"Come on!" Abel yells from the bottom of the stairs. They overslept, and were five minutes away from being late to the doctor's appointment. If Abel's mother hadn't called when she did, they probably would have missed the ultrasound.
"I'm coming," Chelsy yelled back at him putting her hands through the sleeves of champagne-colored cardigan. She gets to the bottom of the stairs and before stepping off the last step, she leans up on her tiptoes to kiss him. "It's your fault. You distracted me and I didn't set my alarm."
"You blame me for a lot of shit, you know that?" he asks her setting the alarm and locking the door.
"Hmm…that's cause you are to blame for a lot of shit," she says her eyes bright as she stands by his bike waiting for him to get on. "I won't be able to get on this thing soon. You gotta drive your truck."
"Or you can drive, and I ride my bike," he suggests shaking her head when she rolls her eyes.
She gets on the bike behind him, and hides her grin in his back.
"You let a lot of girls on here before, Abel?" she asks him hoping her dislike of the idea doesn't show in her voice.
"Only the ones related to me," he says back before turning the bike on and heading towards the hospital.
…
"So you've met Dr. Kelly, right?" she asks Abel as they enter the elevator.
"Yeah, she's a good doctor. My mom checked her out to make sure she was good enough to care for me, Tommy, and Alyssa. Believe me; my mom knows what she's looking for in doctors. Our little man is in good hands," he tells her getting off the elevator on the obstetric care unit.
"If it's a girl, your daughter's gonna be pissed to find out you hoped she was a boy," she tells him approaching the receptionist area.
They check in for their appointment and go to sit down and fill out the forms.
"Shit, it's like you gotta fill out your whole life on here," Abel remarks getting started on filling out the health history form.
When they finish and hand the forms to the nurse, Chelsy looks around the small waiting room. There were pamphlets on maternity and things you should and should not do when pregnant.
"Ms. Corbin? The doctor's ready for you," the nurse tells them.
The nurse gets Chelsy's vital signs and gets her comfortable in the examination room. She leans back on the bed, and Abel sits down in the chair looking strangely comfortable in the room. His legs are propped up on the metal wheels of the bed, and his hands folded in his lap.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kelly. How are we doing today?" Dr. Kelly comes in the room with her blue scrubs on and white lab coat.
"Hi..we're doing well, just anxious," Chelsy says subconsciously rubbing her belly.
"That's expected. I just want to go over a few things with you guys as we begin this journey together. I've gotten your records from Washington, and everything seems good. We'll check the heartbeat and make sure the baby's in the best possible health as possible, and your vitals are really good which is also excellent. How are you feeling day to day?" the doctor asks.
"Pretty normal, I've been getting more nauseous lately, but nothing too bad," Chelsy responds.
"Nausea is to be expected. Um, water and protein are great options that will not make the nausea too bad. You're taking your prenatal vitamins as directed. It's important to take them daily, and with food, which you've been doing. Before we do the ultrasound, I want to discuss the hereditary heart defect. The baby may or may not get it. The defect can arise before the birth as well as after and even later on. With that said, I want to schedule you to come in every month. We don't always have to have an ultrasound, but just to hear the baby's heartbeat and make sure everything is progressing well," Dr. Kelly tells them.
"Yeah, she'll be here, every appointment," Abel says looking down at her tummy.
"We're ready to find out when our son will be born," Abel says grinning as he shakes the doc's hand.
"Ohh…are we so sure of that?" Dr. Kelly laughs knowing they have no confirmation of the sex yet. She places gel on Chelsy's belly and turns the monitor on.
"We'll see," Chelsy says looking at him.
"All right, let's see what we have here," Dr. Kelly says looking up at the ultrasound machine. "Good length, a little small, but nothing to be concerned about. The heart beats strong, which is excellent. Would you guys like to know the sex?"
"We can know today?" Chelsy replies not able to tear her eyes from the monitor. She squeezes Abel's hand, and he rubs his thumb on her hand.
"Yep, the sex is developed," Dr. Kelly responds.
"Yeah, we're ready," Abel says leaning on the bed with his elbow.
"If the baby would just shift a little more…there, you're having a girl," Dr. Kelly tells them. "Congratulations."
"A girl?" Abel asks sitting up and looking closer at the monitor. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, quite sure," she tells them pressing a few more buttons on the machine before she turns it off. She hands Chelsy some wipes to wipe the gel off her stomach.
"I've read some doctors get it wrong," Chelsy comments looking up at Abel who was still standing.
"We can always check again next appointment if you would like, but I'm fairly confident. I'll give you guys a few minutes before the nurse comes back in and she will schedule you for the next appointment. It was wonderful meeting you, Chelsy, and I will see you next time. Again, congratulations," Dr. Kelly says before walking out.
"A daughter," Chelsy says looking at the ultrasound pictures the doctor handed her.
"I wanna check again next time. I don't know shit about raising girls, Chelsy," Abel says moving to pace around the room a bit.
"What do you know about raising boys?" she says laughing at his discomfort. "She's healthy, and beautiful."
"It is," Abel agrees not able to call the baby by its gender just yet.
"Come on, let's go," Chelsy says ready to leave. She sits up and he helps her off the bed and leans in to kiss her.
"We can still do this, right?" he asks her his face slightly pale.
"We'll be okay, and she will be perfect. She already is," Chelsy tells him.
They finish up in the hospital and head to the clubhouse. The club is pretty empty, not a lot of members of girls hanging around. When they walk in, Abel directs her upstairs to his room. His room is typical. A bunch of naked girls on Harleys and on the beach, clothes on the floor, and surprisingly, a made bed.
"My mom likes to clean up a bit in here," Abel tells her lying down on the bed.
"Abel! Church," Opie says knocking on the door.
"Yeah!" he yells back. "I gotta go. You okay to hang out here for a while?"
"Yeah, I'll hang out a bit," she tells him kissing him lightly before he takes control of the kiss.
"There's a prospect named Norman that'll get you anything you need," he tells her before he walks out.
When he shuts the door, she locks it behind him, not wanting anyone to walk in unexpected. She moves around the room, looking through drawers and remembers she has to call Tara.
"Hello?" Chelsy calls.
"Hey. How did the appointment go?"
"Great…the baby's healthy and growing perfectly," Chelsy responds smiling as she looks down at her growing bump.
"That's good…that's great You guys at the house?"
"No, the clubhouse, Abel has church," Chelsy responds rolling her eyes at the drawer that's full of playboy magazines.
"Okay. I'm finishing up here, and then I'll come meet you and we can talk more," Tara says before having to get back to work.
Chelsy decides to go explore the clubhouse. She walks out of the room and pats her hands gently on her thighs as she looks around.
There is a display of a motorcycle in the hallway and just as Chelsy gets closer to it, Abel comes back into the hall.
"What's wrong?" Chelsy asks seeing the pissed off look on his face.
"Your mother's been in an accident. She's fine, a few cuts and bruises," Abel tells her bringing her into his arms to reassure her.
"What the hell happened? Why didn't anyone call me? Are you sure she's okay? What happened?" she demands, her eyes full of worry.
"She's all right. She's back at the clubhouse. She's safe. It was a car accident. A drugged out shithead rammed into her at a light. She's okay. It just happened. Derek just called me," Abel tells her guiding her back into his room.
"I need to call her," Chelsy says.
After speaking with her mother, Chelsy looks at Abel and tells him she's fine.
"See? I told you," Abel responds sitting on the bed with his elbows on his jean covered knees.
"She told me the guy who hit her was one of Stone's buyers…" she tells him pacing back and forth. "I need to go back home."
"I know he's one of Stone's buyers. I also know that Dane's keeping an eye out for when the shithead gets released on bail. Between Charming and Tacoma, we'll handle Stone. Stay…we'll sign the lease and start getting shit for the house," Abel tells her motioning her over to him.
"I have to go back sometime, babe. I need to get stuff sorted out in Tacoma, I need to pack. I need to see my mom, and make sure everything's okay. I'll come back, I promise. Besides, don't you have another run to make up north? " she asks him.
"Yeah, we're stopping over in Tacoma…listen, what you asked me last night. I don't know where we're heading, I haven't planned shit out in my life except this club, but I'm with you if you're with me, and it's long-term," Abel tells her.
"Then I guess I'm with you," she tells him kissing him lightly. "I still need to go back."
"Shit, all right. Let me tell the guys and call Dean. I think Opie already has the papers drawn up and we can sign them. By the way, how long do you thing you'll need to stay in Tacoma for?" he asks her placing his hand right about the top hem of her jeans.
"Hmm…A few weeks, maybe longer," she tells him walking into the main room of the clubhouse.
"If I get some of these idiot prospects to come help you, can you come down sooner?" he asks her, his hand draped over her shoulders as her hand is wrapped around his leather covered back.
Looking around the clubhouse, Chelsy notices the girls who've been staring at her since she walked into the room. They all look surprised.
"You're so impatient…tell me, Abel...are any of the girls here gonna give me trouble?" she asks him knowing she won't be able to fight them given her physical condition.
"No, any bitch gives you trouble, you call me. Don't do shit," he warns her.
"I won't," she tells him sitting down at the table with Bobby.
"Why don't I believe you? Hey, Bobby," Abel says taking a drink of a beer.
"Hi, I see you finally decided to join us," Bobby says winking at Chelsy as he puts out his cigarette. From years of being a part of this charter where Tara is the head old lady, Bobby was more than aware of how important it is to try to not smoke in front of pregnant chicks.
"Yeah, here I am. What's the deal with the bike in the hallway?" Chelsy asks looking around seeing the mugshots on the wall.
"It belonged to Abel's grandfather, John Teller. He was the founder of this club along with Piney Winston, who was Opies old man," Bobby informs her. "They were great men."
"Oh…" she says remembering the stories she's heart of the founding members of the club. As Abel and Bobby discuss the run and their bikes, Chelsy leans back into Abel with his hand still on her shoulders, noticing the croweaters still looking at them.
"You two have caused a lot of ruckus these past few days," Bobby tells them laughing slightly as Chelsy's pregnancy was all the croweater seemed to talk about since Chelsy came into town.
"Hmm..it'll settle," Chelsy says knowing Bobby was talking about the girls that hang around at the clubhouse. Chelsy knows the best thing she can do is ignore the rumors and trash talk these girls would be spreading. She was pregnant with her little girl. She had more important things to focus her energy on. So long as they didn't approach her, she wouldn't approach them. However, given how petty some girls can be, Chelsy had a feeling one of the girls would try her regardless of the baby.
"Don't worry about them," Abel tells her knowing the girls were watching.
"You let me know if any girl is causing you any trouble. I'll fix them," Bobby tells her winking at her.
"Aww. Thanks, Bobby," she smiles at him laughing as Abel rolls her eyes.
"Hey, guys," Opie says approaching the table. "I got the papers."
They spend the next hour or so going through everything from rent to utilities and Chelsy can tell Opie really doesn't give a shit about the specifics. So long as rent is paid, she and Abel can do whatever they want to the house. Once Abel signs, he hands the pen to her, and she signs breathing out a sigh of relief. She feels like some of her biggest doubts are going away now. Abel and her have a house together…a house they'll bring their newborn daughter home to when she enters this world. Looking into his blue eyes and seeing a genuine smile on his face, she kisses him, feeling a flutter of movement come from the baby.