Chapter 11-Life

Taylor

I was both nervous and excited for the ultrasound, nervous because I wasn't quite sure what to expect and excited because I didn't really remember the first (one considering I had pretty much been unconscious for most of it).

The ultrasound was scheduled for 3:30 PM after I got home from school, which gave me exactly 15 minutes to get home before the midwife got there. Sophia and Drake met me a few blocks from my house and we walked the rest of the way together. Drake didn't say much he looked about as nervous as I felt, had the situation been any different I probably would've laughed.

I was only partially nervous about what my mother would think about Drake and Sophia, but I figured I would cross that bridge when I came to it. At the moment however, I didn't have much time to formulate an answer.

"Your mom cool with us coming, right?" Drake asked a frown pinching his brows.

I shrugged.

"Sure, why not." Then I unlocked the door and pushed it open.

"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled as I walked into the foyer.

"Living room!" My mom yelled back as I followed the sound of her voice, Drake and Sophia trailing after me.

"I was just tidying up…" My mom began absently, "took off work a little early today so we can figure out the baby thing…" Only then did she notice Drake and Sophia standing behind me.

"You brought friends?"

I nodded.

"Mom, this is Drake and Sophia. Sophia is a friend of mine and Drake, he's the baby's father, I wanted him to be here."

My mom glanced at Drake and Sophia them back at me. If she noticed they were Atrian she didn't say anything. My mother wasn't exactly the political type anyway, that had been my dad's job (before he moved out), he was the one that was constantly ranting about any political or cultural thing that wasn't right or proper. It was in that moment I was glad he had moved so far away, grateful the Atrians had landed somewhere other than Seattle.

"The midwife will be here in 10 minutes, so you can do whatever… I'm going to make some phone calls."

Nodding at Drake and Sophia, my mother hurried out of the room.

Once my mom had vacated the living room Drake, Sophia and I fell into silence.

Finally, Drake spoke.

"Why did you invite Sophia?" Drake asked, he raised his eyebrows but his expression was unreadable.

I blushed trying to formulate an answer.

"She asked, and uh, I wanted her to be here."

Drake nodded curtly but he didn't say anything else.

I took the lemonade my mother had offered the three of us which we drank in silence until the doorbell chimed shortly before 3:30 PM. I heard my mother's voice off in the kitchen yelling "coming" before I saw her walk briskly from the kitchen to the foyer to answer the door. She greeted the woman on the other side with a cheerful tone, who bustled into the house in a very businesslike fashion.

The woman's name was Mazie Daniels, she was hefty, had a ruddy complexion, was about 40 and had nondescript brown hair pulled back in a short ponytail. She shook everyone's hand in the room, but didn't say much of anything about Drake and Sophia her expression unreadable as her eyes took in the markings on their faces.

"Well let's get this rolling shall we? Show me to your bedroom dear, I don't have that much equipment."

"Oh, yeah," I stuttered, "right this way." I hurried to my bedroom with my mom, Sophia, Drake and Mazie the midwife following after me. It was only then I realized Mazie was holding a small black bag which she sat down on my dresser and began rummaging through it.

Without looking at me she continued speaking in that same brisk tone.

"Lie down and pull up your shirt. This won't take long."

Mazie knelt down by me and squirted some cold gel on my stomach which she moved around with a probe.

"That's cold!" I yelped.

"I assume this young man is the father?" Mazie nodded it Drake, but she's is still giving him a look as if he were some sort of bug on the underside of her shoe.

"Yes ma'am." Drake stammered and he looked about as uncomfortable as I had ever seen him.

"Now let's see what we got here…" Mazie mumbled to herself as she continued to move the probe around on my stomach. "Oh my…"

She frowned momentarily and then her face cleared, but I could tell something had rattled her.

"Do you know what you're having?"

I shook my head, it was better to spare her the long story.

"I was injured the last time they did an ultrasound I don't really remember…"

Mazie nodded.

"Yes, your doctor was very clear about your medical history said you were in a car accident about a month ago and you made a remarkable recovery. Your baby is very lucky."

"Well seems like this little guy has a guardian angel watching over him." Then she showed the ultrasound to me, my mom, Drake, and Sophia. Even in the grainy image I could clearly see a human form and more distinctly two fluttering hearts.

"This is definitely a boy," Mazie pointed, "there's the penis there and the scrotum… He seems to be right on target for his gestational age, all in all the baby is healthy all things considered." She smiled at Drake, "congratulations."

Mazie hurried out of the house in the same way she had come and that was after asking a few more questions and talking to my mother a few more minutes. I was glad I had excused Drake and Sophia from the room while doing so. I let out a huge sigh of relief after everything was over.

It was only after my mother had returned to her own activities Drake spoke.

"What was that?" He demanded, "you invite me over here, and then Sophia is all over you!"

I raised my eyebrows as I straightened my T-shirt.

"Excuse me?"

Drake glared.

"You heard me!"

"She wasn't all over me," I said quietly," surely you saw that."

"Oh, and just anybody can stroke your arms and you're hair?"

"Since when did that become an objective for something more than friendship?" I shot back.

Meanwhile Sophia just stood there looking back and forth between the two of us looking hopelessly caught in the middle. In that brief moment I honestly felt sorry for her.

"I know what's been going on between you two, don't think I don't! I've been patient I was hoping if you got this out of your system maybe it would work itself out, that we would work out; obviously I was wrong." Drake walked out of my bedroom without saying another word and before I could think about it I ran after him.

"Drake wait!" I exclaimed, unsure of what I would actually say.

"What?" Drake asked, his tone still with an edge to it.

"It's just I-" I trailed off, feeling the words die in my throat.

"You just what, Taylor? You know what, I'm out of here until you can figure yourself out. I'll be here for the baby don't get me wrong, but you can forget about any sort of relationship, I'm done!"

Then without another word he walked down the hallway and across the foyer, then he was out the door slamming it behind him.

When I wandered back into my room I jumped, realizing Sophia was still standing there.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled.

Sophia shrugged.

"It's alright it's not your fault. Drake's being a jerk anyway."

I gave her smile and took a few deep breaths then we walked back over to my bed and sat down, after what had just happened with Drake the silence was refreshing.

"So what are you going to call the baby?"

"I don't know. I haven't really thought that far ahead yet."

"Got any names in your family?" Sophia asked.

"Not really, I mean my dad's name is Stephen, but I don't want to name the baby after him." I cocked my head at her, "Do the Atrians have any special names?"

"Some, kind of like yours, they are passed down from one the male ancestor to another."

"Like Roman?"

Sophia nodded.

"My father Nox had an ancestral name, he was the third in a generation to have that name in one form or another… Until Roman was born."

"What about the name Ryan, or Jake, but I like some of the Atrian names too."

"I can ask my mom," Sophia volunteered, "she might have some old baby books or the documents with our birth records… I can go to the library and make copies for you."

I smiled.

"I'd like that."

After that, everything seemed to happen in slow-motion, first, Sophia was stroking my hair pushing a few strands behind my ear and then our foreheads touched, then our noses, then finally our lips.