They'd gotten the VIP treatment as they waited for Celeste's first prenatal appointment at Dynasty Makers, having arrived a little early, nurses greeting Celeste by her name without asking for her name and by providing them refreshments, which neither really could enjoy being somewhat nervous.
"God, why did she choose such a snobbish name for the place," Jess muttered as he paced back and forth the waiting room, Celeste having settled onto one of the chairs behind the door, browsing an issue of Fit Pregnancy. She had no doubt Paris and her clinic was capable, but just the thought of popping out babies would equal 'making a dynasty' to every other patient here, made him a little sick to his stomach. He would've almost wanted to grumble, that it was rather a factory for rich, privileged and spoiled babies, but come to think of it - their baby wasn't going to be much less privileged. The thought felt foreign to him.
"I thought I heard your voice!" Paris greeted, coming from around the corner in her power-outfit, "and my stats show that while it may be snobbish to you, it isn't to the majority that brings in the big bucks," she added in a lower tone.
"Paris," Jess greeted her with a nod.
"And Celeste, may I just say that I apologize personally for whatever harm the incident caused you," Paris added, sitting down next to Celeste and taking her hand, speaking in a soft tone. "Trust me that everything has now been secured to the max and the person who's password leaked has now been sacked," she assured.
Jess raised his eyebrows in disbelief, seeing Paris transform into a people person like that.
"Thank you," Celeste managed, not really wanting to think back to those events.
"Dr. Norton is excellent. Rory goes to him as well," Paris commented, trying to hold back her congratulations at this point, knowing their timeline quite well and the sensitive nature of that information. If they wanted her to know, they would have to share this with her as she wasn't their doctor per se, but Jess could see it in her eyes that Paris knew.
"I've heard great things," Celeste commented, just as the grey-haired doctor was saying his goodbyes to another couple, clearly at the last stretch of their pregnancy, who'd been in his office just before them.
"Celeste Martin?" Dr. Norton asked, gesturing them into his office.
"Take good care of them, Walter! VIP!" Paris added to the doctor, as she waved them off, leaving Jess raising his eyebrows at Paris' customer service methods. He'd never really encounter that kind of attitude, as if worshiping the ground in which they walked on, and he'd certainly never expected this from Paris.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Walter Norton, and I see you're here on Dr. Geller's recommendation. And I see you already had a positive confirmation on the pregnancy but this is your first appointment," he said, having glanced over her file.
"That's right," Celeste nodded nervously. This was becoming very real and fast.
"And can I presume you've brought along the father to be?" he asked.
"Jess Mariano," he replied, shaking his hand. He felt very out of place - the room was fancier than most offices he'd ever been to, including those at HPG, and this time the main topics were the ongoings of the female anatomy, which he wasn't exactly used to discussing.
"Alright," Dr Norton said, making a note of his name.
"So I see you've uploaded your cycle to the application, so from here we can see when you had your last period and, good, I see you've also marked down potensial conception dates," he commented.
"This would make you 8 weeks along. Due date by calculation 9th of March. We will do an internal ultrasound today, and after that the nurse will also take a blood sample, measure your blood pressure and weigh you, and you should bring in a urine sample the next time you come in, the nurse will give you all the details," Dr. Norton explained.
"But first, lets chart your family history a little. On occasion it can be important. Any history of birth defects, developmental disability, genetic diseases?" he asked.
"I have my testing results here," Jess said as he folded open the report he'd had in his back pocket. To Celeste the fact that he'd done that still baffled her mind.
"Good. And Celeste, we have your results here as well. These things are more accurate than people's memories anyways," he chuckled, realizing the conversation was going to be a short one.
"Would you like us to test for the baby's gender as well? This early we can find it out from your blood sample? It's not 100% certainty but close enough," Dr. Norton asked.
"Yes," Celeste replied without thinking. She was still quite used to deciding these things alone, having been through all the former procedures on her own. She glanced apologetically towards Jess, hoping he wouldn't be mad, getting an approving smile in return, and she stretched out her hand over to him, to squeeze his.
"Are you on any new medication since your last IUI?" he glanced over her medical history.
"No," she replied.
"What symptoms have you been experiencing?" he asked.
"Some morning sickness, fainted once… hot day, some bloating, feeling a little tired and thirsty. That's about I suppose," she added, feeling a little particular about sharing how insatiable she felt almost all the time.
"Any bleeding or spotting?" the doctor asked.
"No," she replied.
"And I assume you've already been given the information about what supplements to take, right?" he asked.
"Yes, I've been taking them for more than half a year already," Celeste replied.
"We'll run a full blood work just to be safe, we'll call you with the results later and recommendations if there's anything you'll need to change about the supplements," Dr. Norton added.
Celeste nodded in agreement, fidgeting with the edge of her dress.
"Alright, why don't you step into the examination room and put on the robe then," Dr. Norton suggested, gesturing towards the adjacent room.
A few minutes later Celeste was wearing a salmon-pink examination gown, sitting on the examination table waiting for the doctor's orders. Jess felt nervous, unable to sit down, standing at the far corner of the room, not sure what to do with himself, simply glancing around the posters on the walls, each more intimidating than the previous one. This felt private, almost like it wasn't a place where he should be, but then again going outside felt unsupportive, and surely he wanted to be there - he wanted to know all there was to know.
"Mr. Mariano, please, take a seat, relax," Dr. Norton said, gesturing towards the adjustable stool next to the examination table, seeing too well how anxious he was. He complied, taking Celeste's hand, his leg continuing to bounce nervously. She smiled back at him - he was adorable being this nervous. If he was this nervous now, she could just imagine him freaking out at the delivery. It was both endearing and a little scary at the same time.
Celeste placed her legs up on the stirrups, getting into position.
To Jess the fact that there was a male doctor looking at Celeste's vagina at that point, with him sitting right there, felt even weirder. How did men do this for a living?
"Scoot downwards just a little," the doctor advised her to adjust her position, adding, "this might feel a little cold."
He inserted the ultrasound wand, moving it around gently. A moment later he switched the light to low and soon a black and white image appeared onto the screen.
"And you see here, this tiny thing is the fetus, approximately 2 cm in size - perfectly normal. A heart beat - 105 bpm - also completely normal at this point. You can just about make out the head and beginnings of arms and legs," he pointed at the screen. The fetus positioned ventrally, hence the arms were a little difficult to spot for those who were not used to ultrasound images so they took his word for it. They could see the flickering of the heartbeat though, and that was proof of existence for them.
It still seemed unreal to Jess how something that tiny could form into an actual baby. Jess could see Celeste go all emotional at the sight though, small tears rolling down her cheeks which she tried to wipe away, sniffling her nose. He squeezed her hand assuringly. She looked so happy.
The doctor removed the wand, continuing to take a few other samples which he explained.
"I'm sure you know this but I do have to warn that you're statistically still not in the clear - the first 12 weeks being the riskiest for miscarriages. If that were to happen the causes for that are usually related to chromosomal errors, and it is nothing you can do anything about. So I do recommend you keep this to yourself until then, take care of yourselves but try to keep your head cool, if possible," the doctor advised a moment later, as Celeste had put down her legs and sat up. "You're pregnancy will be treated as high risk just in case, due to your age. We will take the very best care of you," he added, catching Jess a little off guard.
"What kind of risks? Other than miscarriage," Jess asked, realizing that he knew a lot less about that part than Celeste probably did.
"There's a higher risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, low birth weight, chromosomal problems, but we can test for most of the most common defects quite early on. There is an increased risk to deliver prematurely or conditions that would lead to a C-section. But Celeste is healthy, in good weight, active, and with extra precautions we can reduce a lot of these risks," he added assuringly.
"Should she be avoiding certain activities - she's quite keen on exercising - pilates, running? Jess asked. "We're renovating a house, she wants to do her part, not that she needs to but she's pretty insistent…," he added, feeling as if needing to explain.
"I would advise no high impact sports. In pilates you should avoid positions that are on your back as soon as it starts to feel uncomfortable but at the latest by week 16, or you can just switch to prenatal yoga, water aerobics instead or something similar instead. Running is fine as long as it's comfortable, some keep it up for a while just don't exert yourself too much. But keeping yourself active is beneficial for sure. As to renovations, if you choose materials and finishings that are not labeled as hazardous, you should be fine. Just allow good airflow. Preferably avoid strenuous positions and lifting anything heavier than 25 pounds," Dr. Norton explained.
"I told you," she smirked, teasingly back at him. She preferred focusing on the positive of what they'd heard, knowing that all the risks were perhaps a bit of shock to him. While she had had time to adjust to the idea of these risks, and hence she'd hurried with getting pregnant, he had barely adjusted to the thought of having a baby at all, not really thinking that there might be issues.
They continued with a few more rounds of questions, getting on-point answers. To Jess this hour had been an information overload. Sure, he'd read a bit about these things before, but with this suddenly becoming more and more real, with real possible complications, the information was somewhat immobilizing.
They walked over to the parking garage in silence some minutes later, Celeste feeling rather excited. But she could sense that Jess was worried.
"You okay?" she asked, as they sat into his BMW.
"Yeah," he replied quickly, adding, "just a lot to take in." He had in fact taken a leap into the unknown, and while he wasn't regretting it, the worry how he would live up to these responsibilities still scared him - what if something happened to Celeste? Or there were problems with the baby? He wasn't sure how he would deal with these things. He wanted to do well, he wanted to be the man she could count on no matter what - but wanting didn't erase the fear.
Jess had spent the next couple of evenings going back and forth Home Depot and the new house. Celeste had been feeling tired in the evenings and mostly she'd just ended up going to sleep early and he'd ended up reading something alone. So he'd figured instead of sitting at his apartment he could just put the hours into work at the house. But besides that he had a lot on his mind - still trying to figure out how to accept how out of his hands the whole concept of pregnancy was at this point. He was simultaneously trying to work out how to feel excited and supportive, how to not get his hopes up, just in case, and accept that things could go wrong and he couldn't control these things. And all that while still feeling like he wasn't even qualified to be a father. But these were his battles, and now as it seemed that Celeste had enough on her mind, dealing with her changing body, surely having fears of her own, he didn't want to bother her with his - he felt she didn't need the added stress of him figuring things out. But the problem was that she really was the only person to whom he could talk about this at this stage, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
"Where are you taking me?" Celeste asked, having obeyed Jess' plea to close her eyes once they'd gotten into the car. It was her birthday, so she figured he was up to something but hadn't gotten more out of him than a nod to which dress to wear earlier, having settled for a colorful wrap dress - relaxed but a little festive.
"It's a surprise," he pointed out the obvious, as he helped her out of his car.
"We're at the house, aren't we?" she asked.
"No peeking," Jess scolded.
"I recognize the lavender," she added, trying to prove that she hadn't been peeking, recalling their neighbour, an older woman in her 60s, growing them on her front stairs planters. Having spent a lot of holidays in southern France, she would never forget what lavender smelled like and now her sense of scent was especially heightened.
"We are, but don't spoil the surprise, okay?" he pleaded, leading her to the door of the downstairs apartment.
"Why are we not taking the stairs?" she asked, confusedly.
"Patience," he muttered, opening the door and guided her through the living room, still filled with her boxes, and one of the bedrooms, out to the garden. "Step," he warned her. "Now, open!" he said.
"Happy birthday!" he said with a crooked smile.
"Happy birthday," the small crowd cheered. Jess was never really much for birthdays - throwing them, having them - any of it. But he'd felt like she was missing the parties and the interaction a little. He knew she really didn't have a lot of people she would call her friends these days, sensing she'd been feeling a little lonely at times even but he'd done what he could. There were Logan and Rory, but also Luke and Doula, who'd insisted she come the moment she heard about their move and her upcoming birthday and Luke had been coming to help Jess a lot these days either way, getting to know Celeste more little by little.
She was speechless. Not only had he made her a surprise party, however small, still he'd remembered, and tried to bring her a little of what she'd been missing - friends and in a way family as well. It took her a few moments before she actually noticed the garden. The gardener hadn't gotten around to it yet, but Jess had cleaned the place up significantly, put up a large terrace at the back of the yard and erected a pergola on top of it, a large table and outdoor couch with a few extra chairs placed under it. He'd probably had Luke over to help out, but it was a grand gesture nontheless, transforming the space completely. He'd bought the plants the gardener was going to use, so they were now just placed around the yard in their original pots but still bringing already a lot of color to the garden.
"Wow, this looks amazing, thank you," she exclaimed hugging him excitedly.
"I wasn't sure who else to invite, so I'm sorry if there's someone missing you would've wanted to be here," he added, apologetically.
"It's perfect, thank you," Celeste added, going to greet the rest.
Luke and Logan had brought snacks, and as everybody except Logan was either pregnant (or to the knowledge of others - trying) underage or driving, they served non-alcoholic beverages, Rory handing Celeste a glass of non-alcoholic cider a moment later.
"I'm gone three weeks and suddenly you're moved to a house in Park Slope! You two move really fast!" Rory exclaimed, half jokingly, supporting her back as her bump had become very prominent in those weeks. They'd just returned from Nantucket, having had her own appointment with Dr. Walter as well.
"We're not moved in yet, there's still stuff to do here," Jess commented humbly, grabbing a few appetizers, feeling rather hungry already.
"Still, it looks very promising," Logan added, feeling genuinely excited for them.
"Luke and Jess have been putting a lot of work hours into this," Celeste explained proudly, touching Jess' upper arm.
"Here," Doula stepped close, handing her a small gift bag.
"Wow, what's this?" Celeste exclaimed. "Thank you," she added, peeking inside and finding a selection of bath salts and bath bombs. "That's so nice of you. I love it," Celeste commented.
"What else did you get for your birthday?" Doula asked, excitedly.
"Oh, not much, but I suppose this party and you guys coming is a pretty significant gift already," she said.
"Hey, we've got your gift right here," Logan returned with a slim box of their own.
"Hmm.. what might this be?" Celeste asked, making it a little bit more interesting for Doula as well. She unwrapped it, finding a photo book of Brooklyn townhouses.
"I know it's a little bit more like a housewarming gift perhaps, but I hope you don't mind - it just clicked in my mind," Rory added.
"I love it! Thanks!" she added, hugging Rory.
"You'll get my gift later," Jess added, surprising Celeste.
"Aw, you shouldn't have. This is all already so great," Celeste added, giving him a little kiss. "I'll be right back," she added, exusing herself for the bathroom downstairs.
"Well, if you need any help with the place, let us know," Rory offered, not really sure how she could help in her condition but she figured the thought counted for something.
Jess was almost about to say that having two pregnant women on site would hardly do wonders for the work efficiency but he caught the word by its tail.
"I think we have it covered, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind some company every once in a while," Jess said to Rory. He was sensing that she was feeling a little lonely - trying to get used to her new life, one that was quite different from what she was used to.
"Sure, anytime," Rory replied.
"How was Vancouver?" Jess asked casually, seeing Celeste come back outside and going into a discussion with Doula about something by the stairs. She looked so natural with her - he could really picture her as a mother.
"Oh, it was amazing - a bit outdoorsy but nobody forced us to go out," Rory chuckled, stroking her belly.
"The hotel had a nice roof terrace, which she took full advantage of," Logan described.
"Oh yea, I was like a manatee in that roof pool, but god, water feels amazing when pregnant - you can't feel the weight," Rory said, adding, "the food was delicious," recalling all the Korean dumpling place she'd discovered.
They continued to eat and chat, Celeste spending a significant amount of time talking to Doula about her hair - what color to paint it next, Celeste explaining to her that it wasn't very healthy for hair to be colored that often.
"She's good with her," Luke commented as they were about to leave, as he waited for Doula finish her discussion with Celeste and to take her home.
"Yeah, I know," Jess replied, his hands tucked into his pockets.
"Are you still worried about, you know, …. about Jimmy, his less than ideal example?" Luke asked, unsure if Jess was willing to discuss it even.
Jess nodded, adding, "I mean, I'm not panicking or anything, it has just left me with some insecurities, that aren't that easy to shake."
"Then maybe you should talk to him. I don't know how much you are in contact these days but… it might do good," Luke advised.
"Alright, sis, give me a hug," Jess hugged Doula goodbye, not really knowing what to reply to Luke. He could consider it, but he wasn't sure if that would do more good than harm.
"Thanks for inviting me. When I'm older I'd really like to come and stay with you guys in the summer, it would be so cool to live in the City," Doula said excitedly.
"Well, we'll see about that," Jess noted, running his hand across the back of his hair and neck, his other hand waving them off.
"And what did I hear about a present?" Celeste asked playfully.
"Let's just go in and look, shall we?" Jess suggested. They'd spent the entire party downstairs and out in the garden, the upstairs being more like a construction zone at this point.
"Did you finish one of the rooms?" she asked.
"You're not very good with surprises, are you? Or maybe I'm just too predictable," he chuckled, ready to show her the finished kitchen that was made to her tastes.
