Monday afternoon, Aria and Ezra sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office. She flipped through a magazine while he looked around the medium-sized room. The sun shone through the vertical blinds over the window, casting a striped pattern over the empty seats along the other wall. As his eyes traveled around, he saw a very pregnant woman with a child about 3 at her feet playing with blocks, and a mother and daughter, a young girl about 13, sitting nearby. Then he looked at Aria flipping casually through that parenting magazine, wondering how she could seem so comfortable when he felt so incredibly uncomfortable in this place.
"Montgomery?" a woman called and they both turned their attention toward the nurse with the clipboard. Aria caught her eyeline, and they both stood up, and followed her down the hall to a small room. The nurse asked a bunch of questions and drew blood and left them alone while the test was run. Ezra paced around the room while Aria stared off into space. He felt very out of place in this sterile environment, surrounded by fetal development growth charts and illustrations of the female anatomy.
Eventually Aria made a slight adjustment and the paper covering she was sitting on crunched underneath her. The noise, the only sound created in the room in several minutes, prompted Ezra to ask, "How is it that you're so calm about this?"
"Calm? Are you kidding?" she sputtered, searching his face, realizing, no, he's not kidding. "Maybe on the outside. On the inside - not calm. My mind is all over the place. Do I really seem calm?"
"Yes," he stepped toward her, grabbing her hands, about to tell her everything he was thinking, how bizarre it felt to be there, and how it was blowing his mind that a very tiny person, the size of the bean drawn on that poster over there, was actually inside her, when they were interrupted by the doctor.
"Hi, Aria, how are you?"
Ezra stepped aside, not wanting to get in the way. "I'm fine, Dr. Clark, how are you?"
"Not bad, not bad," the middle-aged woman in the white coat replied looking down at a clipboard. When she looked up, she spotted Ezra standing in the corner. "Hi, I'm Felicia Clark," she said, holding out her hand.
He stepped forward to shake her hand. "Ezra, nice to meet you."
She smiled politely and pulled up a chair. "Well, Aria. It looks like you are pregnant."
Aria reached for Ezra's hand and squeezed it.
The doctor talked to them for a while, then asked Ezra to step out. He obliged, kissing Aria's forehead before exiting.
Dr. Clark swiveled her chair back in Aria's direction. "So Aria, I just wanted to talk to you about your options. Having a baby at any age is life-changing; it's especially hard at 16. Have you given this a lot of thought?"
"I have. I know what my options are, and I've decided I want to keep the baby."
"Understood. I don't mean to overstep, but I've known you a while, I don't think you'll take it the wrong way when I say I can tell he is a bit older than you. Is this relationship something you want? Has he pressured you in any way?"
"No, never," Aria shook her head. "I know we're a little unconventional, but he has been amazing. You don't have to worry about me."
"Good to know," the doctor said, and began to pull a small pad from her coat pocket.
"Dr. Clark? You… won't mention this visit to my mother, will you?" All she needed was Dr. Clark or one of the nurses congratulating her mother on becoming a grandmother at her next appointment. That was definitely not part of the plan. "We haven't told her about this yet, I need time-"
"This visit is strictly confidential," she reassured. "I won't, and legally can't, tell anyone anything without your consent."
"Ok, good." Aria took a breath. "Thank you."
"I'm writing you a prescription for pre-natal vitamins. If you have any questions, the nurse will be in shortly, and make sure you make a follow-up appointment for your first ultrasound before you leave."
Yes, Aria had questions. Dozens of them.
The doctor stood and said, "Oh, and Aria? Congratulations," before exiting.
Aria smiled weakly.
Ezra, who had been waiting in the hall because he didn't know what else to do, came back inside, and Aria, gripping the edges of the exam table she sat upon, said, "This just got really real."
.
On the car ride home, Aria tapped her foot nervously while Ezra repeatedly drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel. He glanced over at her and asked, "Are you freaking out?"
"Why, are you?"
"No," he lied.
She let out a deep breath, glad he was taking all of this alright. "Okay, I might be freaking out a little bit," she admitted. "Are you sure you're not?"
Ezra came clean. "Oh, I'm definitely freaking out."
Aria shot her head in his direction. "Why did you say you weren't?"
"Because you clearly are and we can't both freak out at the same time. We can take turns. You were calm all day, so it's your turn to freak out." The solution sounded quite reasonable to him. He was proud of himself for thinking of it.
"It's freaking me out how many times we just said freaking out."
"Okay. New rule. No one says 'freaking out,'" Ezra proposed. "The phrase is now banned from our vocabulary." Aria nodded in agreement, biting the inside of her lip. "I'll be the rational one for now. Tell me what you want to do. Right now. Do you want to go to my place? Go home? Get something to eat? Keep driving 'til we hit the border? Your choice."
"You want to raise this kid in Canada?"
"Or Mexico," he suggested. "Weather's a little nicer there."
"I can't believe you're making jokes."
"You started it!"
"Did I?" she asked skeptically.
"I don't know. I don't remember!"
"I thought it was my turn to freak out," Aria reminded him. "You're not holding up your end of the deal."
"I'm sorry." Ezra held back the urge to remind her that phrase had been banned. Instead, he took his right hand off the wheel and brought it down, fingertips touching, in front of his face, composing himself. "Zen. See?"
She looked back over at him. His eyes were set straight ahead and his face showed no emotion whatsoever.
"So what do you want to do?" he asked calmly. He needed to know what direction to drive in.
"Takeout? We can stop at Rose of Sha-"
"You've got to be kidding me." He threw his head back when he said this.
"What?" Aria pinched her eyebrows together. "What'd I say? I thought we loved that place."
"No. The song," he clarified, motioning his chin in the direction of the radio dial. Of all the songs that could have been playing right now, it had to be the one that basically paralleled their relationship, right down to his warm, dry car which saved her from the sudden rainstorm. They'd gotten through how many month together without ever hearing it, and then it played at this moment, this life-defining moment. The universe had to be playing a joke on them.
These lyrics trickled out of the speakers.
.
Young teacher, the subject / Of schoolgirl fantasy
.
Aria started to laugh, slow at first, little snorts almost. Then she covered her face, inhaling little breaths, barely making any sound. Ezra looked at her crazily, then turned his attention back to the road, then back at her. He couldn't help it and burst out laughing as well.
.
Don't stand, don't stand so / Don't stand so close to me
.
"This is ridiculous!" Ezra declared through convulsions.
"I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" She was doubled over in laughter, one hand still pressed against her face.
The car rolled to a stop at a stop sign.
"This is nuts!" he cried. "We're crazy, you know that right?"
[In case you don't know the song, it is Don't Stand So Close To Me by The Police. Check my profile for a link. ]