Chapter 21
Not wanting to startle her, Vincent softly called Clara's name when he entered the Whispering Gallery. She looked up and smiled at him. Then, getting to her feet she walked over to him.
"Vincent, I've been doing a lot of thinking about this and have decided that if I am pregnant I want to keep the baby and raise him or her down here. With friends like you and Mary to help me, I know I'll be fine. Did Dr. Alcott agree to see me tomorrow?"
"He actually answered the message in person and came Below. He's waiting for you in the hospital chamber."
"Oh, he didn't have to come all this way!"
"I think he felt you would be more comfortable here instead of coming to his office."
"How thoughtful of him. We shouldn't keep him waiting then."
They walked together to the hospital chamber and Vincent stopped at the entrance to say, "I need to collect Jacob from Father and put him to bed. I'll be in our chamber if you'd like to talk when you're done here."
"Thank you, Vincent. I will take you up on that," she replied and entered the chamber.
Walking in slowly, Clara wasn't exactly sure what she hoped the outcome of the test would be. She had always wanted to marry and have a family one day, but she had never considered being a 'single mother'. Because she had been saving herself for marriage, and being raped had never entered her thoughts, she'd always believed she would have the loving support of a husband when she had a child. But now that she was 'soiled goods' as her grandmother would say, what man would even want her? Oh, she was sure that many women in this 'enlightened' time didn't come to their marriage bed as virgins, but Clara had to consider if she would want to be with a man who thought that was okay. Still, that had little to do with the here and now. And in actual fact, so did whatever she wished. You couldn't become pregnant, or stop being pregnant, by a wish.
Taking a deep breath, she looked Peter in the eye, but before she could make her request, he said, "Hello, Clara. How are you doing this evening?"
"Fine, Dr. Alcott. Thank you for coming tonight, but I could have come to you."
"It's no trouble at all, my dear, and if you feel comfortable doing so, you may call me Peter. Everyone here Below does," he added the last part on a chuckle.
"Thank you, Peter, and as to the reason I wanted to see you…well, Jacob thinks that I'm pregnant."
"He does?! Then why in the world did he claim to have no idea of why I'm here? And that aside, why didn't he run the pregnancy test himself if that is what he thought?" Peter exclaimed in confusion.
"Because he's only eleven and a half months old?" she questioned perplexedly.
"Eleven…oh! You mean Baby Jacob!"
"Yes…who else would I mean?"
"Father's real name is Jacob Wells. Vincent named his son after him. I've known Jacob since medical school, long before he was known as 'Father'."
"Ah, I see," she smiled softly.
"So, how does it come about that Baby Jacob thinks you're pregnant?"
"Truthfully, he doesn't seem to 'think' it. He assures Vincent and I that he 'knows' it!"
"But how?"
"Vincent believes that Jac…Baby Jacob has started forming a Bond with me."
"I see. That must be difficult for him to accept since Catherine isn't here. I would think that if she were here, Baby Jacob would have had that with her."
"Yes, we talked about that. I think at first it did bother him, but now he seems to be fine with it."
"How interesting! The two of you seem to have gotten to know each other rather well lately! But for now, we should get to the test, or they might send out a search party for us."
Peter explained what he needed, after receiving her nod to go ahead. As both of them waited for the results, he asked, "If you are pregnant, have you thought about what you will do?"
"Yes, I'm going to keep the baby, and raise it here Below."
To be continued….