It had been a whole month since Billie had discovered she was pregnant. Two weeks after she'd taken that test; she and Van went to her first doctors appointment. It had been scheduled for the middle of the day, so it had taken some planning for both of them to get there without having to tell Deaq what was going on. It worked out though. Van had left work to run some errands for her and she had told him the basic truth that she had an appointment. It wasn't actually a lie, she rationalized, she'd just omitted some pertinent information. It's not like this was the first time she had ever done that.
When Billie pulled into the parking lot, fifteen minutes before her appointment time, Van was leaning against his car waiting for her. Billie quickly hopped out of her silver Mercedes and gave him a quick kiss before they headed inside. Billie headed to the desk to sign in, while Van took a seat near the exit. It was just like every doctor's office he'd ever been in. There were wooden chairs with burgundy padding lining the walls, blue carpet on the floors and, forest green and burgundy striped wallpaper on the walls. Just as he was taking in his surroundings, Billie took a seat next to him. "It's gonna be a few minutes." She said as she started to fill out the endless stack of papers the receptionist had given her. Van just groaned and made himself comfortable. It seemed like waiting was a large part of pregnancy, so he figured he should get used to it now. As he sat in the chair, he looked around him. There was nothing to read. No Car and Driver, FHM or even Field and Stream. All he saw were pregnancy and baby magazines on the table in front of him. Suddenly he noticed something. All the women in the room were pregnant and he was the only man. As if on cue, Billie spoke to him. "You're not getting executed you know." She said, noticing the expression on his face. Van glared at her. "I'm the only man here and there are nothing but pregnancy magazines to read." He shot back. "I know. We're in an obstetricians office. They deal with pregnancy; it's their specialty." She shot back.
Just then a very pregnant woman took a seat next to Billie. "Hi. I'm Donna." She said with a smile. "I'm Billie." Billie politely replied with a smile of her own. "First visit?" The woman asked, noting the stack of papers Billie was 2/3 of the way through already and the fact that she wasn't sporting a belly at all. "First visit, first baby." Billie replied looking back at her paperwork. "And that is?" Donna gestured to the man sitting next to Billie. "Oh, that's Van." Billie looked at him. "Say hi." She said when he tried to pretend he hadn't noticed that Billie was having a conversation with someone. "Hi." Van said sheepishly. He must have been mistaken when Billie said they were going to an appointment since this seemed more like happy hour, at least for her. "You two married?" Donna asked already knowing the answer since neither of them was wearing a wedding band. "No." Billie said with a polite smile. "Are you planning on getting married?" The other woman persisted. Billie looked at Van, who looked as if he was wishing for the floor to open up and swallow him. "Honey, why don't you answer that?" Billie chirped the smile on her face giving away that she enjoyed putting him on the spot. They'd had that discussion earlier in the week and she wasn't all to happy with Van's "I just want to be sure we're doing it for the right reasons" speech when they'd discussed if they should marry or not.
Before Van could argue with her, she got up and walked to the window, leaving him to answer Donna's question. "Well, um, we haven't really decided yet." Van said, wondering why it was this woman's business anyway. "Must be some secret pregnant sisterhood or something" he thought. "You haven't decided? Why not?" Donna asked. She new by his answer, and the fact that Billie had left him to answer this question, that he didn't have a satisfactory reason for why not. "I just want to make sure that if we get married it's for the right reasons." He finally blurted out. "She's good enough for you to sleep with and to have your baby, but you don't know if she's good enough to marry?" Donna read into his words. Van's eyes dropped down to the floor as he twiddled his thumbs as he tried to think of a good answer. Just then, the door opened and Billie's name was called. Van quickly got up and headed over where Billie was. "Bye Van!" Donna called in a perky voice, causing Billie to snicker and Van to grumble a goodbye as the walked through the doorway.
The pair sat in an examining room as they waited for the doctor to come in. Billie was sitting on the table and Van was next to her in a chair. They were silent until Van spoke. "That wasn't funny." He said out of no where. "What wasn't funny?" She asked, feigning innocence. "You know what I'm talking about!" He shot back. It always irritated him to no end when she played like she didn't do anything. "Oh, that." Billie smiled. "The way I figure it, if you can feed me that line of crap, you can do it to someone else." She finished. Before Van could reply, the doctor came in. He shot Billie a murderous look to let her know they weren't done yet.
The look didn't go unnoticed by Dr. Vickie Robins. "Am I interrupting something?" The tall, thin woman asked. "No, not at all." Billie replied as she shot Van one of her, 'you're gonna get it' looks. "Oh no, not another one of these couples." Dr. Robins thought, as she took a stethoscope from around her neck. She examined Billie and drew a few vials of blood. "Okay, well you seem to be doing okay. I would like to do an ultrasound to see how far along you actually are and determine a due date." She said as she led them to the ultrasound room. Van was strangely excited. This was the first glimpse of his child and he couldn't wait to see it. Billie on the other hand was nervous, she looked as if she might puke right then. Noticing this, Van took her hand and kissed it as the doctor began the scan. Dr. Robins couldn't help but smile at this. She'd seen too many couples lately where at least one of the parents didn't want to be there. "There's the baby." She pointed out a blob on the screen in the shape of a kidney bean. "Wow." Van said as a smile plastered itself on his face. Billie just stared at the screen as a couple tears slid down her cheek. It was actually real. She new then that she had to do everything possible to keep this baby in until she was ready to come out. Billie had decided from the moment she got pregnant that she was going to have a girl. "Well, according to this, you are 12 weeks pregnant; which puts your due date at May 10th. The scan was finished and Dr. Robins took the pair up to the front desk. "Since you are so high risk, Billie, I want to monitor you closely. We'll see you in one month and you are to avoid all strenuous activity…including sex." Van's face went slack at this direction. "Okay." Was all Billie said. She wasn't crazy about the idea either, but it was for the well being of her child, so she would do it. "And you work in law enforcement, right?" the doctor continued. "Yeah, I'm a cop." She replied. "Okay, well no bang-bang shoot 'em up cops and robbers kind of stuff." She instructed. "Great, I'll just be a pencil pusher for the next six months." Billie muttered as an image of Roland Hill and his smug smile flashed in her mind. "Billie, I'm serious. It's for your own good." Dr. Robins sternly reprimanded her. "Fine. I'll behave." She groaned. "Billie." The salt and pepper haired woman continued, not believing that her new patient wouldn't try to cheat. "I'll be good. I promise. Okay?" she finally conceded. "Good. See you in a month." The doctor said and walked away to see the next patient.
As they walked out to their cars, Van's resolve gave way and he finally burst. "Oh my god! She has you pegged already!" He laughed as Billie whacked his arm…hard. "You know this means that you're gonna have to pick up some of my slack around the office." She said to shut him up. That only gave Van more ammunition than he already had. "I already do that anyway." He snickered. "And you'll have to tell Deaq what you did to me." She snidely commented, opening her car door. "That's right, Billie. You weren't a willing participant in this at all." Van said as he rolled his eyes at her the same way she did to him when he said something stupid. Billie just looked at him and got in her car. "See you at work." She said and drove off.
Twenty minutes later, Van was sitting in the parking lot of the Candy Store when Billie finally pulled up. She'd taken her time getting back while Van had to hurry so that Deaq wouldn't bust his errand alibi to shreds. "It's about time you got here!" Van hollered at her through her window. "Where the hell did you go?" He said as she finally got out of the car and he saw the drink cup in her hand. "I was hungry." Was all she said. "Well, so am I, but you don't see a Jack in the Box cup in my hand do you?" he retorted. "No, but you're not pregnant. You don't absolutely have to eat three meals a day." She shot back and began to walk towards the doorway. "Three meals a day! Hell Billie you always seem to be eating something lately and then puking it up!" Van yelled as they entered the showroom. "You want me to kill you, don't you Van!" She yelled back as she wheeled to face him. "Whoa, mood swing!" Van hollered back. "Mood swing! You call this a mood swing? This is not a mood swing!" She shouted. "What the hell is it then!" Van yelled. "This is called you didn't wear a condom and now you won't take care of your responsibility and get married!" She yelled back at him. "Hey! I plan on taking care of you through this, but I don't think we need to get married for that to happen!" Van defended himself. "See? You're a commitment phobic!" Billie yelled back.
What neither Billie nor Van had noticed was that Deaq was sitting on the red couch, listening to the whole ugly argument. "Mood swing. Ha!" Deaq thought as he got up and prepared to make his presence known. Before he could say anything though, Billie called Van a commitment phobic. "Children! Please!" Deaq said as he burst in a fit of laughter under their shocked stares. He could almost read their thoughts. They went something like, "Oh shit. I wonder how much he heard." "So," he began. "What does Van not wearing a condom have to do with you two getting married, or not?" He asked to show them just how much he'd heard. The whole 'oh shit' look on their faces told him all he needed to know. Van was getting ready to say what was going on, when they heard Billie's name being called. Van looked at her as she turned an awful shade of white at the sight of the person. They turned around and saw Captain Parish walking into the showroom. "Oh shit. You're screwed." Van said. "I'm screwed! Where the hell do you think you're going?" She hissed loudly. "I'm gonna go talk to my partner while you talk to your boss! Come on Deaq." Van answered and made quick exit to the basketball half court with Deaq while Billie walked into her office followed by Captain Parish. "Bob, you know how I've been so tired lately?" Billie asked. He just looked at her and played dumb. "I know Van and Deaq have talked to you. They think I'm working too hard and not taking care of myself." She said to let him know she knew what they, well primarily Deaq, had done. "Well they're right, in a way. I need to scale back." Billie said her words halting. "See, the thing is, I've been seeing someone for a few months and things have gotten serious." Billie continued to explain, hoping she could get the rest of this out without saying whom she'd been seeing; at least not right now. However, as she was getting ready to say the rest of her story, it happened. "You knocked up your boss!" She heard Deaq holler in shock. Her eyes grew wide with shock as her boss gave her the once over. "So this guy you're seeing is tweedle dumb over there?" He said motioning to Van, who looked on in shock. "Yes sir." Billie said quietly, her gaze cast downward. "And you need to scale back because you're pregnant." He said. It wasn't a question, but a statement. Billie nodded her head and felt a lump form in her throat. She felt like a teenager telling her father that she had ruined her life. "Yeah. The doctor said I have to take it easy because of my past history with pregnancies." She said, praying that he wouldn't ask her to explain what she meant. Bob could see she was ready to cry, so, as much as her last statement confused him and raised questions, he decided to let it go. "How far along are you?" He asked. He felt like he was talking to one of his own daughters, and it broke his heart. All he wanted to do was hug her and tell her it would all be okay, but he couldn't. "I'm twelve weeks. Due May 10th." She said. "Okay, well, you scale back as much as you need too. Take off when you need to and we can talk about maternity leave when you're ready." Bob said in an understanding tone. This killed Billie. She wanted him to yell, scream, fire her, anything but be nice. "Okay, thanks." She said her eyes meeting his. She saw the pain in his and he in hers. Captain Parish turned to walk out of her office. When he reached the bottom step, he stopped and looked at her. "I expected more out of you Billie." Was all he said and continued walking. Billie collapsed in her chair and started to cry. As her boss walked out, he stopped in front of Van, who was looking from the imposing man to his girlfriend crying in her office. "You're gonna marry her." The captain stated and walked out of the building.
Deaq looked at Van and snickered. "Man, he's not even interested in what you want. He's telling you what you want!" He snickered. "Shut up!" Van seethed as they headed towards Billie's office, where she was still a bit upset, but not crying as hard. "Don't worry Billie. Van is gonna marry you. Captain Parish said he had to if he wants to live." Deaq chirped as he gave her a small hug. This served to make Billie turn off the tears and put on a smile. "It's like a faucet for you, isn't it?" Van quipped noticing how quickly she'd stopped the water works. Billie just stuck her tongue out at him and gave a smug smile. Van leaned down and kissed her on her head. "Well, now that you're feeling better, I'm gonna talk with Deaq. You should get some rest and when I'm done, we'll go pick up some dinner and go home." He said. Billie just rolled her eyes. "Van, I'm fine." She argued. "Hey, no arguing! You heard the doctor, you need to take it easy so you don't miscarry this baby like the other two!" Van lectured her. Billie just rolled her eyes again and groaned. Van fixed her with a stern look and she got up, begrudgingly and headed up to the lounge.
"Okay, now that she's out of earshot I need to talk to you." Van began as he took a seat in on of the black chairs and motioned for Deaq to sit in the other. "I'll say you do!" Deaq exclaimed as he took a seat and prepared to badger Van into telling him what the hell all that with Billie was about. It was then that what had been said in that exchange with Billie hit him. Deaq had heard it all. Every ugly, incriminating word of it. "Oh shit." He muttered. "What?" Deaq asked. "I can explain all that. I really can." Van stammered, hoping Deaq would accept that as an answer. It didn't work. "Oh really? Well, I can't wait to hear it!" Deaq sneered as he made himself comfy for the lame excuse sure to follow. "She's been pregnant twice before." Van said, conveniently leaving out the abortion. In the past few months, he'd learned that that wasn't something Billie was proud of so he decided that it wasn't very need-to-know. "I already figured out this wasn't a first. What do you have to do with the other two?" Deaq said sharply. "Those are the fault of Gavin West, not me!" Van blurted out. "What!" Deaq yelled in shock. "I don't really have the energy to explain that right now. So lets just shelve it." Van said. With that, that part of the conversation was over. "Now I want to tell you something." Van said. "What?" Came Deaq's slow reply. He couldn't have something worse to tell him, could he? "I'm gonna ask her to marry me." Van said. "That's great!" his friend exclaimed as a smile lit up his face. "When?" He continued. "I don't know." Was the answer. "Do it on like Thanksgiving or something. She'll be shocked and it will add to the whole 'things to be thankful for' theme of the day." Deaq offered. Just then, they heard Billie. "Van are you done yet? I want to go home!" She whined from her spot leaning against the banister. Since she'd gotten pregnant, whining seemed to come much easier to her than ever before. "Yes dear." Van muttered and got up to take her home. As they left, Van shot Deaq a look and mouthed the words 'thank you' as they walked out to the car.
That night, the pair got Taco Bell for dinner. They drove home, with Billie dozing on the way, she was obviously more tired than she'd let on. The rest of the night was spent eating dinner and Billie dozing in front of the TV as Van rubbed her shoulders til she was sound asleep. Then and only then, did he pick her up and carry into the bedroom that had changed from hers to theirs. He tucked her in and snuggled up beside her. Van drifted off with thoughts of making this a permanent arrangement in his head.
Okay, that's it for this chapter! Please r/r! I live for it!
DKM: Haha! I remember that rhyme! It does fit in that chapter doesn't it? I hope this update answers your question about what Parish and Deaq will say. I guess you'll just have to stick around to see what Hill will say; if anything. ;)
Unsigned: I see you all are still reading! Thanks! The more people that read and review, the more motivation I get to keep writing!
