…" She whispered softly.
Suddenly it dawned on her who she could tell. Reaching into her pants pocket for her cell phone, Myra turned on the screen, then quickly thumbed through her list of contacts. It didn't take her long to find the number she was looking for. Hitting the already programmed contact, she hit send and listened as the ringing blasted out over her car's stereo system.
"Hello." A man's voice answered.
"Hi Mitchell it's me." Myra said. "Are you at HQ?"
"Na." He replied. "I took the day off, so I'm at home. What's up Hanson?"
"I need to talk to you about something." Myra answered. "Can I swing by your house?"
"Sure." The man answered kindly. "I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. I'll let Luciana know you're coming over. Where are you Hanson?"
"Downtown." She answered. "I'll be at your place in 20."
"See you then." The man answered.
Myra hung up the phone, took another deep cleansing breath, and then slowly exhaled. She found the strength to drive and made her way to her next destination. Roughly about 20 minutes later, she found herself at the front door of Captain Mitchell Balzac, head of the downtown division of the Krimson City Police force and a long-time family friend. Back when Myra's father was a police officer, he and Mitchell were partners as patrol officers, until Myra's father was promoted to detective. Even after Myra's father was promoted to detective, he and Mitchell still remain close friends. After Myra's father was killed in the line of duty, he was instrumental in ensuring his best friend's only daughter grew up knowing about all the amazing things her father accomplished as a police officer. When Myra had grown up she made the decision to become a police officer in Krimson City all because of the things Mitchell shared with her about her father which helped seal her decision.
Ringing the door bell, Myra waited for the door to open. After a few minutes, Luciana, the Captain's wife answered the door. After exchanging pleasantries, Luciana showed Myra inside to their living room while she went to go and get Mitchell. Sitting in the living room waiting for Mitchell to walk in, Myra was noticeably uneasy; she wrung her hands and her crossed legs shook; waiting always drove Myra crazy, patience wasn't one of her virtues. Finally, after about five minutes of wait, Mitchell walked into the living room and greeted Myra kindly.
"So." He said sitting down in the big leather reclining chair in front of Myra. "What's going on that this couldn't wait until tomorrow?"
"Can't I stop by and see my Dad's best friend?" Myra said.
"You can see me at work tomorrow." Mitchell responded gruffly. "I can only assume this has to do with Castellanos."
Myra didn't answer.
"I told you when you started dating Castellanos that I wouldn't get involved in your spats." Mitchell chastised. "I believe I restated that exact sentiment on your wedding day too."
Myra still didn't answer, she remained quiet.
"Go on." He said pulling back the lever to the recliner and slouching into a resting position. "What did he do this time?"
"He got me pregnant." She answered softly.
Mitchell grey eyes were wide with shock, and he sat up instantly causing the reclining chair to return to its original sitting position.
"A baby?!" He questioned in complete disbelief.
Myra nodded her head.
"Hanson…" He said completely in shock by the news she just stated. "Oh my God Hanson… That's great!"
"Is it?" She questioned.
"What do you mean Hanson?" Mitchell questioned. "Aren't you happy about having a baby?"
"I am." Myra hesitated. "But…"
"But what?"
"It's all so sudden." She said sounding more disillusioned than joyful.
"What's so sudden?" He asked.
"All of it!" Myra exploded. "This time last year I just got the word he was going to be my partner! We weren't partners that long before I got shot, then we confess that we love each other. Next thing I know he's moving into my apartment and we're getting married! Now we're going to have a child together!?"
"Hanson…" Mitchell started.
"My God!" Myra interrupted as she jumped up and began pacing wildly around the living room. "We've barely been married for two months! Two months! We haven't talked about anything of real importance! We most definitely haven't talked about starting a family! In fact, we haven't had a conversation that didn't end with our underwear around our ankles since we got married!"
Mitchell worked hard to suppress the belly laugh that was welling in his throat, so he just shook his head at the brazen comment instead.
"Now we're going to have a baby together?!" Myra said frantically. "Sebastian is going to freak out!"
"Now I've known Castellanos since I recruited him from the police academy seven years ago." Mitchell chimed in. "He may be a pain in the ass at times, but he'll be happy to know you're pregnant. He just may insist you go on desk duty."
"DESK DUTY?!" Myra screamed. "I can't go back on desk duty! Remember how antsy I was the last time I was on desk duty!"
"Oh God." Mitchell said remembering those 8 weeks with a cold chill running down his spine.
When Myra had been given clearance to return to work following her being shot by a suspect, she was placed on desk assignment until the doctor, the physical therapist, the chief psychologist, and Internal Affairs were all unanimously agreed she was able to work and function as any other officer at KCPD. However, during those long weeks Myra would march in his office daily with a 20 minute tirade about how she abhorred being chained to a desk all day. Then like clockwork, every Friday she would turn in a letter of resignation, which was just a paper copy of her daily morning outburst. If it wasn't for Castellanos's ability to talk her down from these histrionics, she probably would have actually quit the force without a second glance, and he would be without one of the best officers on the force.
"What am I going to do?" She said frantically. "I'm not ready to have a baby and I'm almost certain Sebastian isn't."
Mitchell got out of his recliner, walked over to Myra, and grabbed her gently by the shoulders. Looking into her frightened light hazel eyes he said softly, "You're going to be ok Hanson and Castellanos is too."
"What makes you so sure?" Myra said skeptically.
"Because I partnered you two up, didn't I?" He asked, but it was more of a statement of fact. "I knew you would work well together because you're cool and precise and he is determined and meticulous; you balance each other out perfectly and as parents you'll be the same way."
Myra looked into Mitchell's grey eyes like she used to do when she was a child. After her father died, she would try to be strong so people wouldn't worry about her, but sometimes when it all became too overwhelming it would be Mitchell who would help calm her down with that same stern glare, with a gentle smile.
"Just promise me you won't tell Sebastian." Myra said softly.
"Of course, not Hanson." He said with kindly. "Your secret is safe with me. When do you plan on telling him though?"
"I'm not sure." She said. "Maybe when the shock wears off in a few days."
-End-